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New member with question

Lineman711

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Apr 5, 2009
137
1
38
TN
New here, just have a quick question. I'm new to long range shooting, been hunting and pistol shooting a long time but never shot over 300 yards. Been a reloader for 7 years. I'm picking up my new Rem 5R this Friday. I've got some Leupold LR bases and rings here I plan to put on the rifle along with a Weaver V16 when I get it home. Flame away, but it's what I have on hand at the moment and will have to do until I can save for a better optic/mounting system. Got some 175gr SMKs and plenty of Varget so I guess that's where I'll start in load development. Just curious if I would have any problems getting to 600 yards with the Weaver and Leupold bases. If I remember correctly, I'm thinking that the LR base that I have has around 10 MOA cant on it. Thanks for any help and, being new to long range shooting, I'm open to any suggestions. Thank you again.
 
Re: New member with question

Everyone has got to start somewhere.

Should get there OK.Depends on where in the adjustment range of the scope you end up when sighted in.

Welcome to the hide.

Steve
 
Re: New member with question

Thank you Steve.

I knew that 800-1000 yards would be pushing it with that setup, but thought 600 would be within reason.

I guess another option would be to sell the Weaver and order a Super Sniper and see how I like it. Reading the reviews make it seem like a good deal. Only problem is my budget right now is a strict $400, and I'm not sure how well I'd like the rear focus model.
 
Re: New member with question

You seem to know you want a better scope, my personal path to that new scope would be to save for it, keep the weaver and enjoy your rifle until you can upgrade the glass. After you have the new glass, go spend a little more money slightly down the road and get a 22 LR trainer and put the Weaver on top.

Welcome to the 'Hide, I haven't been here more than 3 months but I feel at home already.
 
Re: New member with question

I was just shooting my 22 at 200yards an hour ago with my 16xSS on it.Great scope for the money.Rear focus is nicer than a reg AO,my opinion.That new Falcon 5-25x50 is coming out soon.They are both 30mm tubes however and that means you will need another set of rings.I'm temped to try one of those Falcons myself and am trying to talk a friend into trying one.

Steve
 
Re: New member with question

I just got back in from work, I'll be picking up my rifle tomorrow morning. Can't wait, this will be my first .308.

I got lucky and found a NIB Leupold Vari-X 3 4.5-14 x 40 LR for a steal. Should be a nice step up from the Weaver, and hopefully with the 30mm tube, give me plenty of elevation...for now.

I called around all week trying to find some brass. It seems I'm having more trouble with .308 than .223, never would have guessed that.

Hopefully will have a range report and some pics by the end of the weekend.

 
Re: New member with question

As far as brass goes, watch the for sale section for once fired stuff.
Especially LC, because Varget and SMK 175's will be happier with less case capacity (atleast my 5R loads have indicated).
 
Re: New member with question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: lineman711</div><div class="ubbcode-body">New here, just have a quick question. I'm new to long range shooting, been hunting and pistol shooting a long time but never shot over 300 yards. Been a reloader for 7 years. I'm picking up my new Rem 5R this Friday. I've got some Leupold LR bases and rings here I plan to put on the rifle along with a Weaver V16 when I get it home. Flame away, but it's what I have on hand at the moment and will have to do until I can save for a better optic/mounting system. Got some 175gr SMKs and plenty of Varget so I guess that's where I'll start in load development. Just curious if I would have any problems getting to 600 yards with the Weaver and Leupold bases. If I remember correctly, I'm thinking that the LR base that I have has around 10 MOA cant on it. Thanks for any help and, being new to long range shooting, I'm open to any suggestions. Thank you again. </div></div>


Welcome aboard! I'm pretty new here as well and from what I see every one is great! Rarely will you get dissed for your set up. It seems to me that every one here is very understanding that people have different incomes, different tastes and so on. The information is wonderful and the sarcasm plentiful, this truly is a great place

Mike
 
Re: New member with question

Just brought her home, I can't wait to see how it shoots. The scope is still not here yet, we called and it's in PA, should arrive Monday...bad news for me because I work out of town Mon.-Thurs. Gives me some time for loading shells.

