Effective range of factory Rem 700 .308 26" Heavy Barrel?

[philbert001]

I want to build an M-40 style rifle, but 4 kids keep my budget from realistically expecting to build a 1000 yard rifle. I have a long action 700 bdl, that was a bench gun, before I acquired it. The barrel was removed, and a sporter contour 30/06 barrel was installed, but the trigger is still a match setup, and is probably the sweetest I've personally ever squeezed! I recently acquired a lightly used, (100 rounds), Heavy varmint contour, (.80" at muzzle), factory Remington barrel in .308 (Not sure of twist rate), from a fellow INGO member.
My question is, with a good trigger, having the barrel professionally installed, headspaced, truing the bolt, lapping the lugs, and properly bedding the action in a fiberglass stock, what kind of range/accuracy, can I realistically expect this rifle to be good for?

 

[soupy]

The rifle you describe should get you to 1000 yards. I see factory rifles shooting that far at Youngs.I think half moa round groups at 100-200 yards should be your goal and work out from there.

 

[philbert001]

The rifle you describe should get you to 1000 yards. I see factory rifles shooting that far at Youngs.I think half moa round groups at 100-200 yards should be your goal and work out from there.

I'll be tickled if it does! I figured I'd need a higher dollar barrel to get me there! I've never shot anything further than 200 yards, and didn't figure I'd ever get to, but with Hillside across town from me, I'll now have the opportunity to! I'm looking forward to getting this rifle together even more every day! I figure I'll practice at 1-200 yards, till I have it dialed in pretty good, then I'll spring for the membership, and start trying to stretch her legs! For the money I have in this rifle, I'll be happy with good groups at 400-500! If it'll stay on paper at anything further than that, I'll be ecstatic!

 

[42769vette]

if your looking for a minute of angle gun at 1000 i think that will take some time. just as much revolves around the shooter as the gun.

if your looking for a minute of man gun at 1000 that should happen pretty quickly.

 

[philbert001]

if your looking for a minute of angle gun at 1000 i think that will take some time. just as much revolves around the shooter as the gun.

if your looking for a minute of man gun at 1000 that should happen pretty quickly.

I agree. I know the rifle will out perform me for quite some time! As soon as I am capable of respectable groups in the 400-600 yard range, expect a pm from me for better glass to make getting the rest of the way there a little easier!

 

[42769vette]

I agree. I know the rifle will out perform me for quite some time! As soon as I am capable of respectable groups in the 400-600 yard range, expect a pm from me for better glass to make getting the rest of the way there a little easier!

ill do you one better, when the crops are off bring the setup out and i will guarantee hits at 750.

i have a few customers come out last winter and pick up their scope and we were always able to get hits at 750 with guns designed for alot less range than yours is.

i hosted a ingo shoot a year or so ago. most shooters had never shot past 200ish yards. out of the 40ish shooters i dont think anyone didnt atleast get a few hits at 750. most were able to get 7 out of 10 on target by the end of the day. the target is fairly large (bobcat torso) but i didnt want to make it to difficult.

but you are correct glass plays a important role. as long as the scope functions as its designed to its possibable (not as common as most folks think).

 

[IndyDave1776]

I am not that good myself, but one shooter of my acquaintance had several Remington 700s and could get between 1/2 and 3/4 MOA out of all of them dead stock from the factory. The factory trigger is adjustable, hence no need for replacement. I would strongly recommend going stock and thereafter determining if there is any need for further modifications. The aforementioned shooter also owned a gun shop at the time and talked me out of going crazy building my rifle and I am still thankful for that.

 

[philbert001]

ill do you one better, when the crops are off bring the setup out and i will guarantee hits at 750.

i have a few customers come out last winter and pick up their scope and we were always able to get hits at 750 with guns designed for alot less range than yours is.

i hosted a ingo shoot a year or so ago. most shooters had never shot past 200ish yards. out of the 40ish shooters i dont think anyone didnt atleast get a few hits at 750. most were able to get 7 out of 10 on target by the end of the day. the target is fairly large (bobcat torso) but i didnt want to make it to difficult.

but you are correct glass plays a important role. as long as the scope functions as its designed to its possibable (not as common as most folks think).

