Was wondering if anyone owned/hunted with one in the last few years. Likes, dislikes, etc. I have a 1976 BDL and it's been an excellent rifle. Have owned a couple wood ADL's 30 years ago and they were good too. Just wondering about recent experiences with an SPS. Thanks for any responses.

Son bought one when he thought he was going elk hunting. He likes it.

I had a 26” stainless SPS in 300 mag for many years. Topped with a 3x9 Zeiss Conquest and shooting 168gr Barnes TTSX bullets it was an elk killing machine! Very accurate but I replaced the factory trigger with a Timney 512 and that helped as the factory trigger was not great! It weighed 9lbs even with the scope.

My only complaint was recoil. It was on the heavy side and I just didn’t want the punishment any longer. I’ve always been fascinated with the 270Wthby so it went down the road for a Weatherby Weathermark and I couldn’t be happier!

The SPS was a great rifle and the 300WM is an awsome elk round! Hard to beat that combo IMHO!

Elk Country

Some buddies and I are wanting to hunt nilgai and the 2 outfitters we're interested in require a 300 win mag as a minimum cartridge. I haven't owned any magnum in years, so I thought I'd pick one up cheap. I'd prefer a Winchester xpr but I can get the sps for 349.00.

$349, Dang that is cheap, I am seeing them around $575

I’ve seen ADLs at that price. But not the SPS. Should have bought 2.

Just bought the gun at bass pro. The sps was/is on sale.

I've got one in .30-06 I bought in 2007. Great rifle. I disagree with a lot of the bitching and moaning about Remingtons. Yeah I agree, they're not like they were in even 1980. But they don't cost $1000 either. You can buy an SPS for $700, add a Timney trigger and put it in a B&C or a Boyd's stock and have a nice no frills rifle for around $1000 if you want. Or you can even keep the X Mark Pro trigger and bed it in good into it's synthetic stock and find a good gun smith and have him rework the trigger and get it down to 3 pounds. Either way you'll have a damn good rifle a lot cheaper than you can buy something simlar at your LGS. Well, unless you find a good used one. That's what I actually do. I'm talking this crap but I seldom by new rifles anymore. I look in pawn shops and the used shelf in a gun store. I haven't bought something new in years.

Not discounting what you said, but by the time you address the trigger, stock bedding and such you can buy a Tikka that has an excellent trigger and great stock from the get go and will probably shoot better across the board than the Remington. I know there are a million examples that'll come up that say I am wrong, but the Tikka's have been pretty easy to jerk from a box, mount a good scope on, adjust the trigger to exactly whatever poundage you want, then go shoot tiny groups.

I bought a SPS SS in 300 WM in 2012. Other than it actually holding one less round than the brochure says it will, it’s been a great rifle for the most part. It did have some internal magazine issues, but Remington sent me new ones and it took care of it. I paid $349 with a cheap scope on it in 2012 when I bought it new. I’ve since replaced the trigger as the original one broke while adjusting it. I didn’t care, as it was getting a Timney sooner or later anyways.

i picked up the rifle today, for 349.00 on sale. had the gun counter guy mount a set of leupy standard bases/rings and a vortex diamondback 4-12x40, also on sale. 2 boxes of factory loads (fed premium with 180gr trophy bonded tipped for the nilgai and a box of blue box 180gr for practice). with my bass pro points i paid 412.00 for everything out the door. wonderful when a plan comes together.

Great and a great caliber!!!!

I’ve had 7 SPS Stainless rifles and all shot great. One had a rough chamber that had to be cleaned up a little. It was a 223, but shoots great despite being a 12 twist.

I still prefer a 700 when it comes to long actions. You get lots of OAL.

Great point, they definitely have that advantage.

I've had a Tikka in 300 Win Mag. Lighter weight than a finished 700, thus recoil is a bit stiffer. Also has a recoil lug completely separate from the action or stock. To me, the recoil lug needs to be bedded into the stock. This really works best with the walnut or laminate versions. The magazine is also made of a polymer, to me seems very cheap on an otherwise nice rifle. I went back to a Remington 700. Yes, they require some work to do their best...good stock, glass bedding, float the barrel, new trigger. All my 700s shoot very well, 1" or less. Most are under MOA. It's all in what you like or want.

The trigger is rough. It has a small screw in the front, top of the trigger which one loosens or tightens to decrease or increase trigger pull weight. I loosened it completely and still the trigger pull was almost 4lbs. There is another screw in the trigger mechanism, covered with a drop of glue, which allows further adjustment but I hesitate to mess with it. Undecided at this point...take it to my gunsmith and have him work it over OR just order a new timney.

I'd Trigger Tech it and call it a day. One nice thing about the TT is the clicks that help adjust it up pretty quickly and they seem to be decently rugged as well. I have never had any luck with the factory Remington X-Marks. They say they are adjustable, but man, I have never seen them move enough to make a difference.

Why trigger tech over timney. I know little about after market triggers. Thanks

Trigger Techs are nice, I believe Christiensen uses them in their Messa rifles, while the Ridgeline gets the Timney. Both are high quality, probably a matter of preference. I found shooting both to be very smooth and clean crisp breaks. I like that the Timneys safety blocks the trigger and not the sear. This prevents any movement of the trigger while the safety is on, and possibly setting up the following trigger pull to feel somewhat shorter and lighter, or at least somewhat varied.

Timneys are seriously over-rated. They are far less uniform on a scale than most other triggers, especially if you start talking higher end triggers.

I appreciate the comments.