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Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

Mav68erick

Private
Minuteman
Aug 26, 2012
25
0
38
Jackson, Michigan
So Im Looking at purchasing my first bolt action, as much as I would love to do a custom build the cost is no issue its the wait that really gets me and I understand the parts to the build ( IE stocks take x amount of time to get )So I figure Id start with just a 700 build for now.

I was looking at the AAC The other night, as I definetly want a heavy barrel and the threaded end seems like a nice touch. I like the way the Vais brakes look and seem to have a decent % of recoil reduction based on there design. The biggest issue is Ive heard the thread jobs are not so great any why would they be its a production item.

Could save 50 bucks and get the SPS Model although the AAC has 10" twist the SPS I believe has 12" I plan to just shoot 168-175s w/e I shoot out of my M14 til I get into reloading next spring.

Mind you most the ranges here are 100-200, we have a 300 fairly close but until I find a buddy with some land I prolly will never seen anything past 500.

I kept hearing about the police model and seen one on buds so I looked at it, a fluted heavy barrel nice, I like the look of flutes and the benefits they offer but About a grand so I read more its actually in a HS Precision stock already another plus since its aluminum bedded so this seems like a pretty decent starter rifle.

So it narrows it down to

AAC
SPS
and the LTR

Im set on wanting a 20" barrel as im a cluts and tend to bang into crap so all these fit into my list of wants and needs. The bad thing I seen with the LTR the only review on buds was a really bad one and negative one and I know everyone has lemons.

If I went the AAC/SPS route unless I can find an A5 Adjustable cheek stuck just black for now ( really wanna urban camo, or spice it up with orange instead of the blue they have on there site since its my favorite color and Iam just gonna bench shoot it ) I was opting for a HS Precision M24 stock since they seem to be instock and would be a major improvement over the Hogue.

Another thing is, If you get the remmy action trued can it be fit to the same factory barrel? In theory I dont see why not but im sure it has an impact on head space, the barrel would have to be chambered deeper wouldnt it? If it shoots under 1/2 moa in a decent stock Id be happy.

Most likely if I do purchase one in the near future ill be slapping a Vortex scope on it until I get in a stock I really want then ill throw my NF from my M14 on her and switch the vortex over since its a little to much scope for it.

So if anyone wants to chime in and state there opinion id be really appreciative just say what one and why

AAC?
SPS?
LTR?

Thank you

Edit: Also since HS Precision offers detach mags, I assume I could get them to work on there m24 stock and also mod the LTR to a magazine fed as well? all the bdl and abbreviations on the remingtons has my head spinning
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

You can use the same barrel.

From what I understand, smiths don't like to work on the action that is going to keep the same barrel, but it can be done. As long as is done right and the barrel does not have a lot of rounds through it, you can keep the factory barrel. In your case, a new rifle, it doesn't.

I am doing it on my R700 300 RUM, keeping the factory barrel. I talked to Lorenzo, from Deadly Precision Gunsmithing, and he stated it can be done. The impression that I got was that it was more difficult to go this direction, but it can be done.

All the rifles you have listed have good points and bad. Personally none of the three would stay stock if I were buying one of them.
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

I owned an AAC edition 700. It was a great gun. I did replace the stock with an HS Precision, install a Timney trigger and a larger bolt knob. If you were to get an AI stock, that would solve your detachable mag problem.

For right around $2K you could have a sweet setup.
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

your first rifle, and you're already talking about a custom gun? i can understand to some people money isn't an object, but really? do you have any experience with a bolt gun? i'm no expert, but i'm pretty decent at shooting whitetail. my first bolt gun was an old Ruger M77 pre-hawkeye in 270win. it cost $400 and had an old scope on it. it still shoots a 3" group at 200 yards, and the gun is 40 years old! i'd suggest that before you get a great gun and learn to shoot, try on a cheaper one. if you can get good groups from a Rem 700 SPS, you can always tweak it the way you want.

i had a friend tell me that i should get a simple rifle and build it the way i want.

i'm just sayin'...
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mav68erick</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> So Im Looking at purchasing my first bolt action, as much as I would love to do a custom build the cost is no issue its the wait.... </div></div>

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=15&page=1

Check the Firearms For Sale, bolt guns of your dreams available today.
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

I'm in the process of doing an AAC-SD build. In the future I want to suppress and use subsonic rounds, so the 1:10" twist is ideal for both sub and supersonic rounds. You are correct in that the Hogue stock would need to be replaced. I am running with an AICS 2.0 and am going to get the Viper Skins for it.

