Need help picking a new rifle!

[d3lta58]

I'm looking at purchasing my first centerfire rifle in the next month or so but I still have some questions that hopefully the great men and woman of THR could help me out with. But first, here is something a little about me. This rifle will mostly, about 95% of it will be used on the bench. I don't hunt, maybe I will in the future, but currently in my life I have neither the time, will, or need to hunt. I live in CA, I don't think it will matter much when talking about bolt rifles, but I'm just putting it out there.

I was really stumped on not only the rifle that I wanted but also the caliber. Spending almost all my life shooting .22s out of my 10/22, I didn't really know my tolerance from the recoil of a decent size centerfire. I was lucky enough to have a friend let me barrow his r700 BDL in .308, a marlin lever in .30-30, and a savage 110 in .243. Before I even shot I was extremely biassed toward the savage because all I hear now on the forums is how terrible Remington has become, not to mention the Savage is free floating and the r700 was not.

Im 19 years old, 140 pounds after a huge dinner, and I didn't know how I was going handle the .308. I automatically thought the .243 would fit me better and I should lean more toward the .223 spectrum rather then the .308.

After the day at the range with a buddy, I was extremely happy with the Remington 700 BDL in .308. I was hitting gongs at 500 yards out with a 4x with no previous practice. The action is like butter and I never wanted to give the rifle back. The savage was so-so. Eh, I know the Savage was an older model and I hear that Savages are GREAT guns, and I believe that. I just didn't have that click with it. While I was at the range, other shooters were extremely helpful, most even letting my firing mutilple rounds to see if I would like their caliber, from .17, .223. 300mag. .338. and more. A lot of fun. I couldn't believe my ears when I would heard the gong ring when I used the .338 700 yards out....

Now to my question!!

I was looking at the R700 Tactical in .308, but I just cant get myself to love that 20in barrel. I am also looking at the 700 police in .308 with the heavy barrel, free floating, and HS Precision stock, but you can imagine that might be out of the price range for a college student with other expenses. Should I get a cheaper r700 sps-V and switch out the stock and barrel, or save up for the R700 Police?

The fact that I can finally decide on a caliber and company is really exciting, I've only been doing research for the last 8 months......

For accessories, depending on how much I spend on the rifle.
-Harris Bipod 3-9x
-Nikon Monarch Rifle Scope 6.5-20x 44mm Adjustable Objective Fine Crosshair Reticle Matte 480$
or
- Leupold VX-II 4-12x40mm - 450$

I'll be going to a range with targets out to 600-700 yards

Thanks for all help guys!!

 

[MolleMan]

a great rifle for budget ($299) and has good recomendations is the marlin XS7 and it comes in a variety of calibers but i'm currently saving up for the .308 cal and also intend to set it up on a bi-pod. it has a fluted bolt and another interesting feature is an adjustable trigger which. hope this helps but until i get mine I don't know much else.

 

[Psyco Tyco]

the new edge has my vote, the accutrigger will be a godsend for beginning accuracy

or go with what i started on a weatherby vanguard, im pretty sure you can snatch one up for right about 300

of course for a little more you can get a used remington 700, which you can get a replacement barrel for as a later expense once youve been able to save up some more, if you want a target gun, then make it a long term project! trust me its fun planning your next upgrade

as for caliber 308 will take care of you for most anything youd hunt and long range but recoil is higher than i want for a day of trial and error long range training, but if you want to just do target shooting for now i know the 243 has a .500 BC which is helpful, though for 600 yards im not sure how well itll do, maybe consider a 7mm-08 or a .260 remington chambering? high energy and BC for long range

hope it helps i can only give you my opinion as a minute of animal shooter not a minute of angle sharpshooter

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Before I even shot I was extremely biassed toward the savage because all I hear now on the forums is how terrible Remington has become,

Don't automatically believe everything you read without trying for yourself first. The Remington 700 is a great action and has a well deserved good reputation. Most of the negative stuff is about their economy models. Any of those Remington models you mentioned are great. And there's certainly nothing wrong with the Savages either. It's your call, just make sure it is your call, and not some yahoo on the web's.

 

[PT1911]

Does the edge have the accutrigger? I was under the impression it did not.

 

[HOOfan_1]

Does the edge have the accutrigger? I was under the impression it did not.

No, it doesn't

 

[benzy2]

Should I get a cheaper r700 sps-V and switch out the stock and barrel, or save up for the R700 Police?

I don't get why you would buy a cheap Remington to then pay to have it trued, restocked, and rebarreled. Look at the cost. $500 for the rifle. $100 for the truing. $400 for good stock. $500 for a new barrel fitted to your rifle. So you've got $1300 into this rifle. Look what $1500 can buy you on the used market. You can get into a custom action with a top tier barrel and a top tier stock for the same money. Sure it will be harder to get the cash together all at once, but the rifle is the cheap part of this equation.

I don't mind the Remington 700. I fail to see where it is a good start for a build when you can get a custom action close to the same price as a donor rifle. I think starting with a 700 until you want something nicer is a great idea. They can shoot pretty well out of the box, some don't, but some do. Play with a factory rifle until you've shot the barrel out. Then star over with a new platform (even if it is a Remington 700 clone action) to do the custom work with.

If you think replacing barrels is in your future, I suggest you go with a Savage. You can get take off factory barrels for $100-$200 and you can get match grade prefit barrels for under $300 that you can install at home. This cuts cost quite a bit, though again, I doubt you will see much difference out of a new barrel for quite a while on either Remington or Savage.

As for scopes, the Monarch is a good step up from the VX-II. It is on par with the VX-III line. For the same money, I'll take a similar Monarch over the Leupold any day. The Leupold warranty/CS is unbeatable, but Nikon's isn't a bad either. I'm not sure I would go for a 6.5-20x scope for my only rifle though, especially if you are considering hunting anything. It is good for punching stationary paper, but things that move can become a bit harder to follow when you bottom out at 6.5x. Also, the current Monarch line isn't running on the 3x erector but on a 4x erector (meaning your high end of the zoom would be 4 times the low end, 5-20x rather than 6.5-20x). I'm not sure where you are shopping the 6.5-20x Monarch out at, but it is a generation or two old. The current 5-20x starts at about the $480 you listed. Make sure you aren't being sold an old scope for that price.