Advice for my first 6.5 CM (M24/M2010 copy)

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RetireVetUSAF

Private
Minuteman
Feb 9, 2020
14
3
#1
Hello all, this is my first post, so I apologize in advance if I break any rules :). Anyway, I'm on a tight budget (under $1,500) and looking to buy a 6.5 CM caliber long range rifle that aesthetically looks (and shoots) like a M24 or M2010 with the right bipod, stock and scope, etc. **Someday in the future I’ll build a legitimate replica of those rifles.

Right now, I'm only looking at Grabagun because they preapproved me on a shoot now/pay later so that way my wife doesn't ‘shoot now’ if I blow our entire tax refund on my first Creedmoor.

The rifles I am looking at if I go the M24 route is:
  • Gen2 Model 700 5-R, 6.5mm Creedmoor 24 Inch Fluted 5/8-24 Threaded Barrel with 5-R Rifling Black Cerakote Finish, Tactical Bolt Knob, H-S Precision Sand Color Stock with Black Webbing, 4-Round.

  • Remington 700 Long Range 6.5 Creedmoor 26 Inch 4 Rounds Black w/Gray Webbing, Bell & Carlson M40 Stainless

The rifle I am looking at if I go the M2010 route:
  • Remington 700 PCR Black 6.5 Creedmoor 24-inch 5Rds

    Non-Remington     rifles I’m also looking at foregoing basic M24/M2010 design:

  • Howa HCR Multi-Cam / Flat Dark Earth 6.5 Creedmoor, 24 Inches, 10rd
  • Browning X-Bolt Max Varmint/Target 6.5 Creedmoor, 26 Inches, 4 RDs
  • Savage Model 10 BA Black 6.5 Creedmoor, 24-inch, 10Rds Threaded Barrel Monolithic Chassis
  • Ruger M77 Hawkeye Long-Range-Target 6.5 Creedmoor, 26 Inches, 10Rds Brown
I will eventually buy a proper M24 stock or maybe even a M40 stock and Harris bipod.

I own several scopes, but I plan to use either my Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44 or Leupold VX-3i 6.5-20x50. Just don’t want to remove the Leupold from a Savage 110, 270 win that’s been in my family since 1958 but I might for the right 6.5 CM … lol. I have plenty of hunting rifles so I will not hunt with this particular 6.5 CM.

Knowing that long range is somewhat subjective, I only have ranges near me between 100 – 300 yards, but I can drive upwards of 2 hours to get to a solid 1000 yard range, so I’d like a rifle recommendation from those above that might fit that bill while with some mods, looking somewhat like a respectable (bad) copy of a M24/M2010.

I know this is not your typical call for advice, but I appreciate any and all replies.

Thanks all!
 
#2
Will only say that the Howa is good. And I'm no fan of the xbolt, especially their aftermarket support. What you should care most about in a flooded 6.5cm market is the action. The rest can be built (depending on what you go with, ie. Rem700 vs Savage) as you go and know what you like in a 1000yd gun. Heavier is definitely best, but with your aesthetic needs, probably not a priority.
 
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#3
Coyote-6 said:
Will only say that the Howa is good. And I'm no fan of the xbolt, especially their aftermarket support. What you should care most about in a flooded 6.5cm market is the action. The rest can be built (depending on what you go with, ie. Rem700 vs Savage) as you go and know what you like in a 1000yd gun. Heavier is definitely best, but with your aesthetic needs, probably not a priority.
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Thanks for your take on this... especially the heads up on Xbolt aftermarket support. I hadn't even considered that very much so I appreciate! I already own 3 Savage rifles so I'm 'almost purposely' trying to avoid buying another one lol, though I do love 'em. So if I went Rem 700, which one would you recommend over the other: 700 5-R Gen 2 or 700 PCR?
 
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#4
I’d love to help, but I’d be strictly forwarding hearsay on anything Remington. When I chose the Howa 1500 barreled action over Remington, it was because I don’t trust un-trued/factory Remington actions. You might be able to find a good Remclone or trued Rem rig in the PX here for $1500, although likely in .308 lol
 
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#5
Coyote-6 said:
I’d love to help, but I’d be strictly forwarding hearsay on anything Remington. When I chose the Howa 1500 barreled action over Remington, it was because I don’t trust un-trued/factory Remington actions. You might be able to find a good Remclone or trued Rem rig in the PX here for $1500, although likely in .308 lol
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Roger that! Again, thanks for the advice. I'm new to the forum thing, so I'll definitely look through the PX area.
 
#9
Which is funny, because those same people likely have $4k rem clones. The Remington hate comes from a very real place, where production runs not too long ago had wide variance in performance, making purchasing one like playing th lottery.

As for military variants, I don't know if they come from the same factory or even production method so it's not that simple. I'd be surprised if the lowly civilians got the stuff as good as m24's.

Another thought is that they remained steady in performance and everyone else around them upgraded their lines with much tighter tolerances and QC, therefore making remington a poor choice for awhile.
 
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#11
PAYDIRT said:
See
Click to expand...
I'm not really "hating" am I? I provided reasons why I don't prefer something, which i don't think are unreasonable.

In fact, I struggled immensely between the howa BA and Rem 700 SPS on Brownells, because there are a million things you can do with a remington and I like to tinker. But I liked the Howa in my hands better, especially the trigger (i like 2 stage triggers more), but I dislike the small market for Howage barrel solutions.
 
