So I have a m700 SA. Right now it's a factory 26" heavy barrel (SPS Varmint) in 22-250. I bought it with plans to shoot it. Learn to shoot/load accurately and work on longer ranges. Figured a m700 has lots of options to eventually build from.


For a couple years I shot it a good bit. Then life got in the way. Finally getting around to it again. Settled in a new area and have better/longer ranges nearby.


I should definitely have a bit of barrel life left yet but plan to start shooting regularly.


Still looking at options but definitely wanna go up to a 6-6.5mm flavor when I rebarrel it.



I've never done it....from what I'm gathering, it'd probably be worthwhile to have the action done when I have the chamber cut/barrel installed. Action tried and blueprinted.


Any guidance? What should I have done? Who should I have do it? I Don't know of local Smith's specializing in it. Id want it done right.

Just doing my homework so when the time comes I have a plan and can execute it. Figure this winter or next would be a good time to do it depending on how much shooting I get in.


As of now, I don't shoot matches or anything...but It could be something I try in the future.

If it were me, I'd buy a pre-fit barrel from Criterion and and some go/no-go gauges and spin the barrel on myself with a barrel vise. I think you'll find exceptional results without the extra money spent on truing the action.

5 reasons at 100 yards that I'd have Shooter71 on here do it. This with a Hawk Hill barrel.

3 more reasons at 1000 yards I'd have him do it. 6.5x47

Ship barreled action off and he turns em fast. Learn to bed the lug yourself. This rifle is shooting that well dropped into a McMillan with no bedding.

How good does the 22-250 shoot as is.? Seems to me all that blueprinting stuff does is make the gunsmith extra money. Put another way is if the gun shoots good with a 30 dollar factory barrel why does it need blueprinting with a high dollar one? Trued rec threads, 8-40 screws blah, blah all [bleep] to make your smith$$$ happy, it really needed? If that gun was mine I'd work up some loads and see what it will do. I'D GET someone of known ability to run a few groups for me, just to factor out operator inability or just a bad day. If after this work and shooting it isn't good enough I'f sell the bitch. Buy another gun, start over why pour money into an action that has to be remade to work right.? Send me your snail mail addy so I can send you a consulting bill, that way you won't feel like you got something of value for nothing. MB

Thanx all!


That's why I posted...I'm pretty green....I know some of what is usually done...but don't know how much any of it actually helps.


The rifle as a 22-250 in the horrific plastic stock actually shoots very well. Hard to expect a $450 rifle to shoot any better than that lol.


[Linked Image]
5 shot groups at 100yds were always right around that size with handloads.


One would think in a good stock, trigger and barrel, it should shoot even better than that...I have a McMillan Game Hunter on its way. Jewell trigger on it.

Planning to shoot it till it starts going down hill and rebarreling. I moved and my shooting log hasnt surfaced or I'd know how many rounds have been through it. Also didn't know any better and have never used a bore guide or anything. A coated Dewey rod back and forth. Sounds like that likely isn't extending barrel life. Lol.

Mauser06
Sounds like your on your way.
Enjoy the 22-250 until it drops off or you get tired of cleaning it.
In the mean time somewhere in your area is a local BR shooter/smith.
These are the guys I like to use.
Its a face to face type of deal.. No shipping.
They typically dont charge alot.. they need to support there habit....
And they know all the M700 cleanup/tweeking tricks because thats where they started.
They are local and you can pick there brain.. thats a good thing.
Money spent on squaring up cleaning up a M700 is never a bad thing.And Its a one shot deal.Once you do it.you dont need to do it again.
Not a thing wrong with 30338s suggestion up top. Other than I dont know his guy.
I avoid the rock star gunsmiths like the plague.
The 6.5x47 will deliver 2000 rounds of goodness In the 1000 yard game before they start fouling hard.
dave

I did a custom 260 (6.5), and 6 Creedmoor in the last year...

A great deal of what I would recommend depends on what you are going to use it for.

Pick your cartridge based on your target shooting needs... if you want to start compeition, a 6 Creed would be my recommendation due to it’s speed and fighting the wind, however you won’t get more than 1,700 rounds out of the barrel before you need a new one so that’s something to consider. A 6.5 Creed or 260 kicks too much for the most part.

