I just picked up a Remington 700 5R in .308 with 24" barrel as my first long range rifle. I got it for $850 - $150 Remington rebate, which came to $805 OTD when combined with the tax and DROS. One of the local chain stores had it for sale, and combined with the Remington rebate, it was just too hard to pass up. I was curious if anyone else got one of those recently too. Also, any suggestions for anything I should do will be appreciated. Looking forward to shooting it once I can afford to mount some glass on it
- Thread starter TSpork
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For basic starters, and this is just me; I would grab some high quality match ammo and see how it shoots from the factory.
If it's a solid 1/2 Moa or less I proably wouldn't mess with it much. Trigger and bedding is all. This is unlikely but I've seen it happen before.
As as far as mods, I would start with a good trigger, scope base and a solid scope/ring foundation. Depends if you like the stock or not I would have it bedded. If you plan on changing stocks out later then I wouldn't bed it quite yet unless you just have the disposable income. If all that is done and it's still only 3/4-1 Moa gun then something is not right and that's not uncommon with factory Remington rifles. Most of my factory barrels I have cut slightly and re-crowned and this takes care of a lot of issues.
Just take it slow with the modifications until you see what the rifle is capable of before and after each mod.
If it's a solid 1/2 Moa or less I proably wouldn't mess with it much. Trigger and bedding is all. This is unlikely but I've seen it happen before.
As as far as mods, I would start with a good trigger, scope base and a solid scope/ring foundation. Depends if you like the stock or not I would have it bedded. If you plan on changing stocks out later then I wouldn't bed it quite yet unless you just have the disposable income. If all that is done and it's still only 3/4-1 Moa gun then something is not right and that's not uncommon with factory Remington rifles. Most of my factory barrels I have cut slightly and re-crowned and this takes care of a lot of issues.
Just take it slow with the modifications until you see what the rifle is capable of before and after each mod.
Thanks for the suggestions. Ya, I plan on getting some good ammo and shooting it before doing any mods. I need to grab a scope, base, and mount and get out and shoot it to see how it performs. I swear, having it sit there and not knowing if I have a shooter or not kills me
I would put money into a nice optic before upgrading the rifle. Hopefully it's a good shooter and you won't need to fiddle with it.
Thanks, that was my thought as well. Now I'm just trying to decide on what to get for it. Thinking about taking a look at the Gen II PSTs now, but still undecided
Don't be too worried. I know a local here who picked one up as his first LR rifle and has been quite happy so far. His is a shooter. The Gen II PST is a great topper for this rifle.
Ya, I almost got going a couple years ago, and had a Razor gen I but sold it. Any other suggestions for a scope? I'd rather save up for something at least decent quality rather than going to something that i'll regret buying
Well, in that same price range, there are also solid offerings from Bushnell, Nightforce, Steiner, Burris and even Athlon Everybody has their favorites and preferences. Just look at the Rifle Scopes section. You can read there all week and your head will spin. Do your best to look at reticles and features and pick one that you think will work for you. I can tell you that they all will work with your rifle. You can spend more if you want and you'll get somewhat better glass, features and performance for a lot more cash. It really depends a lot on your budget and what will make you happy. It really is a buyer's market out there right now.
Think they are $ 699.99 + tax + DROS
At least here in CA . . . :-(
Not bad !
At least here in CA . . . :-(
Not bad !
Living in CA too. That's what mine came it to be
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Ya, I'm going to need to do some more research and probably save up some. The "buyer's market" has been doing a beating to my wallet. I'm slowly reading about scopes. Already have some knowledge about them and what an idea as to what I want, but need to reeducate myself as to what's good
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BTW whatever happened to the old scout website? I remember it was Snipershide, then everything got migrated to scout. I had some postings there, even sold the razor there. Then now we're back to Snipershide
ETA: autocorrect typo
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Sometimes we have to live with the changes . . .
Ya, I might actually grab a trigger soon. They're pretty affordable and would definitely make it much nicer to shoot than the 40x. I was looking at possibly a Calvin Elite or a Triggertech. Any recommendations for scope bases?
