Remington 700 SPS- to be or not to be?

[Silly_Ghillie]

I am looking to put together a "precision" bolt gun using a OEM rifle for $2000 or less. This includes optics and accessories so about 1k of that limit is accounted for already.

I have my eye on a 700 SPS varmint, a decent price with a good heavy barrel would give me a head start on this build- but with all the upheaval about their QC in the last decade, I find I have intentionally avoided buying an OEM Remington 700. I know everyone has good memories of their golden days and might have some brand loyalty blindness- but I am looking for an objective set of answers.

I mean, they couldn't have kept those same QC standards for this long without addressing some issues right? could I expect reasonable 1 MOA accuracy from this rifle or will I end up sinking money into it to get what should be "out of the box" accuracy? Has anyone took the gamble recently with a Rem 700? if so, what accuracy issues or rifle problems did you observe? Thanks folks!

 

[26Reload]

I bought a sps at a pawn shop..having a 65 shilen barrel already designated for it....eventually replaced the trigger..and stock...
Was it really worth the effort? Probably close to $1200 into it...
shoots okay...not a trophy winner..but paid for itself with two deer last year....
It's all gonna depend upon what your plan is for shooting...
Precision or hunting.....
And what you expect from the rifle...i wouldnt get caught up in the prices until you are certain of full usage and components....figuring in upgrades......lots of clones out there already offering better pieces on the action...

 

[martinakl]

There's a lot of good reviews for the Remington 700 5R Gen II. 308 Win, 6.5 Creedmoor, & 300 Win available. Other than the factory trigger, it's a solid start and might be dollars ahead over a SPS purchase.

Here's one in creedmoor, for example:
https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/42441

 

[MOOSE39465]

I bought a Remington 700p LTR 308 a few years back and I have to say it's to most accurate rifle I ever put in my hands. Shoot 168 and 175 very well.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I am looking to put together a "precision" bolt gun using a OEM rifle for $2000 or less. This includes optics and accessories so about 1k of that limit is accounted for already.

I have my eye on a 700 SPS varmint, a decent price with a good heavy barrel would give me a head start on this build- but with all the upheaval about their QC in the last decade, I find I have intentionally avoided buying an OEM Remington 700. I know everyone has good memories of their golden days and might have some brand loyalty blindness- but I am looking for an objective set of answers.

I mean, they couldn't have kept those same QC standards for this long without addressing some issues right? could I expect reasonable 1 MOA accuracy from this rifle or will I end up sinking money into it to get what should be "out of the box" accuracy? Has anyone took the gamble recently with a Rem 700? if so, what accuracy issues or rifle problems did you observe? Thanks folks!

SPS varmints are fine. However, They have some great deals on the 5r's right now that come with a nice HS precision stock. Add a timney or triggertech and your choice of optic like a Vortex PST II and you have yourself a long range rig for less than $2k.

 

[Silly_Ghillie]

Prices I am finding for that 5R gen 2 are about $1000. That's not terrible, considering I was just going to transplant the action/barrel into a new stock anyway. I think that might be my way to go. I am just plinking at steel torsos (15"x20") so I can afford about 1.5 MOA honestly. In this case, a hit is a hit.
I have a good custom ELR rig, but the price of plugging away at closer targets with a .300 WM (and monolithic solids) is much too high to justify the barrel wear, powder, bullets, etc. as of recently, I have been doing a lot of mountainous 400-1000 yard shooting so I figured its time to substitute the 18 pound boom rod for a more practical rifle. I just didn't want to have to tear another rifle down, that process gets tedious when its just an implement of fun, and not for anything serious like hunting.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Prices I am finding for that 5R gen 2 are about $1000. That's not terrible, considering I was just going to transplant the action/barrel into a new stock anyway. I think that might be my way to go. I am just plinking at steel torsos (15"x20") so I can afford about 1.5 MOA honestly. In this case, a hit is a hit.
I have a good custom ELR rig, but the price of plugging away at closer targets with a .300 WM (and monolithic solids) is much too high to justify the barrel wear, powder, bullets, etc. as of recently, I have been doing a lot of mountainous 400-1000 yard shooting so I figured its time to substitute the 18 pound boom rod for a more practical rifle. I just didn't want to have to tear another rifle down, that process gets tedious when its just an implement of fun, and not for anything serious like hunting.

I have a gen 2 in 260 and its awesome. You can find better deals on the Gen 1's if you shop a little.

