poor man's sendero???

[fowl_intent]

I am looking for a heavy barreled .308 for deer hunting/target shooting. A friend has and recommended a Sendero, but I can't see my way clear at this time to spending around a $1000.00. I had a chance to shoot a Remington 700 SPS Varmint yesterday, and it performed admirably. Very accurate out of the box, nice trigger pull (adjustable) matte black finish with heavy 26 inch barrel, black synthetic stock with recoil pad.. I found a source that will sell me a new rifle in the box for $450.00. So what is the difference between the Sendero (matte finish) and the Varmint? Has to be more than just the different stocks, I would assume. More polishing/craftsmanship in the internal parts? Any thoughs would be appreciated.

 

[YodaVader]

To begin with all the Senderos I have seen personally or looked at cataloged were long action versions of the heavy barrel 700 - cartridges such as the 7mm Rem Mag and the 300 Win Mag.

The 700 VS (Varmint Synthetic) appeared at the same time and I have an older Remington catalog which shows this to be the short action heavy barrel 700. This includes .223 , .22-250 and .308. I used to own one of the early 700VS models in .308. I think the modern day upgraded version is the 700 VS SF II.

I just picked up a SPS Varmint last month and the only real difference between it and my old 700 VS is basically the stock - the VS had the HS Precision and the SPS is injection molded plastic. Of less significance - the VS had a jewelled bolt where the SPS is plain black. And the SPS has the newer X-Mark trigger.

I transferred the SPS barreled action into a HS Precision stock and it looks just like my old VS with the exception of the bolt jewelling.

 

[TehK1w1]

You might want to look at CZ-USA's CZ 550 Varmint Model in 308
www.czusa.com
They come standard with a single-set trigger, and the Varmint models have bull barrels.

 

[goon]

TehK1w1 - I like the sig line. It's one of the funniest things I have seen on here in a few days.

I have had good luck with Savage rifles. IIRC, they offer a heavy barreled model 10. I think it is a 10 FP. I had one for a little while and it was a good accurate shooter.
They don't get the prestige of some of the other brands but Savages are usually very good rifles.

 

[skinewmexico]

It's just marketing. Depends on if your focus is on the bench, or downrange. I'd bet money the internals are exactly the same. And a Savage will shoot just as well, if not better.

 

[sixgunner455]

The 700 action is the same, no matter what rifle it's mounted in. If you've found one that you like that you can afford, then get it.

 

[brasskeeper]

The Remington 700 SPS Varmint sounds like the way to go. I have an old
700V BDL and its a great gun but I would pass on a Sendero.

You may give Savage a look they are building some accurate rifles for a modest price.

 

[RevolverMan567]

0the differeencs between the 700 sps varmint and sendero

sendero had a button rifled barrel where the sps has the cold hammer forged. the sps is a heavy barrel contour as the sender is magnum contour. barrel channel on sendero stock is fit for the barrel on the action. SPS stocks are all bolt on same. sender is full length aluminum pillar block beding with floated barrel. sps has two action screws that are held in place by composite of stock and barrel is held down by pressure pad. sendero has jeweled bolt and hand polished action. sps does not. sendero has HS precision stock with ergonomics upgrades sps is plactic injected mold.

just a few

 

[YodaVader]

0the differeencs between the 700 sps varmint and sendero

sendero had a button rifled barrel where the sps has the cold hammer forged. the sps is a heavy barrel contour as the sender is magnum contour.

I was under the impression that all regular production 700s utilized hammer forged barrels. I see some of the custom shop offerings are listed as button rifled. If some of the mainstream 700s are button rifled that is news to me.

According to current Remington catalogs and website info both the Sendero and SPS Varmint are 26" heavy profile barrels with .82" muzzle OD. And the Sendero is long action where the SPS Varmint is short action.

 

[rc109a]

How about a remington 700 5R MILSPEC?

 

[Sniper4Life]

Uhhh what is a 700 5r milspec? I havent been on remingtons website in a while... going now....

I was in the same predicament you are in, i spent it on a savage 12Fv... shoots great, it leaves more money for better scopes and a different stock

 

[YodaVader]

Uhhh what is a 700 5r milspec?

Info found over at snipercentral.com:

"5-R Milspec refers to the rifling used. 5R-rifling features a radius'd shoulder between the lands and the grooves. Advantages are claimed to be a smoother engraving transition on the bullet jacket which, in theory at least, creates less drag in flight - which means possibly a slightly flatter shooting bullet compared to a bore of standard rifling profile. The second benefit is cleaning. Without the 90-degree angles between lands and grooves, fouling seems less likely to adhere as tenaciously to the bore. Copper fouling may also be reduced. This rifling profile is used in the Army's M24 Sniper rifle."

Also:


"M24 barrels that did not pass spec, instead of throwing away, Remmy decided to put them on VS rifles and call them "mil-spec'. In order to fit in VS/P stocks, they recontour them to varmint dimensions".

