Growing up from .22LR rifles and into my first .308. Rem 700 XLR carbon

D

defcon

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 13, 2011
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California
#1
Ive been playing with my .22LR conversions for 3 years and had fun with messing with people at the range. Now its time to get more serious with a precision rig. I bought the 700 4 months ago and finished it up last night. Looking to shoot it for the first time on labor day. I'm still learning how to read MRAD

My local range in Los Angeles goes up to 600yds but paper targets at 200 yds

Rem 700 SPS Varmint .308
XLR carbon chassis
XLR 20 MOA base
Vortex Viper PST 6-24×50 SFP MRAD
Vortex Viper 1.37 precision match high rings

Other 3 are .22's I made
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#4
coldboremiracle said:
So I see 2 XLR-ish chassis and some other stuff that doesn't appear to be .22lr. Am I missing something? or did you upload the wrong pic? or has it become fashionable in CA to build pretend guns since the real ones are out of reach?
Click to expand...

Top one is a .22LR Savage MKII F

I dont have 10k-14k to buy the real ones so I just made some clones out of a 10/22 and Marlin XT22.

Theyre just fun conversion projects I enjoy building in my garage.

I built these for my 4 year old.
 
#5
That 50cal lookin' unit would be fun for squirrel hunting ( maybe from a bench ). Nice long barrel, shroud and subs, you'd only hear the action, sound like a stapler.

I'm jealous of the 308, too.:)
 
#6
You have done some great conversions. Have fun with the 308. You'll find it's a much different beast and you should get to 600 yards easily with any factory ammo. Your PST should suit you well to that distance. Once you shoot 500 or more yards, you'll be hooked on bolt rifles and LR shooting. Good luck!
 
#7
sib1948 said:
You have done some great conversions. Have fun with the 308. You'll find it's a much different beast and you should get to 600 yards easily with any factory ammo. Your PST should suit you well to that distance. Once you shoot 500 or more yards, you'll be hooked on bolt rifles and LR shooting. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks

I just bought some PMC ammo 150gr for $20.99 at my LGS and thought that was expensive. Kinda makes me want to look into investing in a reloading kit. I only shoot twice a month.

How many rounds do you typically shoot a day of .308?

We have local matches here (www.CaPRC.com) so eventually I want to join the friendly competition.
 
#8
defcon said:
Thanks

I just bought some PMC ammo 150gr for $20.99 at my LGS and thought that was expensive. Kinda makes me want to look into investing in a reloading kit. I only shoot twice a month.

How many rounds do you typically shoot a day of .308?

We have local matches here (www.CaPRC.com) so eventually I want to join the friendly competition.
Click to expand...

That is expensive. Back when I wasn't loading ammo (only 2-2.5 years ago) $21 would get you 168gr Federal Sierra Gold, I even got 5-6 boxes for $19.99 shipped.

While you will have plenty of fun and learn a lot on the 150gr, you're not going to be doing much precision shooting and a CaPRC match might prove frustrating.

Reloading is the only proven way to shoot quality ammo for cheap(er) - but dont let that stop you from shooting FMJ for now.
 
#9
I typically shoot 20-150 rounds depending on the weather and how well I'm shooting. When you start reloading you can shoot 3-4 times more for the same price and much more accurate than factory ammo. There is a learning curve like shooting and didn't get really proficient until about 6 months.

You can PM me if you have other questions.
George
 
#10
If I'm just shooting .308 and im there with a spotter (we switch off) I shoot about 50-80 rounds. I slow fire and shoot at very small targets at mid to long range, so I'm not making 10 5 round groups ect. When I switch between rifles and calibers, I usually shoot about 60-100.
 
#11
PS-G1_Sniper said:
That is expensive. Back when I wasn't loading ammo (only 2-2.5 years ago) $21 would get you 168gr Federal Sierra Gold, I even got 5-6 boxes for $19.99 shipped.

While you will have plenty of fun and learn a lot on the 150gr, you're not going to be doing much precision shooting and a CaPRC match might prove frustrating.

Reloading is the only proven way to shoot quality ammo for cheap(er) - but dont let that stop you from shooting FMJ for now.
Click to expand...

