Critique my first LR rifle

[rjacobs]

I am mainly an AR and pistol guy. Never got too interested in LR shooting and living in St. Louis there are not to many places to go where you can shoot much over 100 yards(1 range has out to 600 yards, but you have to take their class and get certified). Last spring I got my dad setup with an LMT MWS, Vortex Viper PST 4-16x, Seekins rings. We finally got a good load worked up with 175g SMK's and I put a .4 MOA group out at 100 yards(not that great a distance to you guys). Well it got me hooked. Decided to build a precision bolt gun this spring. I am about to order everything(already got the gun on the way) but before I do I figured I would run what I am planning on getting by you all.

Rem 700 AAC-SD(wanted the 10 twist barrel and threaded for a can mount, got an AAC 762-SDN6 can)-Already ordered

McRee G5 Chassis with folding stock. Have only read good things about both the chassis and the company. And they are fairly local to me and I always like to support the local guys.

Really like the Vortex PST 4-16 I put on my dads MWS so I am thinking I am going to get one of those, but FFP and MIL/MIL(his is SFP and MOA/MOA). I was also considering the 6-24x, but I really dont think I need that much magnification.

Badger 20 MOA base and 30mm Medium height rings. Wanted to run Seekins, but cant find any of it in stock anywhere. Any other brands to check out?

Harris 6-9" bipod with swivel and notched legs. I would love to get an Atlas, but I cant swing $300.

Timney trigger


Thats all I got planned for now and I think that is all I will need unless I am missing something.

I am very open to suggestions on changing stuff, but its got to stay in the price point of what I am planning on getting already.

 

[Bear24]

Sounds like a good plan to me. I love the PST's I have the 6-24 but I have up to a mile I can shoot pretty regularly. Sounds like the 4-16 will be just the ticket for you.

You may want to check out the American Rifle Company M10 rings they are the best out there in my book as far as ease of mounting and I don't know how you could get any more solid. And you may want to try out a KRG bolt lift for a larger bolt knob without the cost of sending your bolt off foe a badger to be installed.

 

[rjacobs]

You may want to check out the American Rifle Company M10 rings they are the best out there in my book as far as ease of mounting and I don't know how you could get any more solid. And you may want to try out a KRG bolt lift for a larger bolt knob without the cost of sending your bolt off foe a badger to be installed.

I think I looked at the American Rifle Company rings when we got the Seekins for my dad, but I just dont know if I can justify $200. I am already coming up from like 120 for Seekins to 150 for the Badgers. I also decided to go FFP vs. SFP on the scope which is almost $200 more. I think the Badgers will work.

I had thought about a bolt knob, but I think I am going to wait and do a little more research on that later.

 

[jabels]

Badger rings will serve you well.

If you want to save a bit of money, I've heard good things of Aadland rings: http://swfa.com/Aadland-Mounts-C3316.aspx, IOR Valdada rings: http://swfa.com/IOR-Heavy-Duty-Tactical-30mm-Rings-C669.aspx, and Griffin Armament rings: http://swfa.com/Griffin-Armament-Mounts-C4839.aspx. They are all less than Badger rings.

ETA: Depending on the brand, you may be able to use low rings instead of medium rings. I know with the McRee you have an adjustable comb, but some people like to have the optic as close to the bore as possible. YMMV

 

[rjacobs]

ETA: Depending on the brand, you may be able to use low rings instead of medium rings. I know with the McRee you have an adjustable comb, but some people like to have the optic as close to the bore as possible. YMMV

I have done a ton of research on the ring height and the medium's from Badger and Seekins are about identical at basically .88. I dont think low's from either company would work, especially if I want to run scope caps(which I think I do). The bell of the scope will be to close to the barrel with low rings(if it fits at all). I am trying to get as low as I can though, but at the same time in this environment that we are in, its not so easy to just exchange something if it doesnt work since everything is out of stock all the time it seems. I know with the medium rings it will fit and wont be un-shootable, but if I feel its to high, I will look for some low's and swap out down the road. I would rather get something that I know works and have the option to maybe swap out down the road vs. getting something to low that doesnt work and be screwed.

 

[jabels]

Fair enough. I wasn't sure the height on Badger mediums. That's why I said depending on the brand. I have A.R.C. M3 mediums which are ~.96", and with a pretty heavy barrel, I could still get away with lower ones. That was all.

Most importantly, enjoy the heck out of the rifle.

 

[JB02]

Your build is on the right track. Good work!

Vortex an nightforce are good rings too. Same with Aadland. I would go with a nightforce base 20MOA base.

The 6-24 is the flagship of the PST line. If I was you I would get that if you can't afford the Razor.

Don't forget to purchase some magazines with that mini-chassis. Russell from Scout Supply Company is running a group buy special on Accurate Mags (see the group buy section of this forum).

