SPS Tactical Makeover 2.0

[Keith Johns]

Here's a Remington SPS Tactical that I made-over....



Started as a stock 223Rem SPS Tactical

Bolted it into a Manners T4 with a mini chassis.

Installed a Phoenix bolt knob.

Handle reinforcement.

Shroud modification.

Scope base holes opened upto 8-40

New PTG lug that measures .001" thinner than factory, tightening up headspace about .002 after putting the barrel on slightly tighter than factory and cleaning up the gunk in the factory threads.

Installed a Badger Thruster brake and gave it a new crown.

Installed a Titanium firing pin for less vibration on firing and hopefully less locktime.

EGW Heavy Dut 7075 Rail(Much nicer than their $39.99 rail. Best rail for the money I think, at only $70. Its well made and as straight as any of the $140 rails Ive seen.

Shilen trigger set at 2.75

Cerakoted it Sniper Grey.

Stock is a two color Digital job with Sniper Grey in the dark patches and a mix of Tactical Grey and Hidden White for the surrounding lighter grey.




Total cost to do this to an SPS is about $1800. And that's from bone stock! Doesn't even look like an SPS anymore....









You could drop a lot of the little extras like the Titanium firing pin, opening the scope base holes up, and doing the Digital Camo job, and get the price down to around $1400 from a bone stock Remington SPS Tactical or SPS Varmint. Getting the rifle bedded into a good stock, or bolting it into a mini chassis from Manners, along with a few extras like bolt work, re-crowning, and Cerakote, you can make an SPS damn close to being as nice as a custom build on a Remy action. Those factory varmint contour barrels don't seem to have any problem shooting half minute with hand loads, especially after re-crowning and some TLC.

 

[clayne_b]

Looks very very nice!

 

[Keith Johns]

Thank you.
I have yet to shoot it. Cant wait to get some groups and see what the factory barrel will do with the factory ammo I have.
It should be fun to shoot. No recoil.

Im probably turning it into a 300 blackout or whisper once I get my can late this year or early next year.

 

[RobertB]

Awesome. I have shot one of the SPS that I fixed up (not near to the degree yu did, just stock,bases,trigger etc.) and it shoots great. Yesterday I shot 3 groups during the course of the day at 750 yds with 175 FGMM and all 3 groups which were 5 shots you could cover with the palm of your hand. I was very impressed. I didn't think the remmy tubes had it in em.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Nice work as alway Keith.

 

[Willoughby]

Looks great, what are the scope rings?

 

[dogman]

Great set up. Both my wife's rifles (223 and 308) are Remington SPS guns and both are customized to a certain degree. It's a great base gun to accurize and personalize without breaking the bank.

 

[Gentleman4561]

Looks great! I have one that is in process. Gonna be a while before I have the funds to deck it out.

 

[Keith Johns]

Scope rings are Seekins. I love their rings.

Rail is an EGW heavy duty. Theyre $70 and made from 7075. When I checked it, it was perfectly straight on my receiver. Good news for the rail and receiver ring and bridge.

STILL havent gotten out to shoot it but I will soon.

 

[midmoguy]

I really like the break, I didn't realize badger made one that wasn't so obnoxiously large

 

[Keith Johns]

Thats their thruster brake. We use them the most and keep them in stock. It starts at .990" and can be turned down to .820"

Going below .860" with a .308" or larger bore makes the brake less efficient than if it were left larger. Baffel surface area matters as much as baffel hole diamter.

I think its the best brake for the money($70)

Thanks

Btw, our turn around time right now is about 3 weeks for miscellaneous work, and 2 to 3 months for full rifle builds.

 

[thrusty]

Nice stick! Wish I had the glass on top. Big fan of the Thruster brakes, great value and performance.

 

[TRTAC]

Nice build. I always appreciate a build on a remy....

 

[Keith Johns]

Rifle now has a side bolt stop/release.

Im opening the barrel channel up to 1.375" straight from lug to end of stock. Im epoxying a Twill weave Carbon Fiber tune into the channel under high pressure, then milling it off flush with the top stock-line.

Youll be able to see the classic carbon fiber look in the channel. It will stiffen the shit out of it and look badass.

Carbon fiver comes in next week. Ill post pics once its done.

Manners stocks seem a little stiffer than Mcmillan. So it would benefit a mcmillan stock more than this Manners. But it can be done to any stock with a wide enough forend. Any A5, A4, T2, T3, T4, etc....

Mcmillan and Manners stock only.

Pictures ad pricing will be posted next week.

Forend stock flex is a serious problem sometimes. Much of the apparent flex comes from the lug area. But with how we bed, that is pretty much negated. We bed lug areas solid, taping off only the sides and bottom of the recoil lug.
The Carbon fiber I add will run all the way back to the front of the lug.

Im doing it to a stock with a mini chassis in it first. Then Ill try a traditional stock. It will work in both. But in a mcmillan stock, with no mini chassis, I can possible run some carbon fiber around the lug, going along the sides of the action. Very excited to play around with it. My goal is to make forends stiff as steel. No flex at ALL. Plus it will look awesome.

 

[rickyd_55]

I sure would like to have all that done to my .308 sps tac. Awesome work you do there Keith.

 

[Keith Johns]

Thanks very much. I have my nee rifle ready for test firing. Its a 7mm-08 now. Im embedded cabon fiber into the forend. Ill post pics of the rifle and groups once I get ammo loaded up and get out to shoot. Its 115 degrees out now that its summer. Might be a while before I get out to shoot.

Thanks guys

 

[lowfill707]

so let me see if im getting this right. you opened up the barrel channel to be able to take up to a straight taper and then layed carbon fiber in the channel to not only stiffen it but im sure it also looks pretty cool. thats a million dollar idea for anybody that wants to use the mini chassis like an actual chassis system and drop in different barreled actions with different barrel contours. i suppose you could order it from manners already inletted for a straight taper, but honestly it usually looks weird when the barrel channel way bigger then the barrel its self, the carbon fiber look should fix that and make it look like its supposed to be like that. when are you going to offer that as a service?

 

[Elite_KG]

Did you change the barrel or just thread it and install the break?