Impressed so far with the rifle. Love the stock, I prefer it over the 700 Police models I've handled. Palm swell is bigger than I expected which is actually good for me, my hands are big. The Action isn't as rough as I thought it would be after reading reviews. Only complaint is the stainless finish, which is fine for my needs, but I'm sure you all know how that goes.

I told the guy about not finding any brass locally and he threw in 100 pieces of once fired Federal no charge. He also threw in a Leupold LR base for free and let me have a set of new dies for $20.

If I can find my card reader I'll post a pic or two.
 
Re: New member with question

I had that same Leupold on my work rifle for a looong time. Loved it. Great scope. Have fun and let us know how you fare once you get her out there.
 
Re: New member with question

You could always, if needed, pick up a 20 moa base from EGW. They are around 40 and get positive praise.
 
Re: New member with question

Having some very frustrating problems loading for this rifle.

It seems that 2.80" COAL is still too long to allow a round to chamber.

Using Fed. brass and Hornady 168 gr. match bullets.

Brass is trimmed to spec and full length sized.

I don't even think it will chamber FGMM right now. Might be giving Remington a call about this one.

Any of you have any similar experiences?

Thanks.
 
Re: New member with question

You're using once-fired brass from another rifle. Not knowing what type of gun the brass came from, you might try small base sizing before giving up on the rifle itself. FL sizing doesn't always return the entire case to spec.

If the rifle doesn't chamber factory ammo, then perhaps there is a problem.
 
Re: New member with question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: lineman711</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Having some very frustrating problems loading for this rifle.

It seems that 2.80" COAL is still too long to allow a round to chamber.

Using Fed. brass and Hornady 168 gr. match bullets.

Brass is trimmed to spec and full length sized.

I don't even think it will chamber FGMM right now. Might be giving Remington a call about this one.

Any of you have any similar experiences?

Thanks. </div></div>

Do they fit in the magazine? Do any factory rounds fit in the chamber? Do any of your loads fit in the chamber? When you say you full length resized them, how did you guage them? Got a .308 case guage?

If they don't fit your magazine, it could be due to misalignment of the magazine box when reassembling the rifle. Check this stuff out first.

Try chambering a brand of factory round or two for chambering. That should not be a problem.

Try your loads in a case guage. If they fit but don't chamber in your rifle you're out of spec. Very unlikely though.

If they don't fit your magazine box or won't feed from the magazine, check your mag box and adjust accordingly.
 
Re: New member with question

Just got back from the store that I ordered the rifle from.

Tried chambering Federal Fusion, blue box Federal, and Winchester factory loaded shells and while all did in fact chamber, bolt was tight when being closed and the bullets did show markings from the rifling.

My loads fit fine in the three different rifles chambered in .308 that the store had, as well as the factory loadings that were tight in my gun.

I, as well as the two guys working at my local store, which have been shooting and reloading for over twenty years each, all agree that the gun is out of spec.

Now I'm just wondering how Remington will handle this, what kind of turn around time I'm looking at, and will the work they do to the rifle be satisfactory.

Edit: By the way, I've never dealt with anything like this before, and pretty frustrated. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Re: New member with question

After talking to a few guys about this, I'm kinda worried now about sending it back. Seems like a few think that I'll get it back with an excessively long throat and be just as unhappy as I am now. Not sure what to do. I really wish there was a good smith in the area that could check it out for me, but they're few and far between around here.

I guess I'll just think about it this week when I'm away at work and hopefully call Remington and see what they have to say about it.

By the way, awesome site here. I wish I would have known about it earlier. Tons of good info., reviews, bullshittin, etc.

Yall have a good week and I'll update this thread to any who is interested on how this turns out.
 
Re: New member with question

Post your area proper and someone will surely give a recomondation for a smity.
 
