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New Rem Model 700 Varmint SF 308 today

1K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  ole 5 hole group 
#1 ·
Ordered a new Rem Model 700 Varmint SF 308 today. Rather excited about it. Will be using it on WYO speed goat trips and long distance NC white hunts. I do have one question. Most Remington 308 guns have 1 in 10 twist. This gun has 1 in 12. What weight bullets might it spit out better?
 
#3 ·
150's should work, but we are currently playing with my SIL's 308 with a 1:12 twist and 150 and 155 grain bullets just aren't doing it - they group between 0.716 and 0.996 with most powders and a tad over an inch with some powders. Best powder for our rifle with the 150 grain was 45.0 grains of VV N-140. The 165 and 168 grain weight bullets are performing best. The Federal Match is used as a standard. 168 grain Federal Match is grouping consistently right at/around 0.354 (smallest group shot was 0.198) and testing at 500 yards we are getting just a tad under 3 inches coming out just over half inch MOA, which is excellent - with Black Hills Match coming in at 0.417 at 100.

The accuracy seemed to come in with a full case of powder and we tried some compressed loads as well. We did ruin a few cases by blowing out the primer pockets with a few loads running them a tad over recommended max loadings but nothing real silly.

Varget is working best for us with 45.0 and 45.5 grains with the 168 grain AMax bullet grouping consistently between 0.289 and 0.346. This week we will end by testing BL-C2 powder, as everything else including 4895 just doesn't get down into the smaller numbers with this rifle barrel chambered to minimum SAAMI specs. We are only using a 20X scope and the X-hairs are just a tad thick and the Jewel trigger is breaking clean at 12 ounces. If the BL-C2 doesn't get us below the magic quarter inch we will quite and stay with Varget and the 168 grain Hornady AMax with the 165 grain Hornady SST as a game bullet.

I think we could probably get 175/178 grain bullets to group with this barrel but he's not liking the recoil of the 168's the way it is, so I haven't loaded any up to find out.

Have fun burning powder with your Model 700 - it'll be a shooter, as 99.9% of the Model 700's are.
 
#4 ·
ole said:
150's should work, but we are currently playing with my SIL's 308 with a 1:12 twist and 150 and 155 grain bullets just aren't doing it - they group between 0.716 and 0.996 with most powders and a tad over an inch with some powders. Best powder for our rifle with the 150 grain was 45.0 grains of VV N-140. The 165 and 168 grain weight bullets are performing best. The Federal Match is used as a standard. 168 grain Federal Match is grouping consistently right at/around 0.354 (smallest group shot was 0.198) and testing at 500 yards we are getting just a tad under 3 inches coming out just over half inch MOA, which is excellent - with Black Hills Match coming in at 0.417 at 100.

The accuracy seemed to come in with a full case of powder and we tried some compressed loads as well. We did ruin a few cases by blowing out the primer pockets with a few loads running them a tad over recommended max loadings but nothing real silly.

Varget is working best for us with 45.0 and 45.5 grains with the 168 grain AMax bullet grouping consistently between 0.289 and 0.346. This week we will end by testing BL-C2 powder, as everything else including 4895 just doesn't get down into the smaller numbers with this rifle barrel chambered to minimum SAAMI specs. We are only using a 20X scope and the X-hairs are just a tad thick and the Jewel trigger is breaking clean at 12 ounces. If the BL-C2 doesn't get us below the magic quarter inch we will quite and stay with Varget and the 168 grain Hornady AMax with the 165 grain Hornady SST as a game bullet.

I think we could probably get 175/178 grain bullets to group with this barrel but he's not liking the recoil of the 168's the way it is, so I haven't loaded any up to find out.

Have fun burning powder with your Model 700 - it'll be a shooter, as 99.9% of the Model 700's are.
This gun does have very tight headspace. I am loading 150 & 165 grain Interlocks. I also have some 155 gr. A-Maxs to shoot in the morning. The BLC2 shot the tightest in my 750 Remington 308. When I went to WYO in Sept last year I took a 243. My buds out there shoot hot long in BC slugs in 300 & 7mms and their normal shots go out to 600 yards.
 
#5 ·
A couple friends and myself use to hunt around the Newcastle area. We stayed at the Fountain Inn, which use to have a shed in the back where you could skin and bone out antelope and mule deer. 600 yards is a long poke - we filled out every year that we were able to draw tags and most shots were within 200 yards.

The 150 grain SST's shot fairly well with 47 grains of Varget, if you're using that powder you might want to give that one a go.

After the 1st year I always packed knee pads, leather gloves and a good ground cloth, as everything in that State either bites, sticks or somehow makes you downright miserable sneaking around the sagebrush. Outfitters pretty much leased a lot of prime private land and shut ya down from accessing some public land by not allowing vehicles to cross their leased property. Not really sure how all that works but talked to some rangers and they said we would be trespassing in most cases.

Out of State licenses are pretty high, motels are expensive and dealing with outfitters is taking a lot of the enjoyment out of heading West in the fall of the year. Hope you have a great time and success in your hunt.
 
#8 ·
I just walked in now, as we decided to burn powder this afternoon and was just a tad shy of that magic quarter inch. The BLC2 did well - I loaded 10 rounds of 46.5 grains and one group measured 0.317 and the other went 0.286. We also fired 10 rounds with 44 grains of Varget just to see how that would go as we were pushing hard previously and decided to back off a little, as we skipped over 44 grains working up. Temp was 38*F and with 44.0 grains of Varget one group measured 0.315 and the other went 0.261 - he liked the "softer" recoil, so next week I'll run off 150 rounds using Varget. 5-rounds of Federal Match 168 went into 0.308, so we are done testing and those coyotes who decide to sit out there 200 to 400 yards this winter instead of coming in to the decoy and e-caller will be in Harm's Way and we don't care if they are just sitting or trotting - an AMax will be coming their way. ;)
 
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