I mentioned recently in the Optics forum that I'd bought a Burris FF II 3-9 a year or two ago on speculation because they seemed so well thought of here. Time passed and i didn't have anything to put it on. I had bought one rifle earlier this year, but I didn't want a 3-9 on it. Recently I had been considering the idea of getting a kind of utility grade bolt action rifle that I wouldn't worry about dragging up behind me in a climber stand or taking out in the rain, taking on a trip as a back up, or even, under some circumstances, using as a loaner. I was thinking inexpensive but accurate enough and fairly bomb proof. My mind drifted back to the 700 ADL .270 I bought quite a few years ago. I even thought about putting the FFII on that rifle. Problem was, my brother still had it and one of his boys had come to really like it....
Anyway, I had the short list down to a Tikka T3X or a Remington 700 in 6.5 CM or .308. Conversations with a friend here leaned me toward the 700. I already have .308 dies and components as well. I am also a big 6.5X55 fan and it would just not seem right to have a 6.5 CM around. I started looking at the "new" Remington's 700 line. I could pick up an ADL pretty reasonably and it would check all the boxes...but wait...some of these other things look pretty intriguing...look at that Alpha 1... all kinds of bells and whistles and all of them make sense.
Monday, I picked up my new Alpha 1.
First impressions:
It has a very utilitarian appearance. It's much like my (now) only other 700 (XCR/CTR .223) in that regard.
I have never weighed a hunting rifle. To me there are three hunting rifle weights: light; normal; heavy. For reference, my Kimber 8400 .300 WSM is light, my Sako 85 6.5X55 is normal and I don't have any I consider heavy unless you count my Ruger 77V .220 Swift. I consider this rifle "normal" weight.
Fit and finish seem flawless, as well they should in a modern production rifle with a synthetic stock.
Things I like:
Piller bedded; Timney "Elite Hunter" straight trigger (exclusive to the Alpha 1); bolt release now where it belongs, port side rear of receiver instead of in front of the trigger; Cerakote finish; Obendorf style bottom metal (but would prefer steel to aluminum); screw in bolt handle relieves anxiety (I've seen a couple of induction brazed Remington bolts let loose in the past.)
Things I don't like:
Threaded muzzle. That said, maybe I'll get a suppressor some day, who knows? As it is, the thread protector is nicely done and fits in to be almost unnoticeable so no big deal.
The bolt doesn't lock down with the safety on. Honestly, it probably doesn't matter. My first Ruger 77's the safety locked down the bolt, but my 3rd on, a 7mm RM, it didn't. I used that rifle over almost all others several years, walked a lot of country with it, shot a lot of deer with it, was never really troubled by the fact the bolt didn't lock down with the safety. Likewise with the other 700 I've got. Point is, my Sako 85 the bolt locks down and they have a little release to open it without taking the safety off. If they can do it, Remington should be able to do it.
Picatinny rail, never had one on a hunting rifle before, but makes it easy to mount almost any scope and get it right, also might lend a bit of rigidity to the receiver, who knows? I'll try it for a while, I can always take it off if I really want to. Only real objection is appearance.
Initial range test:
Had some Leupold rings so mounted up the Burris FFII and yesterday (Tuesday) morning off to the range with a (very) small grab bag of .308 ammo. I found a half-full box of blue box Federal 150 Power Shoks so old they had a $14.97 price tag from my former LGS and 9 rounds of 165 grain SGK HPBT over 748 that I've been shooting in my 1B. (I'm sure I've got more, but where?) Set up at 50 yards and fired one of the Federals for a starting point. Couple inches windage and a couple elevation and one more shot to confirm, then off to 100 yards. Three shot group with the Federal ammo gave a nice 1/2" group. A few more rounds of those used to ring the 6" plate at the 200 yard berm, then to work zeroing my handloads. When I got that done to my satisfaction I had 2 of my handloads and one of the Federals left.
Initial field test:
Yesterday afternoon, off to my treestand. After about a 20 minute wait a couple of does showed up for which I was grateful. It seems all I've been able to shoot this year are buck and I wanted to start using my antlerless tags. I settled into position, waiting for the right angle to shoot the bigger one for a quick kill and minimal meat damage. When I clicked off the safety, it was loud enough for the doe to raise her head and look around, but not seeing anything, she went back to browsing. A couple of more steps to get the angle right and that was it.
I think this rifle might become one of my 8 or 10 favorite hunting rifles. I'm looking forward to working with it some more.