Re: New member with question

Usually, Remington's are cosidered fairly long throated. is it possible the marks you saw on the bullets were made as they were stripped from the magazine? The lips can be a little sharp or burred. Also, the feed into the breach can also be a little scratchy as they feed. If you see 5 marks (5 lands and grooves in a 5R correct?) on a blackened bullet, you can assume you've hit the lands. But a little bolt stiffness on a new rifle is not necessarily a bad thing. Mine was at first and is only stiff now with insufficiently resized cases!

Since you found that it will chamber factory rounds, I'd try to resolve the marks you saw: feed lips or breach rim roughness or actually short chambered. I'm betting (your money of course!) that it is one of the first two. As such, if the bullets aren't jammed into the lands, I'd shoot that sucka and see what you have there.

Mark up a couple bullets, either as dummy rounds that fit the chamber or factory rounds (we now know fit that chamber) with a Sharpie, chamber them, carefully extract them and look carefully at the marks on the bullet. Look at where the marks are on the bullet? If they are uniform around the ogive you are at the lands. If there are just long scratches it's from feeding into the chamber and can be addressed with a fine stone or emory cloth.

This will tell you whether your chamber is too short or you just have a little "field machining" to do!

I'll bet a ton of your money the rifle is fine!

Good luck
 
Re: New member with question

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Mark up a couple bullets, either as dummy rounds that fit the chamber or factory rounds (we now know fit that chamber) with a Sharpie, chamber them, carefully extract them and look carefully at the marks on the bullet. Look at where the marks are on the bullet? If they are uniform around the ogive you are at the lands. If there are just long scratches it's from feeding into the chamber and can be addressed with a fine stone or emory cloth.</div></div>

Just tried that. Here's what I found. Keep in mind that I pushed the bullet in by hand then closed the bolt to take the feed lips out of the equation. Bullet had 3 scratches running from tip of bullet to the ogive. Looked more like scrapes rather than a solid, deep scratch. On the ogive, (I think I'm using the term correctly) there is a deep scratch running around the bullet horizontally that runs approximately 1/5th of the way around.

I'm curious now if there is possibly a burr of some sort up there close to the rifling that is catching the bullet and not allowing it to turn when I try to close the bolt. Perhaps this 'burr' is catching the bullets that are seated out a little farther in a way that will not allow them to turn when chambered, instead of just catching enough to cause the bolt to be stiff.

I also noticed that I can push all the rounds to what I'm pretty sure is all the way chambered with my fingers, even the longer ones, with no resistance at all. The resistance comes when trying to close the bolt.

I'm no gunsmith by any means, so I'm pretty stumped right now.

 
Re: New member with question

Brand new, never fired. I don't think it had even been taken out of the box before I picked it up.
 
Re: New member with question

It's only been proofed then. Look mate, you don't know me from a hole in the ground, but it sounds like you and that rifle need to go out and make some noise together!

It very likely is looking for a little break in, and I don't mean the agonizing shoot one and clean for first ten rounds, then 2 and clean for next 20, etc. By all means, do it (break in) your way.

No, what I mean is it just has a little rough machining, burrs or edges, that will wear off with use or some judicious stoning, filing or emory cloth and a good cleaning of any residue from grease, packing material, etc. The bolt face for exsample: is it leaving marks on the case heads? The ejector hole and the extractor can be a little edgey too. Sounds like a good fit to me. If they start out loose they seldom get tighter!

I'd find a box of 165 grain Win or Rem softpoints and patiently fire them for an idea of what she'll do. Then give her a cleaning and try a box of first rate match ammo.

I think your rifle has a few rough edges from manufacturing and needs some range time to show you what she's made of!
 
Re: New member with question

Got it all resolved. Just needed to be used a little to smooth everything out.

I learned a valuable lesson on getting "all the play" out of a reloading press when sizing once fired brass also.

This little problem was definitely operator error as opposed to equipment failure.

Man do I feel like a dumbass.