Budget Tactical Rifle

nate45

New member
I had a Remington 700 BDL Varmint in .308 that I was trying to turn into a general purpose, tactical/target/hunting rifle. It just never preformed like I wanted though. Part of it may have been the crappy synthetic stock I had it in, but it didn't shoot that great in its BDL walnut stock either. I turned in some sub-MOA 100 yard 10 shot groups, but it was picky about loads, etc.

The cost of new stock and possibly a new barrel were going to add up, so I put back in its wood stock and traded it for a Remington SPS Tactical .308. It has a 20" barrel and looks pretty sweet. I've seen where some don't care for the Houge stock, but I kind of like it and unlike the injection moulded stocks on the SPS Varmint, it free floats all the way back to the action.

Finding the right scope for my budget, general purpose do it all rifle was the biggest problem I had. I had just about accepted the fact that the $600 SWFA SS 3-9x40, or the $600 Vortex Viper 2.5-10x40 were the least expensive scopes I would be able to find which would fit my self imposed criteria, which was a power low enough to snap shoot at close range and powerful enough to see targets on out there, perhaps to a thousand yards. Also I wanted a mil/mil scope. That is 1/10th Mil adjustments and a Mil-dot reticle, for those unfamiliar with the term.

Ideally something 15x or above would be best for long range, however its generally agreed that 10x will do for torso targets out to a 1000 yards. So the SS 3-9 was less than ideal and I'd pretty much decided on the Vortex 2.5-10. $600 puts a hole in a budget project, but what are you gonna do? $600 beats $1000+ so... Then I ran across the Weaver 3-10x40 Grand Slam Tactical that Midway has an exclusive on. After reading about it on the various sniper forums and watching this video, I ordered one and couldn't be happier. $300 is a steal for this scope and the 2nd focal plane is better suited to a general purpose scope.

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It looks pretty neat, for about a third or fourth of what a rifle that does what it can do should cost.

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The Weaver 3-10 Tactical mounted in low Burris XTR rings looks nice.

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Now to shoot it in, pick the most accurate load and chronograph it for my range card. So far I only have it zeroed with a 150 grain Ballistic Tip handload and haven't grouped it yet. I plan on using the 175 grain Sierra Match King as my long range bullet and I'm hoping for sub-3/4 MOA accuracy, but that remains to be seen. As soon as I shoot it and chronograph it, I'll post the results.
 
Ideally something 15x or above would be best for long range, however its generally agreed that 10x will do for torso targets out to a 1000 yards. So the SS 3-9 was less than ideal and I'd pretty much decided on the Vortex 2.5-10. $600 puts a hole in a budget project, but what are you gonna do? $600 beats $1000+ so... Then I ran across the Weaver 3-10x40 Grand Slam Tactical that Midway has an exclusive on. After reading about it on the various sniper forums and watching this video, I ordered one and couldn't be happier.
You probably did yourself a huge favor. I don't know to whom you have been talking, but the vast majority of tactical shooters cannot handle a 15+ magnification. Bench shooters? yeah, but bench shooting is a far cry from tactical situations.

I have a self-imposed limit of around 12x for working guns. I arrived at that because in summer clothing, I can see my heartbeat in the sight picture at 12x when working at long range. I have varmint rifles with more magnification, but with them, I can set up rock solid with rests at both ends of the stock, and I don't have to have a firm cheek weld to pinch the trigger. With a bipod and a firm cheek weld, at 600+ yards, it is hard to keep the crosshairs where you want them much above 12x, at least for me.

Good job. I like your rifle. Please post pics when you get a chance to dial it in. Have you decided what ammo is going to be your baseline? Typically, in 308 Win, I try to handload to beat the Black Hills 168 grain.
 
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Love your set up. You got a real bargain on that weaver grand slam. i have owened and used them for years during some very tough hunts and they have never failed me.
 
Cool rifle. Wish we could refrain from the whole 'tactical' thing. Nice gun and set up. Shoot it and enjoy.
I am on a lever rifle kick. Training and setting various things up. Fun stuff. 'Tactical', I don't know. Will it get the job done,...yes.
thanks for the pictures. I am always a sucker for them.
 
safd said:
Wish we could refrain from the whole 'tactical' thing.

Its called a Remington SPS Tactical and the scope is called a Weaver Grand Slam Tactical and the rings are called Burris XTR (Extreme Tactical Rings). So don't blame me for the terminology.

I configured the rifle to be a general purpose, do it all hunting/target/defense rifle. It was either that or an AR10 maybe. I was looking at an FNAR .308 last week, it looks like it could fill all those roles too.

Uncle Malice said:
I like my SPS Tactical. Mine has undergone a bit of changes though.

I like the clip feed. The stock is nice too, but I like this Hogue one, at least for now. If it doesn't shoot good I won't though. :)
 
Sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was slamming 'you'. I dig your set up.
I just don't care for the tactical throw about wording(from makers or not).
Doesn't mean much maybe than to me.
No offense meant
 
Tactical has a police/military connotation no doubt. Its also no doubt that the rifles pictured in this thread could be used in that role.

To me it also donates extra care to ruggedness and accuracy. Plus I think the matte finishes, etc look neat. :)
 
FYI on the Hogue stock, it's full floated but if you'll check it while you're using the bipod I'll bet its touching the barrel. They just aren't quite stiff enough, though I do like the way they feel. Mine touched the barrel on my 700 Tactical and the one I put on my Ruger M77 does too, but they both still shoot good.
 
Ben Towe said:
FYI on the Hogue stock, it's full floated but if you'll check it while you're using the bipod I'll bet its touching the barrel. They just aren't quite stiff enough, though I do like the way they feel. Mine touched the barrel on my 700 Tactical and the one I put on my Ruger M77 does too, but they both still shoot good.


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No, mine still stays free floating with all the weight on the bi-pod. It seems like I may have read that before somewhere about the Hogue stock. Maybe the have stiffened it? I don't know, this is my first experience with one. Mine is brand new though, made in 2012 probably. Thinks for mentioning it though, I hadn't thought of that. :)
 

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Belated Update

I settled on a load(45 grains Varget and the 175 gr SMK) with the best group(sub-MOA) and chronographed that load, close to the time I wrote the OP. However, I forgot to update this thread at that time. :o

Anyway, the latest thing I did was test the rifle for long term zero holding. I left it behind the seat of my pick up in a soft bag, without firing it until just this Xmas eve morning.

It was calm and sunny and 11 Degrees Fahrenheit. I set up a 100 yd target, threw down my ACU field jacket at the firing line and proceeded to shoot a fifteen shot group(13 actually I left 2 setting on my loading bench). I shot off the bipod, with no sand sock under the butt. Below are the results.





Its not great, but considering how long it had been since I'd fired the rifle and that the bipod and my hands were my only rest. I'm satisfied with the group. Especially, when I consider how good a 15 shot group it shoots off of a solid rest.
 
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Its called a Remington SPS Tactical and the scope is called a Weaver Grand Slam Tactical and the rings are called Burris XTR (Extreme Tactical Rings). So don't blame me for the terminology.

Well, nobody ever went broke marketing to the lowest common denominator.

"Tactical" is what you do, not what you buy.

I always find it amusing when someone spends twice as much as the probably need to because the package says "tactical"

But hey, at least you don't need to worry about your zero shifting, the next time you fast repel from a Blackhawk at your local 100 yd range. :D
 
Rid of the hogue and put it in a bell & Carlson or HS. Lower the trigger weight as well you should be able to get much better groups.
 
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