.308 Remington 700 for beginner?

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dakota.potts

New member
We went out today to buy my brother a .22 rifle for his upcoming birthday. I've been interested in long range shooting and my dad's been researching it. So, long story short we came home with a Ruger 10-22 (my brother), a Smith & Wesson M&P15-22 in pink and black for my mom, and a Remington 700 in .308 for my dad and I. He also got a nice Nikon 4-12X scope.

Anyways, he qualified the highest marksman rank in the navy with an M14 and even had to qualify with it on full auto, so he's well aware that he can handle a .308.

I, on the other hand, have never shot a rifle above a .22lr.

Moving from our .380 handgun to his compact .40 S&W I psyched myself out for a while until I actually pulled the trigger and found that the big recoil was kind of fun (I still lose my weak hand grip on it sometimes though). I don't want to develop any kind of flinch shooting a rifle that's too large. I guess I'm just wondering if it's too big a round or if I'm psyching myself out like I did with the .40.
 
The .308 is very soft shooting round and you will make the transition with no problems. That was a good choice in caliber and the rifle will be acceptable, as well.
 
Awesome, that is great to hear. I can't wait to try it out. It feels awesome.

If anybody is reading this who is left handed (or in my has a dominant left eye and shoots left to accommodate) how do you get best results using a right handed rifle?

And I just realized I may have put this in the wrong forum.
 
.308 is a keeper!

Jack

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i am cross dominant(right hand left eye), and while shooting pistols maintaining right eye focus is difficult, with rifles it's not an issue for me. You might find it similar for yourself.

Either way though, have fun with the rifle!
 
I grew up left handed right eye dominant, shooting left handed left eyed. When I took my CCDW, for kicks, I shot right handed. Didn't do bad at all. Now I shoot right handed or left handed. Why pick sides? :)
 
308 is a very manageable round in must rifles, in a lightweight like a Tikks they have a bit more punch though.

You should be fine, just remember if you are shooting off bags that it still has a fair boot if you don't keep it in your shoulder properly.
 
I figure if it's a scope I can probably do some eye switching. I've been doing some exercises at home and it seems doable.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'l probably shoot it standing at first (to get a feel for it) and later off a bench.
 
I am ambidexturous but left eye dominant. I have several left handed muzzleloaders but prefer a right handed bolt gun because I don't have to remove my trigger hand and then replace it for follow up shots. It's the way I learned and I'm glad I did. Just watch the sniper in Saving Private Ryan. He's a lefty :D

As for going form .22 to .308. My dad found a dummy round(not loaded but with a dead primer) and I practiced trigger pull. You learn muscle memory that way and stop thinking so much. You should pull the trigger so softly and smoothly it almost surprises you.

Boomer.
 
Yes, since you were talking about marksmanship I thought you might be looking at target shooting. Things to make your gun as accurate as possible include stock upgrades/betting, optics and optics mounting systems and care and feeding of your action/barrel. --Jerry
 
The Remington 700 is a fine rifle in whatever cartridge you choose.

Slap on the scope, zero it in and start shooting.

Get some lessons along the way.
 
We will be looking at target shooting. We do have a scope and scope mount. It's a Nikon 4-12 something or other. Other than that we'll just experiment with factory loads unless one of us gets really serious or fairly heavy into competition shooting and then upgrading the action, stock, handloading etc. might be further options.
 
See how tight your group are at first and then consider upgrading different items. If your groups are acceptable, then no more work is needed. If you want tighter groups, reloading might be an option. I would probably upgrade the stock first.
 
Got to shoot the rifle today. Shooting a .308 should be considered a contact sport :eek:. Anyways, after getting the hang of a couple of shots I did alright with it. We zeroed it (kind of) and ended up shooting about 4 inches low at 50 yards. I had 3 rounds touching each other and a couple on either side with one about 3 inches high (think we changed ammo at one point). Not great but manageable and a lot of fun.
 
You said you are left eye dominant ? are you left handed ?

I ask cus I'm left eye dominant but right handed . The only time it screws with me is when shooting hand guns . When shooting rifles I have always shot right handed and the left eye , right eye dom thing does not matter to me cus with a rifle I can't look through the sights with my left eye while shooting right handed .

What handed did you shoot today ?

When I'm at the range for long periods of time and shooting many rounds of 308 . Later in the day I can feel when I'm starting to anticipate the shot or muscle the rifle around . When that starts to happen I put the 308 down and pick up my 22 and work out the kinks , then jump back on the 308 more relaxed and ready to go .

I do have a huge trigger flinch and really have no idea how I shoot as well as I do . :confused:

I always start with my 22 then move up to the 308 . I equate it to being in the on deck circle . Just taking some light swings gitting my timing down . :)
 
I shot left today although over time I'l probably learn to "switch hit". When using both eyes on the scope I could actually watch my eyes switching dominance as one got tired. I've been training myself to be able to switch eye dominance as well.
 
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