 

[rc109a]

The 700 5r is a great rifle. It is extremely accurate right out of the box. I have shot the LTR and the PSS and found that I liked the accuracy more of the 5R. There is a lot of information about the rifle using the search functions. The snipers hide has a really good write up about them. I could not find anything on Remington's site about them.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

You want to take it hunting? Have you ever carried a gun through the woods before?

If your going to be walking through the woods or walking at all a lot, you might want to reconsider a heavy barrel and consider something like sporter weight. Now I'm not sure where your hunting, because that does make a difference(open plains vs woods...). Like a heavy barreled varmint gun may be ok for 3-400 yard shots in some really open area where carrying it a long distance may not be a problem, but lugging a 12 lb. gun around the woods with a 26" barrel might get pretty cumbersome especially considering that the furthest shot you might take in the woods is generally about 200 yards.

 

[Bartkowski]

A friend of mine let me use a 7RUM with a 26" barrel that was a little thicker than most 700's. I think it was a special run, he won it in some raffle. And sure it would have been great for sitting on the edge of a field, but like The Deer Hunter said, it is not easy to carry through the woods.

 

[Tarvis]

Dunno much about the SPS, seems like another 700 to me. If you buy a sendero, you buy a product you know will perform out of the box, as with any other "bean field" gun. I have shot a savage 110 varmint (IIRC) in .223 and it seemed to shoot well, but I dont have enough trigger time on one to tell you either way. Here's a review I found when I was searching for info before I bought my rifle. While it is informational, I don't really trust reviews of guns, reason being I have never seen a bad review.

http://www.gun-tests.com/performance/nov96deerrifle.html

It also seems that some don't like savages because of the name. Someone had posted on a different thread that they couldn't even say the name without being ashamed, which is completely retarded. The savage may have ugly furniture and not carry the logo of the Big Green or Winny, but I the rifle fits, shoot it.

If your going to be walking through the woods or walking at all a lot, you might want to reconsider a heavy barrel and consider something like sporter weight.

I'm the proud owner of a 700P in 300 win mag. Seems to me that it is nearly the same as the sendero but with slightly different furniture. Yes, it's a heavy gun with a 26" bull barrel + bipod. It's long and not always a big convenience to pack around; sore shoulder from the sling, bumpin into branches etc. However, it seems to me that weight is relative to the person carrying the gun. For example, the 240B weighs twice as much (correct me if im wrong) as any standard hunting rifle and soldiers still manage to carry it on 10 mile hikes. When I bought my rifle I didn't consider having to pack it all over hell and back, but now that I have it, I'm not kicking myself because it's a heavy rifle. I tell myself that each time I carry it I get stronger, making the next time I carry it easier. Besides, nothing worth while is easy


All else aside, buy the rifle that YOU want. You'll be much happier if you get what you want. I'm not saying shop around for the best price, by all means do. In the end, if you buy a heavy barrel because you want it, and a 700SPS/sendero/savage because you want it, you'll be much happier than compromising based on what others/your wallet dictate. Give it a couple months to save, decide, and drool and the rifle you buy will seem even sweeter .

 

[jonboynumba1]

I am looking for a heavy barreled .308 for deer hunting/target shooting. A friend has and recommended a Sendero, but I can't see my way clear at this time to spending around a $1000.00.

I just sold a savage 10 fcp .308 the other day. The HS precision stock is very nice and even this "cheap" tac rifle is nearly a grand new (add a scope bipod mounts and rings and you'll probably be at $1500 if you went cheap on the scope. That is the most expensive version though...the cheaper stock one is a couple hundred less I believe.

First thing I said when I picked it up was "d@mn!...I wouldn't trade my 7 mag for it or want to haul it far from the truck!"

I would think given any budget contraints a good solid hunting rifle in an appropriate caliber with top quallity mounts and rings would be a better buy as something that could "do both" than trying to hunt with a 26" tac rifle...that I think you'll find a hard time getting a good gun even without glass in under your budget. Most quallity bolta actions are capable of more than their owners can ring out of them anyway. Good optics and a good sweet trigger are "gotta have its" for any type of serious target shooting. So you might be better served getting a good 24" medium contour bbl. Hunting rifle and good scope and mounts and trigger job. You'd probably need to go used even there...but that isn't a bad thing as long as you shop long and hard. I haven't bought a factory new rifle outside of .22's and AR's ect in years. I'd say Nikon buckmasters ($200) or zeis conquest ($375-400) 3-9x40 leupold mounts and one piece bases and any quallity major caliber Rifle that fits the bill. Probably going to want something in .308 or .30-06 so you can get cheap surplus ammo to plink with and the widest possible cross-section of quallity target ammo. (blackhills reman stuff if great...there are several others as well) And of course handloading aint cheap...but does give you a LOT of control. Initially I'd say buying by the case might be better...let you concentrat on shooting. I went through 1200-1400 rounds with a 24" .30-06 in a year when I got into target shooting (after and with a LOT of .22 shooting) A quallity match grade .22 is a gotta have it as well for cheap practice IMHO.