I just bought a mini mill and tooling so I can't invest into a quality reloading kit right now.

Would it be better to get a basic kit to start learning to reload now or just save up and wait?

Do you ever worry about kaboom's with your reloads?
 
#12
Maybe it's only me but I'm more interested in the 22 rifles you have! That would be a fun deal for my and my daughter. Where did you get the chassis for those rifles? Did you build them your self?
 
#13
defcon said:
I just bought a mini mill and tooling so I can't invest into a quality reloading kit right now.

Would it be better to get a basic kit to start learning to reload now or just save up and wait?

Do you ever worry about kaboom's with your reloads?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you mean by quality, nothing wrong with a Lee single stage or turret press. I've loaded 1/3 MOA ammo on a lee press. Either way, you should save up first. If you dont have ALL of the components, they will be sitting while you continue to buy commercial ammo. That said, finding all of the components (powder, primers, bullets) all at once will be difficult - although less difficult today than months ago.

I never worry about kaboom rounds, I would worry more on commercial ammo at this point over my own being as though I see mine put together. That said, double charging the necked brass I shoot would make a mess everywhere from spilling and is pretty obvious if it happens. Plus I measure every charged case on a digital scale after filling with powder accepting no more than +/- .05gr for accuracy reasons - so I'm never worried.
It is, however, immensely more accurate than factory ammo. I don't agree with the above post about being able to shoot 3-4 times more often from savings. The best you might muster with match brass and match bullets is 2x more, use free found brass and load it 8-10 times on mild loads and you're looking at 2.5x maybe with match bullets. The amount of time and upfront $ it takes, the main draw for me isn't the savings, its the accuracy.

BTW, where in Cali do you live?
 
#15
PS-G1_Sniper said:
Depends on what you mean by quality, nothing wrong with a Lee single stage or turret press. I've loaded 1/3 MOA ammo on a lee press. Either way, you should save up first. If you dont have ALL of the components, they will be sitting while you continue to buy commercial ammo. That said, finding all of the components (powder, primers, bullets) all at once will be difficult - although less difficult today than months ago.

I never worry about kaboom rounds, I would worry more on commercial ammo at this point over my own being as though I see mine put together. That said, double charging the necked brass I shoot would make a mess everywhere from spilling and is pretty obvious if it happens. Plus I measure every charged case on a digital scale after filling with powder accepting no more than +/- .05gr for accuracy reasons - so I'm never worried.
It is, however, immensely more accurate than factory ammo. I don't agree with the above post about being able to shoot 3-4 times more often from savings. The best you might muster with match brass and match bullets is 2x more, use free found brass and load it 8-10 times on mild loads and you're looking at 2.5x maybe with match bullets. The amount of time and upfront $ it takes, the main draw for me isn't the savings, its the accuracy.

BTW, where in Cali do you live?
Click to expand...

ah got it.

i dont mind doing a single stage press to get familiar with everything before moving onto a progressive kit.

im in ventura county and san fernando valley
 
#17
Snoball said:
Maybe it's only me but I'm more interested in the 22 rifles you have! That would be a fun deal for my and my daughter. Where did you get the chassis for those rifles? Did you build them your self?
Click to expand...

i just use new/used airsoft bodies that i just gut out and bed the action/barrel of any .22 long rifle. i prefer to buy broken ones but they typically range from $100-$200 each. the more uncommon ones like the Cheytac and Barrett are more expensive where i have to buy them new ranging $250-450 each.

yes i customized the fitting myself. i did one and then realized it was easy and fun to do. ended up doing over 30 different conversions

a couple of old pics. most are full metal and weigh over 12-15lbs

kids and teens love them. adults hate them. hehe

im usually at the range for a good 5 hours just plinking at the pistol gallery
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Last edited:
#26
i finally got out to shoot today to sight in my scope. im still trying to understand my MRAD reticles.

first shot @ 100 yards i was 3 feet above the frame. took me about 15 shots to walk it down to zero. i think i had to do 2-3 full rotations to elevate it down to get it on center.

i was also zoomed in at 24x. a guy next to me with a 700 .308 said that's too strong and mentioned he uses 9x @ 100 yards.

im using a 20 MOA scope base. is this the reason why it shot high in the first place?
 
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