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#12
I hear you. I've spent the greater part of today looking at the 3 rems I mentioned. As it turns out, only one seemed to have garnered genuine 4-5 stars from reviewers across the board from consumers to YT'bers, to big box suppliers. That's the 5-R Gens 1 and 2. They did mention hit/miss on the other two rems so I'll be staying away from those. I like HOWA, but that'll be next year's tax refund or maybe a Christensen. I also noticed a ton of aftermarket parts for the 700. It'll be like modding a Glock lol.
 
#13
Exactly. There's a lot of great rem clones out there. Defiance being an example. If you're not married to the look of the M24, then Bergara HMR or BMP are nice for their price points. And the Tikka T3x CTR is a favorite around here (not mine particularly).
 
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#15
padom said:
Get that Rem700 5R 6.5cm. It will shoot out of the box and lots of upgrade options. Let the haters hate but my 5R's shot out of the box
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To be honest, I'm leaning heavily that way. I called my local smith back in TX (I'm currently in NC) and he mentioned that carrying a M24 contour even mocked will wreck me lol. He also recommended the 5R. He owns one and he loves it and this guy is a legitimate smith. He recommend a few others, but my wallet wasn't having it.
 
#16
RetireVetUSAF said:
To be honest, I'm leaning heavily that way. I called my local smith back in TX (I'm currently in NC) and he mentioned that carrying a M24 contour even mocked will wreck me lol. He also recommended the 5R. He owns one and he loves it and this guy is a legitimate smith. He recommend a few others, but my wallet wasn't having it.
Click to expand...

Put a trigger and a 20moa scope base on it and shoot the hell out of it.
 
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#18
I've had some really poor experiances with factory Remington 700 barrels and some really good experiences with Howa. That is why, if going factory, I would go Howa unless the Remington is an older rifle or cheap enough that it pays for a barrel.
 
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#20
Another long time 700 owner advocating for the 5R. Acquire the base rifle, a decent scope/rings/mount and shoot it. You can always evolve the rifle as tastes and needs dictate.

As far as the cloning aspect, that’s going to depend how far down the financial rabbit hole you want to go....I warn you - it’s a sickness that will swallow you whole if you let it...ask me how I know:sneaky:
 
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#24
Bear9350 said:
I've had some really poor experiances with factory Remington 700 barrels and some really good experiences with Howa. That is why, if going factory, I would go Howa unless the Remington is an older rifle or cheap enough that it pays for a barrel.
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I'm definitely getting a HOWA sometime later down the road, but based on my budget and good intel from every here I'm gonna go with the 5-R Gen 2. I'll drop a Jewell trigger, Vortex Viper, Harris bi-pod and hit the range until I can fund a step up.
 
#26
nn8734 said:
Another long time 700 owner advocating for the 5R. Acquire the base rifle, a decent scope/rings/mount and shoot it. You can always evolve the rifle as tastes and needs dictate.

As far as the cloning aspect, that’s going to depend how far down the financial rabbit hole you want to go....I warn you - it’s a sickness that will swallow you whole if you let it...ask me how I know:sneaky:
Click to expand...
LOL I won't ask how you know, but if you want to drop a build on here .. I'd really appreciate it lol. I ordered the 5R. After reading everyone's comments, I'm pretty sure I made the right choice 'for now'. Like I said, I will spring for a proper M24 or M40 setup someday.
 
#28
RetireVetUSAF said:
LOL I won't ask how you know, but if you want to drop a build on here .. I'd really appreciate it lol. I ordered the 5R. After reading everyone's comments, I'm pretty sure I made the right choice 'for now'. Like I said, I will spring for a proper M24 or M40 setup someday.
Click to expand...

Here is my M40A5 and Blk2 (m4gery) this past Saturday at my shooting spot...profile pic is of the muzzle of my Mk13 mod 5.

Purely my .02 but between a 24 and a 40, id do the 40 (A5 or A6) given the DBM. Hinged floor plates get old real quick. This rifle started life as a PSS back when I bought it in 02 (my first rifle).

Edit: m24a2 had the DBM so would consider that also.
BEE43EB0-41D3-4BBB-A8E6-5AF50BAA8538.jpeg
 
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#30
I picked up an R700 barreled action (6.5 CM) from Eurooptic for $499. Comes with 5R rifling in a 22" threaded varmint contour. Not sure what furniture to set it in just yet, but XLR chassis or aluminum bedded stocks are a plenty!
 
#31
DRAGON64 said:
I picked up an R700 barreled action (6.5 CM) from Eurooptic for $499. Comes with 5R rifling in a 22" threaded varmint contour. Not sure what furniture to set it in just yet, but XLR chassis or aluminum bedded stocks are a plenty!
Click to expand...
Let me know how this goes. Was thinking of picking one up by a little weary of that barrel. I've seen everything from 2moa to .75moa. Anything under 1moa for me is a GO.
 
#32
I pilar bedded a 6.5 ACC in a Boyd's Prarie varmint stock Bix n Andy 4oz trigger and beast 2pc 3 port brake.
He backed this up with 2 more I didn't take a picture of. Also, he has Parkinsons Target is at 300 yds from Sunday 120 smk's over varget
 

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#33
First of all thank you for your service. Checkout midway.com. I got an email from them yesterday and they have the Remington 700 pcr for$699! You could put a vortex viper or strike Eagle - recommend euro optic- and a Harris bipod with good scope rings and a trigger upgrade - I like Timney for the money and be under your budget! And have a real nice budget setup
 
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