I would highly recommend picking your bullet, which will lead to what twist barrel... Then pick you barrel profile... if. You are going to compete have the smith thread the end of your barrel for a break, and be sure to get a cut vs. button rifled barrel.


A couple of other things -
Get a good barrel that ends with a .63” muzzle size (sporter)... Don’t go with too light a profile barrel...
if you are bug hole chaser, maybe consider avoiding volume barreling shops... precision and Volume tend to fight against each other.
Consider getting a Stainless barrel regardless of what the action is... it’s cheaper if you don’t have to cerakote, or blue...
Be aware of “lead times”... Barrels can take 3-6 months if you order one, so figure out what you want and get it off the shelf if possible.
Same with reamers

Things that people don’t tell you...

1). Depending on the cartridge Reamers matter ALOT !! (Some SAAMI spec’s for the chamber have a huge amount of slop vs. others... )
Many smiths are are on the precision side of the house use customer reamers that are tighter so the accuracy results are better...
Volume houses on the other hand tend to use carbide reamers so they can cut a lot of chambers, but they are often spec’s larger so they can be sharpened and reused...
So they have more slop.
Most HSS reamers are “MIN SAMMI” .. because they are not used for volume, and used by precision minded smiths.


Enough for now

I don't know what cartridge has the sloppiest SAAMI chamber, but the 308 Winchester sure could be tightened up a good bit.

I just ordered my 308 reamer from PTG today for my nephew / niece build rifles... After measure it a bunch of factory rounds, brass, .... and getting all of the reamer prints.
I finally went with the 308 Bisley Match reamer from PTG.

And God yes there is a lot of slop in the chamber vs. Brass SAAMI specs... Which explains why there are so many different reamers out there.

My 260 & 280AI reamers are also tightened up a bit, if a guy shoots one type of brass it’s easy to make a really accurate one.

If it truly shoots 5 shot groups like your link pictures then you should not even consider touching anything on it. Don't touch a screw, change scopes or anything else just treasure it for what it is and keep it as it is. You will be very lucky to have a rebarreled action trued, McMillan stocked, Jewel triggered rifle to shoot like that consistently. You are looking at spending $1200 - $1500 for what will likely be no gain and perhaps not as good as you have right now.

drover

Thanx all!! A ton of good info!


I actually have a range I'm interested in.... Ridgeway silhouette shooting. I think I'd enjoy that a bunch.


So, I think to figure out what works for those shoots, I need to spend some time there. And, the same setup will surely cut paper. Really don't have a hunting use aside from popping groundhogs and they are getting tough to find anymore. Again, same rig on a bipod will work in the fields for them.


Driver, that's an honest group fired from that rifle and why it's been left alone till now. I had the same fears....loosen an action screw and it might never do that again. That stock just kills me. Doesn't feel good. Literally built in pressure points. I think the heavy barrel actually supports the stock though lol. It's actually tough to get behind because it's designed and shaped poorly.

Those groups happened regularly when I was shooting regularly. 3 shot groups were often hardly bigger than a bullet hole. 5 always made em grow lol.


I've always had a desire....just didn't know where to start and I know it can be an "expensive" hobby.

As has been mentioned, that is a great shooting by you and the 22-250. That one should last a good long time. Maybe consider buying another heavy barreled Rem 700 to drop into your new stock? You could get lucky and it shoots as great as that one. If so, you saved a ton. If it doesn't, spin a new barrel on and go. Going to be hard to beat your factory 700. Curious what letter the serial code starts with?

If you go ahead and re barrel, Jim Kobe in Bloomington Mn has rebarreled many Rem 700s for me, also a few Sakos. They have turned out to be very accurate. I selected Shilen, Lilja, and Kreiger barrels.

If you decide to try High-Power silhouette prepared to be humbled, it is one, if not, the most difficult shooting discipline. I shot both smallbore and high-power silhouette for over 30 years, I would still be doing it if I had not broken my back a few years ago and can no longer hold position well enough to be competive, I was Master in smallbore and AAA in high-power and at that level missing an animal or two and it all over. To give an idea of how difficult it is there was not a perfect 40 shot in smallbore until about 25 years ago and as far as I know there has never been a 40 shot in highpower, although it could have happened in the last 5 years or so and I may have missed it.
Ridgeway is one of the premier silhouette facilities in the country, I suggest before you start a silhouette rifle build that you go there and talk to some of the shooters and see what they are using for equipment - chances are most are using some variant of a 6.5 cartridge since it is near the minimum that reliably knocks over the 500 meter rams.
Something else to think about is that silhouette shooters, like most other competitors, are always looking to build the "next perfect rifle" that will give them an extra point or two, there is a good chance that you can purchase a ready to shooot silhouette rifle cheaper than you can build one.

