Rifle Scopes need help on new rifle combo

[herren2006]

i have just purchased a new remington 700 sps tactical .308. i will be installing a bell&carlson tactical melalist a2 stock, swfa ss 20x40 scope with egw picatinny 20moa rail and rings to match, and a bipod. i have been wanting to shoot long range for a while now and was wondering if this is a good combo to start with. i was also wondering about some shooting ranges in alabama that are farther than 200 yards to shoot at. any pointers would be greatly appreciated. thanks

 

[-=boone=-]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

It's a great start.

 

[BobinNC]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

Ok, I'll play:

And you will need (if you haven't already bought) a 20x scope to shoot at exactly what??

Perhaps if your shooting fleas off a chinchilla's butt, perhaps, a 20x may help, otherwise, not very useful at 200 yds, and marginally useful @ 1000.

If I may illustrate, a 3" (1.5 MOA)target @ 200 yds through a 20x scope will appear to be a mere 10 yds away. With the eminently more useful fixed 10x scope it will appear to be a distant 20 yds away.

Can you see 3" target @ 10 yds, Yes, how about 20 yds?

How about a 1.5 MOA (15.7") target @ 1000 yds. It will appear to be 50 yds away through a 20x scope, and 100 yds away through a 10x scope.

Can you see a 15.7" target with your naked eye @ 100 yds? One would think so. Therefore a 15.7" target is easy to see in a 10x scope.

Of course in endeavors like benchrest shooting, scopes of 20x or more are commonly used.

But a stock Remington 700 SPS in 308, is as close a relative to a benchrest rifle, as I am a close relative of Davy Crockett, which is to say not at all.

You of course may buy whatever scope suits your fancy, but that's my "pointer of the day" for your circumspection.

Welcome to the brier patch, er the Hide.....

Bob

 

[Switchblade]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

Go with the 10x42 and learn it's mil dots as well as MOA execution from 100M to 1000M.
When you break in the rifle do it right:
Shoot one, clean it for ten rounds. Shoot five, clean it for twenty rounds. Shoot ten, clean it. Good to go. When you clean it, clean it good so all the copper and lead is out of the barrel and throat. Why? Don't ruin a good rifle that will shoot 1/2MOA out of the box. The rifle will be better than you for a while until you get your stuff together in the basic marksmanship department. You will be frustrated trying to get small one hole groups at 100M or tiny groups farther out.
You will shoot a lot to practice, or you will say screw it and hide it in the safe hoping it will go away. If you get good with the 10x42 and find you are spending a butt load of monay on ammo, well,you will start to reload. You will spend even more money. Now you will be spending money like a Gyrene on BC street on a pay day weekend to shoot and reload. You will becoame reclusive and forget about your friends as you get deeper and deeper into the LR bug, almost like a bad horse habit to a junkie. Your friends will look at you funny when you explain MOA and Milling, or wind drift and trace.
Now that I have totally pissed in your cheerios, post or look in the Link Up forum for Alabama folks. If you don't find any, post looking. I think we do have a few, like ALabama SHooter. He's a great guy and does some pretty mean bbq too.
Oh, also don't forget to bed your rail to your receiver, then you might want to bed the rifle to the stock, and true the action, tune the trigger, you know the basic stuff to start to trick the rifle out a wee bit.
If you just want to 'look cool' on the range, your fine for now, but the more rails you have the better you will be

 

[herren2006]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

thanks guys for the info. also looking at the scope sizes i think i will go with the 10x42. i have been trying to learn the mil dot reticle. i have a good idea of how to use it. i just need some field time to get comfortable. what kind of bedding is used for the action to the stock. the stock i want has aluminum bedding already, but i know the imperfections in the material between the new stock and my action will not match. thanks for the information guys.

 

[herren2006]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

i went with the ss16x40 because of the sight picture. i changed my mounts to badger ordinance 1piece and 1 piece rings. my gun should arrive monday. cant wait to shoot it. what kind of ammo should i break in my barrel with? should it be the same ammo that i will be shooting? next week i was going to georgia arms to look at their target loads(168gr sierra matchking,and georgia arms BTHP).

 

[RemingtonSPS]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

You should do some searching on bedding. A mistake could be costly i.e. your action glued to the stock. It just takes a little reading. With your rifle you would probably be fine just bedding around the recoil lug area.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MuleHunter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You should do some searching on bedding. A mistake could be costly i.e. your action glued to the stock. It just takes a little reading. With your rifle you would probably be fine just bedding around the recoil lug area. </div></div>

+1, that would be ugly, lots of beginners do it too.

 

[herren2006]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

i plan trashing the stock and ordering a bell an carlson a5 medalist soon. would this be a good option?

 

[StockDog]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

Where Are you in AL? I can point you toward some of the better ranges.

It sounds like You are headed in the right direction. I am still a novice shooter but if you are like the rest of us, your rifle will constantly evolve.

 

[herren2006]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

woodland, al. about 75miles east from you the way the crow flies lol. yeah im just starting out shooting longrange. do you ever go to steel city?

 

[StockDog]

Re: need help on new rifle combo

I have shot there once but I am not a member. There are some nice ranges in the North part of the state and there is Styx River near Loxley.

There is Maple Ridge outside of Decatur that goes out to 600 and they provide a golf cart with your range fee.

You will probably do better to find a club that has a decent range and join. Some of the public ranges are frequented by very nice and safe shooters but you always have a few that you have to watch really close.

Be safe.