Opinion needed - Remington 770 .308

C

Chris Phelps

New member
I'm in the market for a new rifle. At the moment, my eye is on the Remington 770 .308 cal. I want a .308 cal bolt action, preferably all black. (I have a thing for all black rifles). I only hunt coyote, and that is on very rare occasion, so this will be more of a plinker. I definitely want something accurate though, and the price has to be good... no point in breaking the bank for a "toy" (so to speak).
 
I cant touch a 700 for less than 500, and I cannot find one that is all black. (the vs comes in all black I guess... but those are 700+)
 
770 is nothing more than a 710, still junk, at best.

Look at a Stevens. You can most likley get a Howa with a black synthetic stock as well. The 700 SPS is all black, as well. Great gun, and I love mine.
 
Lilysdad hit the nail on the head.

RUN, don't walk, away from the 770 or any other camouflaged variant of the Remington 710. They came up with the 770 model number as a way of drawing attention away from the 710, that's all. It's a re-badged 710, in other words. :(
 
Highly recommend the 700 SPS, I think that will fill your requirements. The 700 is a time proven accurate rifle. If the 770 is anything like the 710 avoid it. I'm a Remington fan and it hurts to say it but the 710/770 was a huge mistake IMO on Remingtons part. Cheaply made stock, not very accurate, and cant be up-graded at all if yah wanted to. Just my 2 cents.
 
Great choice, I dont think you'll be dis-appointed. Remington and Leupold are my favorites in firearms and optics.
 
I agree with the previous posters: avoid the 770. I believe you have several options though. Look at a basic Remington 700 ADL. Savage is a good alternative as well. Their guns are very accurate. Do no rule out a used gun. Take a bore light and go local gun stores and pawn shops. Look for one with a good bore and blue. You can easily replace the stock for a very reasonable price. For instance, I saw several 700's in the $275-300 range yesterday at pawn shops. If you add the replacement stock for $90, you still have less than $400 in the gun. Remington replacement stocks are less than $90 at Cabelas online. Good luck!
 
Okay I have a couple more questions now.

My Cousin suggested I check out the .300 cartridge as well. my two main concerns are long range accuracy and recoil.

What can I say... I cant help it... I am a WUSS.

I own a .257 Roberts. That thing will kill my shoulder after about 7 rounds. How does the 308 compare to that cartridge? How about the 300?

What kind of accuracy can I expect at 600+ Yards with the 300 cartridge?

Is there another cartridge which will serve my purpose better than the 308? (good accuracy and low recoil)
 
A .257 Rob physically hurts you? The .308 isnt going to be any better on your shoulder, thats for sure. The .300, be it H&H, WInMag, or whatever, wil be much worse in the recoil department.

If the recoil of a .257 Rob bothers, I really suggest you do a lot more shooting, and get used to it. There are mnay guns that are worth hunting with that are going to as sweet shooting as the .257.
 
A 24" or 26" heavy bull bbl will reduce the "felt recoil" to almost nothing. Makes the gun long and great, but really makes it a GREAT bench or blind gun. I've found that a heavy, rifle significantly improves my accuracy, possibly because it helps dampen out my "wiggle".

Savage makes some great shooting, good looking, AFFORDABLE, black rifles:

This varmiter would be my first choice:
http://www.savagearms.com/12vss.htm

closely followed by the police model:
http://www.savagearms.com/10fp.htm
 
That savage police action looks pretty sweet... but I must admit, I really like the idea of the dropout mags the Remington 700s are equipped with.


A .257 Rob physically hurts you? The .308 isnt going to be any better on your shoulder, thats for sure.
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It could be just MY 257 rob. A guy I go shooting with all the time is the one who told me 308's dont kick as much as my 257. Thats why I was looking at 308 cal. My 257 is tollerable... but I surely do NOT want a rifle that kicks much harder than that. My dad has a 30-06 which has about the same recoil as my friends 7mm mag. most people say an 06 doesn't kick overly hard, so maybe that isnt normal, either. In any event... I hate shooting that 06 because of the recoil.

"get used to it" isnt an acceptable answer, in my case. I'm not talking about "ouch that hurt my shoulder wah"... I am talking about actualy black and blues. I bruise quite easy. Popped blood vessels arent something you "get used to". It just keeps happening over and over.


There are mnay guns that are worth hunting with that
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As stated in my origional post... I dont really hunt. I shoot coyote on rare occasion... and a .223 is fine for that. This is a long range paper puncher.
 
Buy a HEAVY rifle!

You are obviously concerned with recoil so I can't emphasize enough, buy a HEAVY gun. I own a DPMS LR-308 that weighs just over 12lbs, empty. All that weight absorbs recoil to the point it kicks like a little .223. Shooting 100rnds in a couple of hours yields no sore shoulder.
 
mmm the felt recoil of a .223 is VERY livable. I could even handle a rifle that kicked like my 257.

I have to AR-15s now... so I want to avoid the .223 platform. I am looking for a plain jane all-black rifle. The heaviest I have found so far are about 7.7 lbs. Add another 1-2 lbs for the bipod, and a pound for the scope (give or take) and im around 10-11 lbs for the total setup. So, theoretically, I will still be under the recoil of my 257. that'd be quite nice.
 
Add more weight to the stock. or get a laminate stock and stain it black. Also stock design will play a factor in how hard its hitting you. You can also put on a better recoil pad or a slip on recoil pad.
 
hm, another post in this section has me thinking maybe 243 is an option as well. The claim is (with a good rifle) sub-moa @ 300 yards, and about 1moa at 500 yards. Is the 243 capable of accurate shots at 600+ yards? I am, of course, assuming the recoil is just over that of the .223?
 
Past

Chris, go ahead and get the SPS in .308, for about $25-30 more buy a PAST recoil pad. You wear this pad on your sholder and it releives a lot of the recoil from even large magnum calibers. Doing load development on my .338-06 and .35 Whelen I found that I was developing a flinch while shooting from the bench. I was going home and had bruises like you were talking about, I was recommended one of these pads by the gun shop I frequent and it was the best money I ever spent for bench work. It is now automatic when I go to the range the pad goes on, I even caught a few laughs when I kept it on for shooting my .22 WMR at the range.
 
taylorce1 said:
Chris, go ahead and get the SPS in .308, for about $25-30 more buy a PAST recoil pad. You wear this pad on your sholder and it releives a lot of the recoil from even large magnum calibers. Doing load development on my .338-06 and .35 Whelen I found that I was developing a flinch while shooting from the bench. I was going home and had bruises like you were talking about, I was recommended one of these pads by the gun shop I frequent and it was the best money I ever spent for bench work. It is now automatic when I go to the range the pad goes on, I even caught a few laughs when I kept it on for shooting my .22 WMR at the range.
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lol nice! Sounds like the absolute best route right there. Thank you very much for your additional information!
 
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