Good luck with your quest.

drover

30338, looks like it was made in February 2004. LB barrel stamp. I've heard of numerous SPS Varmints from that era shooting extremely well. And they were crazy cheap. I wanna say ingot mine for $450 or $550 on sale or rebate.


Drover, someone in this post actually has shot Ridgeway and has offered up local smiths and guidance. I plan to do just that.....go there and see what it's all about. See what they are running...see if anyone wants to talk. I know certain "groups" don't like new blood and will take their knowledge to the grave. Old trappers can be like that. I stock flintlock longrifles like they did in the 1700s...some of the builders are like that. I get it. They learned the hard way and think I aughta do the same.


I'd imagine competitive shooters can be that way. Why help your potential competition? I get it.



I'm within 100mi of Ridgeway.


I don't plan on swapping the barrel for no reason. But, I gotta try a new stock. Then either leave it alone and start building something else or buy someone's rig or wherever the road leads.


I don't know where the road will take me or how deep I will get into it. I may have it. I may not be able to hit the broad side of a semi at 1000yds let alone a coyote steel. I may just enjoy casually shooting on my own for fun...I may wanna shoot the matches. Hard to know till you start.

I have found silhouette shooters the most generous of any group of competitors when it comes to being helpful and willing to share information - most of them are of a different mindset than a lot of the more serious disciplines, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Of course there are always a few exceptions to the rules.

Good luck and enjoy it.

drover

A lot of people shooting 6BR's and Dashers. They do lose the occasional well-hit ram. I don't hit so many that I can afford to lose any so I shoot a 6.5. We have some kids at our club, all Masters, who occasionally come close to 40 in HP but it hasn't happened yet. They all shoot 6mm's. GD

About the only difference between the Hunter rifle class and Standard rifle class anymore is rifle weight but until about 20 years ago Hunter rifle guns had to be an "off the shelf available to the general public" rifle, as a consequence it was not possible to shoot anything like the 6 BR or 6 Dasher since they were not chambered in a factory rifle that met those specs. I shot a Rem 700 in 243 for my Hunter Class rifle and a 7/08,7 BR, or 7 TCU in my standard rifle since any caliber was allowed in Standard Rifle class.
When reviewing my score books I noticed that I was actually shooting more consistent scores with my 243 than I was with my Standard Rifle, that spring I started using my 243 Hunter Class rifle for both Hunter and Standard class, which is allowable (but not vice-versa) after a few matches my scores jumped by 4 or 5 points in both rifle catagories. I did the same thing with my Smallbore rifles and my scores jumped there too.
It is a tough mentally to watch good hits on rams and they don't go down but I picked up enough short range points on the closer animals to make up for any lost rams though. When using a 6mm really hurts though is if there is mud on the feet of the rams, it acts almost like a glue. In my prime I was a fairly hard-holder though and I could take most rams off but hitting them high in the rump or hitting the neck, face, horn area, both a small area to hold on though and both are extremely easy to miss.
If I were starting over I would definitely go with a 6mm, the only downside to them is the short barrel like of about 1200 - 1500 rounds which equates to a new barrel being required at least and sometimes twice a year, which can get expensive.

drover

The 6 BR's get surprisingly good barrel life for a rifle which is loaded to the nuts to get the ballistics everyone wants. Nonetheless, they don't last as long as a 6.5 which is loaded light.
While there are some who shoot different rifles for standard rifle, a lot shoot the same rifle; I do this. A bit of a contrarian, I use Model 70's. GD

Lots of good info! I appreciate it all!



I've been talking with a member here and planning to meet him at a shoot and see what it's all about before I get too far ahead of myself. I think that's a wise course of action.


I should note, the shoots are a little different than normal silhouette shooting. It's a benchrest competition shooting silhouettes from 850-1000yds.