 

[aushunter1]

I have a recently bought SFV in 22-250 & its a nice rifle, no issues with it but I have head some trigger work on it.
I have changed the stock to a GRS Bifrost.
The build quality on the action is much better than an SPS & even better than my mates 700 police.
My 1st Rem 700 was an SPS, I ended up bedding it & getting work done on the trigger, still shot 1/2moa, not bad for a $1000AU rifle.

I also have 2 Tikka T3's, I personally think the build quality to be slightly better than the Rem 700's.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

Prices I am finding for that 5R gen 2 are about $1000. That's not terrible, considering I was just going to transplant the action/barrel into a new stock anyway. I think that might be my way to go. I am just plinking at steel torsos (15"x20") so I can afford about 1.5 MOA honestly. In this case, a hit is a hit.
I have a good custom ELR rig, but the price of plugging away at closer targets with a .300 WM (and monolithic solids) is much too high to justify the barrel wear, powder, bullets, etc. as of recently, I have been doing a lot of mountainous 400-1000 yard shooting so I figured its time to substitute the 18 pound boom rod for a more practical rifle. I just didn't want to have to tear another rifle down, that process gets tedious when its just an implement of fun, and not for anything serious like hunting.

My 5r holds 1/2 moa out to 1100 yards - they are the only decent rifle remington makes right now in my opinion.

 

[codyadams]

I'll throw out a few ideas here....

Rem 700 action - $350-$375
Custom barrel - $350
Trigger Tech trigger - $140
Wyatts mag box - $60
PTG bottom metal - $100
Boyds stock - $140
Smith fees to put it together and true action - $300-$400

So $1440 - $1565, over budget some, but will 100% be more consistent than a factory Remington. Another similar route....

Rem 700 action with a pre-fit remage barrel and all the other components, and assemble yourself, that would put you right at or maybe just over $1000.

One more option, you could likely get many components for cheaper, such as the bottom metal, mag box, trigger, even the barrel if you shop on the classifieds on this site. If you just take your time, a few months, to find the parts, you will likely come in well under $1,000 and have a better rifle than any factory option. I have sourced a few actions and other components and saved literally hundreds over buying new by using the classifieds on this site.

 

[xsn10s]

My buddy purchased a recent production Remington Long Range in 300 WM. He had a burr on the rail which he corrected himself. I've shot and so far it's one hole for 3 shots. And that's with minimal reloading. A member here had a bit of a fiasco with a LR but in 7mm RM. After it was all done he also has a good shooter. I'm not blindly brand loyal. But my builds will mostly be on Remington's because of the aftermarket support. And it's a rifle I can work on myself.

 

[codyadams]

Just some quick looking, found a complete set of Remington bottom metal for $90, fluted pac-nor 6.5mm 8 twist barrel for $315, x-caliber barrel .257 7 twist barrel for $250, I have seen trued actions for $350-$400 pretty regularly, I have seen timney/trigger tech triggers for $90-$120, and good stocks for $100-$200. That puts you down as low as $900-$950, then just have to have a smith chamber thread and set head space, so likely $1200-1300 and it will be a very good rifle.

 

[Silly_Ghillie]

Thank you everyone for your input.
Like I said, I know I could squeeze a sub MOA rifle out of a custom/partial custom build but I don't care to spend too much time on this rifle putting it together, It would be overkill for what I'm using it for and there is diminishing return with some projects- namely this one.

But my builds will mostly be on Remington's because of the aftermarket support.

\ I am all about using Remington 700 modeled actions, but I was weary about a OEM Remington assembled rifle considering some of the horror stories about the 700 specifically. I am a savage fan boy (and I do have blind loyalty issues with them), so commercial Remington is foreign territory.

I am pretty turned onto the 5R, (in .308) some of the groups I am seeing online are pretty impressive for a "out of the box" rifle.

 

[xsn10s]

\ I am all about using Remington 700 modeled actions, but I was weary about a OEM Remington assembled rifle considering some of the horror stories about the 700 specifically. I am a savage fan boy (and I do have blind loyalty issues with them), so commercial Remington is foreign territory.

I have a PSS from 1991 and the other Remington's I have are older too. Shot the barrel out of a 22-250 last year. But all my factory production Remington have been sub moa. Most of my rifles of various brands have been sub MOA except for my 30-06's. And those have been fine out to 400 yards anyways. What's your intended used of this rifle?