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My buddy has one, and with a new trigger it shoots great. BUT it was the roughest bolt to open I have ever seen. A bad batch of Win primers cratered the bolt head pretty bad so he had that corrected, bushed, and bolt timing corrected; now its smooth. I don't know of anything that would aggravate the hell out of me any more than that bolt did. If yours requires high force and is rough to operate find a good smith to correct it. Cost him $150 for a first class job.
imo a triggertech is better if you're wanting single stage. I'd get something quality such as a seekins or nightforce one piece base
I picked up a 5R in 308 with the 20" barrel back in January. Added a Timney 510 trigger, Nightforce 20 MOA base, Gen 1 Vortex Viper 6x24 PST FFP in Vortex Rings and dropped it all into my Gen 1 AICS chassis.
First range trip it delivered a .53 MOA group at its best with my FGMM 175 clone load (41.8 grains IMR 4064, 175 SMK, ZQI once fired brass). I can't wait to see what this does once I have time for proper load development.
First range trip it delivered a .53 MOA group at its best with my FGMM 175 clone load (41.8 grains IMR 4064, 175 SMK, ZQI once fired brass). I can't wait to see what this does once I have time for proper load development.
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I'm definitely getting something quality. I was considering the Badger, but maybe I'll get one of these instead
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That's some good shooting! Have you tried the 168 FGMM by any chance?
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Damn that sounds like a pain in the ass. I'm going to look out for that
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I haven't shot the Sierra 168's but the Hornady 168's faired pretty well. I bought a 500 count box of the 175's so I'll be using those for a bit.
Send it to me, I'll let you know lol
You can't go wrong with a badger, seekins or nightforce base. All are quality, but I prefer the steel of the badger or nightforce vs seekins aluminum.
I prefer Murphy Precision SS bases over the aluminum ones. They also make a Ti one to save weight but expensive.
My 24" 5R 308 was a tac driver. Put a Timney CE in it and dropped it in an XLR chassis. Shot 0.5" groups all day. Loved 175smk and 178 Amax with IMR4064.
My 24" 5R 308 was a tac driver. Put a Timney CE in it and dropped it in an XLR chassis. Shot 0.5" groups all day. Loved 175smk and 178 Amax with IMR4064.
I picked one up not long ago also, the rifle is very accurate. I would suggest taking a good look at the bolt as mentioned above my bolt lift was also extremely stiff. I had a gunsmith lap the bolt lugs and the bolt run way smoother now. The headspacing was way off from the factory it was even noted on the Remington box. I also had the barrel threaded and a muzzle brake installed. Also had the factory trigger set to 2.5lbs.
There's a sale on 168 FGMM. Think I should grab some boxes or should I just hold out for the 175s? I don't want to spend the money on 168 FGMM if no one is getting good results out of their 5R
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Never buy bulk until you test. Buy a box or two of different kinds of match ammo and see what your gun likes best then buy bulk.
Good to know. I'll probably stick with a steel one then
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Thanks for the suggestion. That's definitely very encouraging. I plan to buy a couple boxes of the Privi, FGMM 168 and 175, razorcore, and probably the mag tech. Probably black hills if I can find/afford it. Any ones that I'm probably overlooking?
I really need to get back into reloading. This is a new caliber for me, and my press isn't really set up for precision
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What kind of results are you getting with the heavies? There's a smith near me that can tune the 2 bumps on the bolt. I just need to have. The trigger I want chosen
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With 175 SMK and Varget I'm shooting .3s @ 100yards after I had the work done to the rifle.
I reload all of my precision ammo on a good old RCBS Rock Chucker IV single stage press. No need to spend tons of money on a press to get great results.
Damn that's awesome
What kind of dies are you using?
Just out of curiosity, why are you guys messing around with 168's?