I'm "thinking" I will continue to shoot my m700 and get back into precision shooting and longer ranges. That barrel isn't going to shoot that way forever. If I shoot if as regularly as I'm hoping, I will be looking to rebarrel over the winter... stepping up to probably a 6.5x47. Then next year I can shoot the matches at Ridgeway with that rig and see how I like it. If I like it, probably look to buying or building a benchrest rig. The current gun will stay as it will still be a heck of a groundhog rig.


I actually have no idea what else is in a reasonable drive of me...I know there is a new Practical Rifle range. But that's a totally different rig and discipline....though the current rig when rebarreled would probably work there.


Lots to explore and consider. I may not even like the competition side. Maybe just join a club with a long range where I can punch paper and ring steel at long range on my own.

Do you have a 300 to 1,000 yard range where you can shoot close by ?

Most of the PRS shooters moved down to 6mm vs. 6.5 because you can see you hits easier...

If you do go PRS you’ll need a PRS style stock, I tried shooting it with a field stock the first year.

Not to mention a Kestrel & ballistic program.

There is a new PRS range within like 15mins of me.


I don't know that I'd wanna play with their matches. But I doubt they'd turn my money down for a membership to use the range and shoot their steel. I will have to stop by and talk to them. Maybe watch one of their matches and see what they are like. Right now I don't see myself traveling or getting heavy into big competitions. Club shoots and such maybe.


Basically looking to get my foot in the door in the long range game right now.

Would you happen to be the same Mauser06 from a site that used to be called "The Outhouse" ?

Yep. Lost the secret link to the place and couldn't get back!

I thought I recognized your writing, The site is gone, JC kind of disappeared , I hope her and her daughter are well, Kevin died of cancer 3-4 years ago, I talked to Lanse after Kevin died, nothing new there, his son was doing well, Frank (Champlain Islander ) posts on this site under the same name, North Texan got married and disappeared also, of the others I have no idea.

If you haven’t shoot 300 yds a lot, I would start there first, then work up to 500 yards.

Learning shooting positions and Neutral holds is way more important that being cool...

the most beneficial shooting competition I did was High Power because it taught me positions and neutral holds,. And generally goes out to 500 -600 yards.
It is not cheap, but it is NOTHING like the cost you hit in PRS.

PRS will teach you longer range (beyond 500) in varied conditions. Past 500 you need better glass, essentially a better rifle, and something to work ballistics.
The regional PRS matches are fun and cheap, the offical PRS matches are a lot more costly and often 2 day events.

I am a proficiency and performance guy, meaning it’s not about winning, it’s about hitting the plate / gong... what not, so I shy away from competitions, but do them to learn and practice.

what ever you do have fun

Thanx spotshooter! Sound advice....once the fun is out of it, why bother? Just go to work! Lol.


I honestly think joining that range will be just up my alley and probably a good place to start learning. I just need to check the place out and talk to the owners and such. Again, I've ran into things like that where because I didn't compete or shoot what they shoot etc, that I was an outsider and treated as such. For the cost of the yearly membership, I'd think they'd be glad to have anyone. Lol. Your average guy isn't paying that to shoot his deer rifle at 50yds once a year to make sure it is still "minute of pie plate".

FYI, I never spend the jingle to blueprint a 700, as it's more cost effective to sell it and buy a custom. You'll take the hit on resale.

I can usually get the accuracy I'm looking for w/o a blueprint, but then I don't scrimp on the rest of the components.

Most likely the action won't be what's holding a guy back......

Aalf, I've been following your Shazam posts. I was going to send you a message to see how far that one was gone over aside from a good barrel. That sucker shoots!


I actually started looking around at benchrest actions and like you said, by the time you trick out a m700 action, you can have one of those. And I've found used bench rifles way lower priced than expected. I know that's a risky business... I wouldn't buy one just cause. It could be for sale for a bad reason.



I just put the Game Hunter on the m700. I don't know if I will keep the Grayboe for something else or send it down the road. Just messing around in the house, the Game Hunter feels better to me.


2 more nights of work. Probably sleep a few hours on Wednesday and then hit the range. Will likely bed it sometime over my days off.


Interested to see if it still shoots ragged holes after swapping the stock.