Build Suggestions

[Highbrass]

Recently acquired a Rem Sportsman 78 in >270 Win. It has seen better days. The package included 4 boxes of Factory Remington ammo. It has a Tasco scope with the open bottom to use the iron sights.
My understanding is that this was a basement version of the R700? it has a wood stock but its something cheap like Beech has a plastic trigger guard also.
I was thinking of along the lines of a Sendero clone in 300 Win or maybe 300PRC? but always open to something differenter. Any suggestions?

 

[Hobo Hilton]

Gunsmithing - Difference between rem Sportsman 78 and 700?

A kid going to the GSmith school in Lassen is not sure if he can use my Remington SPortsman 78 in class. Bolt trigger and action look exactly like 700, no knurling on bolt handle, finish is not as nice. Any reason he could not use the 78 in place of a 700?

www.snipershide.com

 

[30338]

Personally, having to pay to open the bolt face, swap extractors, buy a rail, replace or grind the recoil lug, and possibly coat it, I'd buy an ARC Nucleus for $999. If building a 30-06 or 280AI, it would make more sense to me.

 

[The D]

Personally, having to pay to open the bolt face, swap extractors, buy a rail, replace or grind the recoil lug, and possibly coat it, I'd buy an ARC Nucleus for $999. If building a 30-06 or 280AI, it would make more sense to me.

This, especially if you reload. There are some pretty potent .30-06 and 280ai recipes that will get you most of the performance of the .30 magnums.

There’s really nothing stopping you from re-working the action to whatever you want, especially if you have no plans on ever selling the rifle. All the $$ you spend on the gunsmithing won’t get you any more $$ in resale.

 

[Highbrass]

I have no intent to sell this one. This is one of those guns I refer to as an orphan. I look for old and abused guns and give them a new life. I really have no big expectations for this rifle but I will likely add some goodies to it. The scope is already gone (blasphemous optic) and the stock is probably next. I'm already cruising sites looking for a Remage barrel. The .280 AI is one I had not considered but ...I like ,,,,, guess the idea here is this is something to keep me busy...Like I don't have enough!

 

[The D]

Do you have any specific goals in mind? Or is this just a time filling project? And how much money are you willing to spend?

 

[Highbrass]

Nothing specific..Likely a hunting grade rifle for South TX whitetail or Pork
25-06 crossed my mind .. But it's close to being extinct from the proliferation of 6.5 rounds.
keeping it as a .270 Win or >280 AI is a great idea also.
I'm $350 in right I only picked it up for the action. I might go $1K more and add a Athalon scope for another $400.
This is just a project to keep me busy. no real goals in mind just a nice shooter.

 

[The D]

I’m projecting a bit here but how do you feel about a remage setup? You could have the action cleaned up a bit(no real need to go to LRI levels) and get a barrel(or two) nut setup for it. Even cheap remage barrels seem to shoot pretty good in general.

 

[tylerw02]

Make it a .280 AI in a hunting rifle.

 

[The D]

This. My own remage setup will have a 280ai barrel in its quiver. I just need to find the time & money to get it done…

 

[wadebrown]

Do yourself a favor and shoot it before you do anything to it, it may have some nicks and scratches on the outside but may shoot well enough for your applications. The 270 Win may not be the most popular flavor of the day but it no slouch when it comes to a hunting round.
I have an arsenal to choose from in calibers from .223 to .416, with only a few open spots and would always grab the 270 when I went out shooting crop damage whitetails. Crop damage shooting for us was relatively high volume shooting and I used the 270 as it seemed to drop deer faster than anything else I had. Tracking was a real drag as we would be shooting after normal hours legal with the permit and you don't want to track a dozen deer, especailly on a warm August evenig. I either shot straight out of the box core lokts or Ballistic tips and only took broadside shots out to 400 yards and 98% of the deer were bang flop DRT. The explosive nature of the 130 grain core lokts or BT's were ideal as I never needed to worry about a follow up shot, just lining up the next deer. The 25-06 with similar bullets was a close second in terms of how little movement the deer would make after squeezing the trigger.
When hunting whitetails during the normal season I generally use a premium bullet so I can reach the vitals from more angles presented if a trophy will not provide me with an ideal broadside shot. The 270 Win was often grabbed, louded with Accubonds, when hunting for real, like I said no slouch.