I think what you need to do to finalize your decision is look at the overall purpose of what you want to use the rifle for. I know it is not on your list but I also looked at the 5R 20" threaded barrel, the twist on that rifle was 1:11.25" which basically set in stone my decision to go with the AAC-SD. (I needed the faster twist for the subsonic loads).

I have done a SPS build in the past; 7mm Rem Mag, 26" pencil barrel and a DBM. The rifle seemed pleasing at the time of purchase but as I used the rifle more I decided that I needed to rethink my build.

It looks like you are doing your research and that is really what you need to do when going with any rifle build. Remington makes really good factory weapons, I will stand by them all day. Once you find what purpose the rifle is going to serve you, the right one will stand out.

----------
Dave
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

Thx for the replys, Ite not that I wanted to go straight custom, I figured it would save time and money in the run. But I'm really thinking thru Ltd would Bevan good starter, seems like a good bang for my buck, don't need to swap the stock rright away, ad get get something more desirable or on order fior the future. I have nothing against later on getting the factory action trued, I just figured if I was gonna build a gun I'd start with a good action since the rest of the pieces seem to get tossed. I watched a youtube vid of a guy on here trueing an action and giving pros cons to it. And it was cheaper to just get a stilled if you didn't have a rifle already.

But I think now the Ltr seems to be a good starting point
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mav68erick</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thx for the replys, Ite not that I wanted to go straight custom, I figured it would save time and money in the run. But I'm really thinking thru Ltd would Bevan good starter, seems like a good bang for my buck, don't need to swap the stock rright away, ad get get something more desirable or on order fior the future. I have nothing against later on getting the factory action trued, I just figured if I was gonna build a gun I'd start with a good action since the rest of the pieces seem to get tossed. I watched a youtube vid of a guy on here trueing an action and giving pros cons to it. And it was cheaper to just get a stilled if you didn't have a rifle already.

But I think now the Ltr seems to be a good starting point

</div></div>

You are right about starting with a good action. The main key to building a good precision rifle is to start with a stress free and stable platform.
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

FWIW I have a 20" LTR in .308, and it's not a dog. Admittedly, mine has a Jewell trigger, a B&C stock and was skim bedded. But it consistenly shoots <1MOA and I've shot groups down to .3 MOA with it at 100 yds and .6 MOA at 200 yds. using FGMM 168 ammo.
 
Re: Thinking about my first Bolt Action rifle.

First wanna apologize for my last post, I replyed on my phone and I cant stand typing more then quick responses on it so, Im sure it may have some parts that may be hard to read.

And yeah money isnt an option but I wanna also be realistic so I thank you for your honest reply, I just figured it would be a way to get exactly what I want or would be looking for and also the smith or w/e company I went with could also guide me along. Plus its putting money into peoples hands that do skilled work and keeping the economy going even though sometimes I wish it would just collapse so we could get out of this mess ( Im sure I would think otherwise if it actually did ).

Most likely if I got the LTR before winter hit id shot it on a weekly basis with my M14 then during the winter months id prolly look to swapping the stock getting a mcmillan on order or something. Skim bed the stock HS presion bed a decent rail on her etc. really 1 moa should be achieved out of the box and what cant you hit with that but .5 would be pleasing and seems as though youve got that with good ammo.

Heres the youtube vids I watched on action trueing, also watched his bedding videos very good stuff. And also he added it up like I said previously, my guy at the gun store a few years ago when I wanted to build a rifle like his ( short action 700 ) he told me just find a cheep gun at the auction because everything on its useless to me except the action. well Im not to big on buying used stuff I always end up having to fix or rework something its such a pita and with only having 1 day off a week sometimes I dont even wanna bother. So I figured it wasnt worth it to buy the cheapest 700 I could get in junk stocks and be happy while I waited thats when I seen the LTR, always heard the police model brought up neverseen it on there website til it popped up on buds on the lower banner, and all seemed perfect. Something I can actually shoot now and be content other then cosmetic looks of the "stock" stock. Anyway to get to the point he basically pointed out if you didnt have a rifle already it was cheaper to start with a quality action rather then buy a stock factory gun and pay 250+ to true it etc.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n191F9c1Y...re=results_main


sure would be nice to find a gun store that actually has what I want on the shelf to handle, seems in this day and age anything you want you have to order sight on seen.

But again thx for the help