Well you guys are going to laugh at this but I bought a new rifle because I had a free scope from Burris (Full Field II 6.5-20x)that I was not using. I also had a .308 reloading set up with brass, primers etc but no gun. So I saw this Remington 700 SPS in the Black Dog gun shop in Soldotna with a 20 inch barrel. It was love at first sight.
My long range plan for this rifle is to upgrade the scope to a Nightforce 3.5-15 NSX later, then get a good stock that takes M14 mags preferably, then down the road have a smith true the action and replace the barrel. (Not till its shot out) (Any advice on which scope options, stock and smith is appreciated)
I used an EGW mount with a 20 moa cant to it and some 30 mm rings a buddy gave me and some spacers from Larue to allow you to use a 1 inch scope in 30 mm rings. I got the scope mounted and then I loaded 50 rounds with the following loads.
1. 42 grains of RE15 (Sierra manual accuracy load)
2. 42 grains of H335
3. 42 grains of Varget (friends load he recommended)
4. 42 grains of N140 ( I have a lot of this powder on hand)
When I got to the range I started the zero process at 25 yards. I did not bother to bore sight. I just put up a blank cardboard USPSA target with a 2.5 inch post it note in the middle of it. 3 shots later it was centered at 25. Then I moved to 100 yards and 6 shots later it was zeroed at that range. The first load I zeroed with was the H335 load. I had to bottom the scope adjustment out and this load was still shooting .635 above the point of aim. I plan to upgrade the scope around tax return time so I can live with the POA difference for now. After grouping the H335 load I was starting to get disappointed as the groups were nothing to write home about (average of 1.02) but things got better.
The RE15 load was next and it averaged .81. Not bad but I wanted better
The Varget load averaged .734 better and I could have lived with this but then I got really happy.
The N140 load proved to be the best of the bunch with an average of .55 for 5 5shot groups fired. Below are photos of the targets I shot with the chrono data attached as well. I plan to experiment by moving up and down from 42 grains of N140 to see if it can get even better.
It was a great relaxing day at the range. It started out a little rainy but ended up with the sun showing through.
My long range plan for this rifle is to upgrade the scope to a Nightforce 3.5-15 NSX later, then get a good stock that takes M14 mags preferably, then down the road have a smith true the action and replace the barrel. (Not till its shot out) (Any advice on which scope options, stock and smith is appreciated)
I used an EGW mount with a 20 moa cant to it and some 30 mm rings a buddy gave me and some spacers from Larue to allow you to use a 1 inch scope in 30 mm rings. I got the scope mounted and then I loaded 50 rounds with the following loads.
1. 42 grains of RE15 (Sierra manual accuracy load)
2. 42 grains of H335
3. 42 grains of Varget (friends load he recommended)
4. 42 grains of N140 ( I have a lot of this powder on hand)
When I got to the range I started the zero process at 25 yards. I did not bother to bore sight. I just put up a blank cardboard USPSA target with a 2.5 inch post it note in the middle of it. 3 shots later it was centered at 25. Then I moved to 100 yards and 6 shots later it was zeroed at that range. The first load I zeroed with was the H335 load. I had to bottom the scope adjustment out and this load was still shooting .635 above the point of aim. I plan to upgrade the scope around tax return time so I can live with the POA difference for now. After grouping the H335 load I was starting to get disappointed as the groups were nothing to write home about (average of 1.02) but things got better.
The RE15 load was next and it averaged .81. Not bad but I wanted better
The Varget load averaged .734 better and I could have lived with this but then I got really happy.
The N140 load proved to be the best of the bunch with an average of .55 for 5 5shot groups fired. Below are photos of the targets I shot with the chrono data attached as well. I plan to experiment by moving up and down from 42 grains of N140 to see if it can get even better.
It was a great relaxing day at the range. It started out a little rainy but ended up with the sun showing through.