Just wondering what everyone has had good success running. PSA has a deal going on where is is $16 per box of 20, which seems like a good deal. I grabbed a few boxes to test them out since they were priced so good. I'll try and grab some other brands in both 175s and 168. might try to get back into reloading too. otherwise, I may go broke
Thanks a lot for the great info!
I deprime all of my brass using a Lee universal depriming die before wet tumbling with SS pins.
Then it depends on where the brass came from:
Once fired military brass and brass out of my M1A get small base sized with a standard RCBS small base sizing die.
Brass out of the 700 5R is reloaded using a Redding Competition die set.
I was actually looking at those dies. I might just make the investment and restart my reloading soon
My last 5R was in 300 WM and I now have a poor view of Remington rifles. I had to polish the chamber due to a bur in the chamber that caused the brass to stick in the chamber after firing. This rifle would only shoot good groups with bullets at 200 grains and above, at 1 MOA. Give the rifle a good cleaning then try a range of good factory ammo if you are not reloading. Good luck.
That does suck to hear. I'm hoping I don't have the same experience
My understanding it could be hit or miss thing with Remington. For me I just moved unto other platforms (DTA, Sako TRG and Accuracy International)
I have a Gen 1 700-5R in .308 and it has always been a great rifle. Loves FGMM 168 and 175gr ammo although I reload my own mainly. I did order 200 rounds of 168gr FGMM from PSA....couldn't pass it up for the price. Anyway, the rifle is a sub-MOA rifle straight from the factory. Maybe I just got lucky but with the Gen 1s, there were plenty of guys reporting they had great shooting rifles. Very few reported having problems from what I recall. I hope your new Gen 2 turns out to be a shooter as mine has. So here is what I changed / added to mine:
- Timney Trigger set to 2.0 lbs
- Sold the stock here on SH and mounted the action to an AICS 2.0 chasis
- Threaded the barrel and added an AAC Cyclone
- Phoenix Custom Rifles over-size bolt knob
- Cerkoted the action and barrel Armor Black
- Installed a Nightforce NXS Zero Stop 5.5-22x56 SFP scope in Leupold Mark 4 Rings on a NF 20 MOA base
- Atlas bipod
Here is what it looks like and what she is capable of:
- Timney Trigger set to 2.0 lbs
- Sold the stock here on SH and mounted the action to an AICS 2.0 chasis
- Threaded the barrel and added an AAC Cyclone
- Phoenix Custom Rifles over-size bolt knob
- Cerkoted the action and barrel Armor Black
- Installed a Nightforce NXS Zero Stop 5.5-22x56 SFP scope in Leupold Mark 4 Rings on a NF 20 MOA base
- Atlas bipod
Here is what it looks like and what she is capable of:
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Thanks for posting that! that is one sweet rifle. That's some good shooting too! Actually, I got a gen 1 5R, the green one with the stainless barreled action. I may spray it black, but trying to decide how to tackle the bolt. might just spray the handle only and leave everything as is.
As update, I grabbed some of the 168 FGMM from PSA. My friend said he'd buy the rest if it didn't shoot well in my gun. Also, I picked up an HDMRII for an optic and a Badger scope base. Now all i'm missing is some rings and a cleaning rod for it to be fireable. I use a universal OTIS kit for everything else, but i'll probably go with a rod for this rifle. slowly it's coming together
I was thinking of painting it black with some Rustoleum for the time being. I'm thinking it's a better idea to not paint the bolt and just leaving it jeweled would probably be the best idea. That way it won't get sticky and will remain as smooth as possible. Any thoughts on this?
Also, is it better to spray it before attaching the scope base, or after? I usually like to paint parts individually but, will the paint on the top of the receiver cause any issues when I attach the scope base on top?
Also, is it better to spray it before attaching the scope base, or after? I usually like to paint parts individually but, will the paint on the top of the receiver cause any issues when I attach the scope base on top?
Shouldnt be if you do it correctly. If you're worried about your artistic skills, put the rail on, mark out the line, then mask off where the rail would be. Spray the BA whatever color, leaving the section where the rail goes in the white.