 

[Highbrass]

I have a couple of Remage rifles. My 7mm-08 with a criterion Remage is the most accurate rifle I own. The idea is brilliant and its just a locking nut!
I would honestly avoid any other type of barrel. A swap to another caliber is a snap. AND I could try 25-06 and 270 and 280 ...the list is large !

 

[Highbrass]

1K on the rifle

 

[spife7980]

A barrel and a stock, or a barrel and a scope, or a stock and a scope are going to eat up that 1k pretty quick.

I say buy a cheap scope and maybe learn to bed a rifle yourself but otherwise leave it alone.

 

[Forrest]

I've had really good luck with Criterion Remage barrels. You can install it yourself and save money. They are very accurate and Prices start at $300 ready to shoot.

 

[JMGlasgow]

What's wrong with the stock other than it needs a good refinish? The grain looks nice, and it could really show with the right stain. I say keep it as it is now as long as it shoots good, with some work on the stock to bring out the grain. Bed it, they aren't hard to do, it just takes time to do it right.

 

[Highbrass]

UPDATE: So you guys convinced me to at least clean it up and shoot it first. I got rid of the scope and iron sights as they were horrid and in the way. I noticed the trigger was really rough and the safety just flopped around, so the stock came off. In taking it off the trigger assembly just fell apart. Seems the stock was kinda holding the pieces in place.

Luckily I have a leftover factory trigger from a previous TriggerTech swap. Installed the new/ old trigger and adjusted it a bit, just under 3#

After getting all that straight and remounting the stock I bolted on an inexpensive Vortex Sonora scope & DNZ mount. I did a laser alignment and even started making a few hand loads. Tomorrow looks good for a range trip to see if it will still shoot. I also scored a nice walnut stock with an internal chassis and vertical grip off of E-bay.

 

[Mike Casselton]

That 78 may just surprise the shit out of you.
They might have been budget rifles but they shot very, very good on average.
I had one in 243 Win that was an absolute hammer.
Once that barrel was shot out, I had it rebarreled to 6-BR and its my most accurate rifle.

I totally agree about cleaning it up and shooting it before you tear it apart, especially if it's going to be a camp loaner.

 

[Highbrass]

I have put quite a bit of time thinking on what this rifle should become. It has already evolved a bit from my first plans. The question of "what caliber" keeps bugging me. 280AI is very intriguing, the issues being adding more reloading equipment and having to fire form brass. At this point in my game I have 40 plus calibers that I own dies for so one more...is just one more.
So if I keep it as a .270 it kinda simplifies things and to be honest I probably need to stay somewhere in the ballpark at least.
.270 with Winchester StaBall powder looks to have some interesting potential??

 

[tylerw02]

You don't have to fireform .280 AI, you can buy at least a few different cases that do not require forming.

 

[Highbrass]

Another Update:
So I made it to the range today with the Remington. I had a box of old (.270 )Green / Yellow Remington 140 Gr sp. and some handrolled 140 Gr. Sierra Gamechangers and 55 Gr of Winchester 6.5 StaBall.
The Remington stuff shot ok enough to get a zero @ 50 Yds. so I moved on down to 100Yds. and shot 3 of the Handloads.
all 3 thru the same hole !
Made it a great day.
I broke out my Savage 111 in 300 Wm and pulled another Hat trick 3 in 1 had to go home after that because I had done too well and I didn't want to spoil it !

 

[wadebrown]

Always good to shoot and test, unless the cartridge will not suit your needs.