 

[coldboremiracle]

Sounds like a good plan, the PST's are awsome, I have the 4-16 FFP mil/mil and I love it. Big +1 on the AADland rings.

 

[rjacobs]

The 6-24 is the flagship of the PST line. If I was you I would get that if you can't afford the Razor.

I keep reading that the 6-24x is better than the 4-16x, but I havent been able to find out WHY. The only difference, from the specs, is the magnification. Besides that they SHOULD be identical. And I dont want to hear "because it has more magnification" because to me, thats a BS reason to go for one scope over another.

So WHY is the 6-24x a better scope than the 4-16x? I have no problem getting it and the price difference is only $50, but I just havent been able to figure out why people keep sayings its a better scope and I have searched A TON.

I just dont think I would ever use the 24x. For me the 4-16 will be PLENTY to get me out to 1000 yards(which I dont know if I would ever even shoot that far anyway). It for sure will be enough to get me out to the 600 yards that I have available to me.

 

[Janus4088]

This is almost the exact build I am doing right now. AAC-SD, either a McRee or an XLR, PST in 4-16 or 6-24, got a badger base (wanted seekins but its out everywhere), will probably do seekins rings, but I am thinking about springing for an Atlas.

Interested to see how yours goes.

 

[JB02]

I keep reading that the 6-24x is better than the 4-16x, but I havent been able to find out WHY. The only difference, from the specs, is the magnification. Besides that they SHOULD be identical. And I dont want to hear "because it has more magnification" because to me, thats a BS reason to go for one scope over another.

So WHY is the 6-24x a better scope than the 4-16x? I have no problem getting it and the price difference is only $50, but I just havent been able to figure out why people keep sayings its a better scope and I have searched A TON.

Unless you are interested in buying a brand new scope on the market, e.g., the new 2.5-10x32 FFP Vortex PST, you should go and see if Ilya Koshkin has done a review. Turns out, he's given a pretty good write up of the PST line

http://opticsthoughts.com/index.php/rifle-scopes/4-rifle-scope-reviews/92-mid-range-tactical-part-1

Before I move on, I think it is worth my while to talk a little bit about the image quality of the whole PST line-up. One of the reasons this article took me so long to finish is that I wanted to get my hands onto as many PST scopes as possible in an attempt to see if the 2.5-10x44 is representative of the rest of the line-up. I also spent a fair amount of time at SHOT looking at every PST scope Vortex had on display. From an optical standpoint, I think the 2.5-10x44 is the weakest link among the PSTs. 1-4x24 looked pretty reasonable. 4-16x50 did not impress me a whole lot, but it was decent. 6-24x50 actually seemed to be quite good. In terms of image quality, it had nothing in common with the 2.5-10x44 and is generally the gem of the PST line-up, best I can tell. Now, this is based on looking at a rather small number of units and I have no idea how much production variation there will be with PSTs. Since the whole product family is new, only time will tell that.

IMO, you should get the Razor. If you can't afford it, consider the Bushnell Elite Tactical. If that is still too much, then get either the FFP or SFP 6-24 PST. My wife uses it on her rig and it is a good scope. If I won or was given a Nightforce NXS, I would probably sell it and get a Vortex and use the remaining money on ammo and reloading equipment.

 

[Phishman84]

Sounds good. I too, am new to the long range precision game and just finished putting my rig together:

Savage model 10fp
Bell and Carlson Medalist Stock
Harris 9"-13" bi-pod
Burris xtreme tactical 2-piece bases
Leupold PRW medium rings
SWFA SS 12X42 mil/mil scope

Just got it out to the range for sight in today. .75" groups with 175gr Sierra match king factory ammo. Can't wait to stretch her legs.

 

[rjacobs]

Unless you are interested in buying a brand new scope on the market, e.g., the new 2.5-10x32 FFP Vortex PST, you should go and see if Ilya Koshkin has done a review. Turns out, he's given a pretty good write up of the PST line

http://opticsthoughts.com/index.php/rifle-scopes/4-rifle-scope-reviews/92-mid-range-tactical-part-1



IMO, you should get the Razor. If you can't afford it, consider the Bushnell Elite Tactical. If that is still too much, then get either the FFP or SFP 6-24 PST. My wife uses it on her rig and it is a good scope. If I won or was given a Nightforce NXS, I would probably sell it and get a Vortex and use the remaining money on ammo and reloading equipment.

Thanks for the link. I cant afford a Razor. And you cant compare a $900 scope with a $2000 scope. If I could afford $2000 I dont know if I would be looking at Vortex.

I honestly dont think I could go wrong either way. I have time behind the 4-16. I guess it maybe comes down to what is in stock.

 

[garandman]

I got the TPS steel rings for my recent build, and I'm very impressed.