That sounds like fun!

 

[patience0830]

That sounds like fun!

Yeah, When are we gonna do that again? I still need to come visit and get that case I left that I brought that CZ in.

 

[sloughfoot]

In my vast and extensive experience, a stock Remington barrel is good enough out to 800 yards with 175's. It won't win any mid-range matches, but will certainly be M.O.M. out to 800. But then again, maybe you are a great wind reader...A shooter thaat can read the wind and adjust will always beat the guy with a $5,000 rifle that can't read the wind.

There is an absolute "world of difference" between 900 and 1000 yards. You need a premium barrel and careful handloads to maintain 1 MOA or better accuracy at 1000 yards. That is because the bullet is falling almost as much as it is moving forward at that distance in .308.

A 1 MOA rifle at 300 yards or even 600 yards is not guaranteed to be a 1 MOA rifle at 1000 yards.

Take your rig out and shoot it an have fun with it. A spotter can be a huge help.

 

[42769vette]

Yeah, When are we gonna do that again? I still need to come visit and get that case I left that I brought that CZ in.

i had every intention of doing it again this past winter. it seamed somthing just kept comming up.

 

[Matt52]

If the rifle is accurate enough it will shoot 308's to around 1200 yards.

 

[Dave Doehrman]

My question is, with a good trigger, having the barrel professionally installed, headspaced, truing the bolt, lapping the lugs, and properly bedding the action in a fiberglass stock, what kind of range/accuracy, can I realistically expect this rifle to be good for?

I started out with a stock 700 SPS Varmint in .308, just like the one you acquired. I added the AI 1.5 stock since it doesn't require any bedding. The only modification I made was installing a Jewel trigger set to 1 lb. pull. The barrel, bolt and action are all factory stock (except for the trigger). My best 5 shot group using 168 A-max bullets at 2800 fps is 4 1/2" at 1,000 yards. I've shot a lot of 5" and 6" groups at 1,000 and the barrel has over 4,000 rounds through it.

It takes good glass with repeatable turret adjustments to shoot out to 1,000 yards. 42769vette is a good guy to talk with about scopes. I have 3 of the NightForce scopes, but if your budget doesn't allow that, there are other scopes that are less expensive and will perform well out to 1,000 yards.

The 26" heavy barrel is 1:12 twist from the factory. I keep waiting to shoot my factory barrel out so I can get a custom barrel, but I'm happy with the accuracy of the factory barrel for now. The factory rifle is good to go right out of the box. You don't need to make changes unless you are having problems.

 

[philbert001]

Thanks for all the input guys! Weather the consensus says that It'll be good for 1000 yards or not, it seems to agree that it'll be plenty for well beyond the 500-600 yards I was hoping for!

 

[philbert001]

There is an absolute "world of difference" between 900 and 1000 yards. You need a premium barrel and careful handloads to maintain 1 MOA or better accuracy at 1000 yards. That is because the bullet is falling almost as much as it is moving forward at that distance in .308.

She'll be getting the careful handloads for sure! I've been hand loading all my revolver ammo for years, and make some nice consistent loads for my deer guns! The premium barrel can wait until I am good enough to need it!

 

[Dave Doehrman]

Thanks for all the input guys! Weather the consensus says that It'll be good for 1000 yards or not, it seems to agree that it'll be plenty for well beyond the 500-600 yards I was hoping for!

Yep, 500 should be no problem. Here's a 5 shot group at 500 yards out of my factory barrel.

The group measured 1.496" or 1/3 MOA at 500 yards.

 

[Leo]

I started shooting Palma with a 26 inch 12 twist Winchester sharpshooter rifle. I have a heavy barrel 700 SPS that is slightly less accurate, but is not too bad. Like Sloughfoot said, you need 175 grain bullets, even 168 grain bullets get pretty iffy after 900 yards. It is hard to reliably keep 168's supersonic at 1000, I do not think you will get much past that, even with 175's, but it sounds like that is not a consideration. I have successfully shot Master level scores with 155 grain bullets and 168 grain bullets at 600 from both a M1a and a 26 inch bolt rifle. Good luck