Winchester Stealth, .308, 26", 1-12" twist, Unertl 10x USMC

[Shrekster111]

Hello All,
I'm just dabbling with precision shooting after a significant hiatus. I scored a scope on a CMP auction and found a Stealth (2003 manufacture) locally. The rifle looks to never have been fired, still waiting to see the scope. Anyway, anybody here have experience with this combination? Local range extends to 800 yards and I plan to shoot from 600 - 800. I got 200 factory 168 grain but plan on reloading thereafter, possibly 175 grain. Shooting for fun and memories (I was a STA guy a long time ago).

Thanks In Advance and Semper Fi

 

[NBPRP]

When I first started target shooting, Winchester Mod 70 in .308, 25" barrel and twist in 12" (give or take) was highly sought after and the 'go to' rifle at the range. I remember 3 if not 4 of my shooting buddies had that combination and shot at least 'Sharpshooter' if not 'Expert' class and I think one of them shot 'Master' class. By the time I came into the sport those rifles had been snapped up and hard to come by. I had to settle for a Remington 40-XC in 7.62 NATO therefore I couldn't say I personally had experience with what you have and may not be qualified to give input.

But what the heck.. I do remember they usually shot Sierra 168 International HPBT driven to about 2550 fps at the 200 yd. and 300 yd. stages of the course. This required a load of about 41 grs. 4895(IMR) or 42 grs. 4064(IMR) more than likely in a LC (Lake City Match) case or possibly a Lapua or Federal case. A Winchester case could take a bit more powder but not sure how much more.

At the 600 yd. stage of the match Sierra 190 Matchking HBPT was common with a load of about 40 grs. 4895(IMR) or 41 grs. 4064(IMR) and a few of my buddies experimented with Sierra 180 Matchking HPBT and some found the military 173 FMJBT to be reasonably accurate.

At the 'Long Range' course the .308 was usually still O.K. at 800 yds. and maybe even at 900 yds. but at 1,000 yds., being supersonic was not always a given when all the factors were figured into the equation.

Hope what I posted was helpful.
.

 

[Shrekster111]

When I first started target shooting, Winchester Mod 70 in .308, 25" barrel and twist in 12" (give or take) was highly sought after and the 'go to' rife at the range. I remember 3 if not 4 of my shooting buddies had that combination and shot at least 'Sharpshooter' if not 'Expert' class and I think one of them shot 'Master' class. By the time I came into the sport those rifles had been snapped up and hard to come by. I had to settle for a Remington 40-XC in 7.62 NATO therefore I couldn't say I personally had experience with what you have and may not be qualified to give input.

But what the heck.. I do remember they usually shot Sierra 168 International HPBT driven to about 2550 fps at the 200 yd. and 300 yd. stages of the course. This required a load of about 41 grs. 4895(IMR) or 42 grs. 4064(IMR) more than likely in a LC (Lake City Match) case or possibly a Lapua or Federal case. A Winchester case could take a bit more powder but not sure how much more.

At the 600 yd. stage of the match Sierra 190 Matchking HBPT was common with a load of about 40 grs. 4895(IMR) or 41 grs. 4064(IMR) and a few of my buddies experimented with Sierra 180 Matchking HPBT and some found the military 173 FMJBT to be reasonably accurate.

At the 'Long Range' course the .308 was usually still O.K. at 800 yds. and maybe even at 900 yds. but at 1,000 yds., being supersonic was not always a given when all the factors were figured into the equation.

Hope what I posted was helpful.
.

Thank you very much, it was interesting and useful. I also discovered the range goes out to 1000 yards, not 800. My scope arrives tomorrow and I'm pretty stoked about stretching the whole thing out soon.

 

[NBPRP]

Glad I could help. Try to remember that when shooting at the longer ranges the wind at the muzzle will effect bullet drift more than the wind at the target so watch the wind flag near your firing point..

Of note is that my barrel was 24" and yours is 26" so the extra 2" you have over me might be to your benefit at the longer ranges.

 

[moosemeat]

Is this rifle a stealth or a stealth 2? If memory serves one was a CRF and the other a push feed. My old shooting coach used a M70 Coyote that's a laminated stocked stealth basically and he has shot cleans in F class midrange on multiple occasions before a back injury took him out of shooting. His is 243 and shoots as good as the Bartlien barreled 700 I had at the time.
My 2004 Featherweight shoots way better than xan be expected for a 5 round group(sub .75 MOA) until the barrel gets hot.
If it doesnt shoot just have LRI spin a new barrel on. It's only money(said from a poor).

 

[Shrekster111]

Thanks Gents,
She's a Stealth (not Stealth 2).
The scope arrived last night and the optics are clear, I'me very happy with it and am excited about putting the whole thing together.
25 yard zero should be completed in a week, first quality range time probably a week after that!
The CMP ships them in a rifle hard case, makes for a big box for a small item.

 

[NBPRP]

It is nice to hear/see that they took the time to package the scope properly and address the care needed in shipping optics.

With a case like that maybe even the delivery person, who is having 'a bad day' and decides to chuck your package over the fence instead of gingerly placing it at the foot of your front door, can't harm your beloved scope. Youtube has a field day with showing security footage of the notorious 'package throwers/kickers' and their escapades with customers packages. I am sure you have seen a few of them.

Glad you have the complete package now. What you possess is steeped in tradition and something to be proud of. Hopefully is is a centerpiece of your collection.

 

[S12A]

Pics when it’s assembled please ! Sounds like a cool rifle

 

[stello1001]

I have no experience or knowledge on the scope but the rifle is going to be awesome. I love those actions and they are excellent regardless of being push feed or CRF.

 

[moosemeat]

This is going to be awesome. Post pics please.

 

[Shrekster111]

Hi All,
The build got delayed by back-to-back COVID quarantines, and we're now waiting for the correct mount and improved rings to arrive. The ones on the rifle would not work, so I'm going with a 20 MOA rail and Sig rings.
She's going to be a funny looking rig with a desert camo scope on a matte black rifle, but should be easy to pick out in a rack.
I'll post photos when she's done.

 

[S12A]

She's going to be a funny looking rig with a desert camo scope on a matte black rifle, but should be easy to pick out in a rack.

easy fix with some krylon on the rifle

 

[Shrekster111]

She looks like the 2A equivalent of a pint of Guinness. I love her. Lazer boresighted, 2.5 lbs trigger, and ready to zero!

 

[S12A]

She looks like the 2A equivalent of a pint of Guinness. I love her. Lazer boresighted, 2.5 lbs trigger, and ready to zero!

Wow. Even better than i thought it would be. Awesome setup well done.

 

[Shrekster111]

Zeroing was pretty quick after getting on paper, hen we took her to Fort Gordon.
I love her.
My neighbor was amazed that the setup (that he built) could go from 200 to 277, to 1000 seamlessly. 200 and 1000 were known distances, but the 277 and others we had to figure out using the mil-dots. It was fun getting back into the game after so long of a hiatus. This is a wonderful combination for those not wanting to drop coin on s M-40 clone.