My 40X "trainer"

[Kebo57]

I picked up a 40X US marked rifle about a year ago.... unaltered and with original sights and scope blocks. I shot it in a Smiley match last year with a Unertl 20X scope still nestled in its original wood stock....finished 10th I think. This rifle is a pre-700 made in 1962....and it still shoots amazingly well.

I recently recycled a HS Rem 700 varmint stock for this rifle and mounted a Leupold 8.5-25 scope. The 3 - 5 shot gps pictured are the first since sticking in in the new stock. I have also completed 1 of my Smiley targets for the current match and it scores somewhere in the 260 range. This 40 year old 22 and its original barrel will still hold its own.

Groups were shot at 50 yds with SK Standard plus. I also tried Fed 900B and Wolf Match Extra. Neither of those came close to the SK out of this particular rifle

 

[TN-MadDog]

Very nice rifle and shooting

 

[Kebo57]

Thanks Mad Dog
I bought the rifle fully thinking I was going to need to re-barrel it. The original barrel wasn't as heavy as I would have liked and it was 40 yrs old. After I shot the thing I decided that was a very stupid plan. I have shot it at 100 and 200 as well. The conditions weren't very good and I was shooting 10 shots for score. I ran out of elevation at 200....hence the new 20 MOA base. I'll get new zeroes and see what I can manage at 100 and 200....maybe tomorrow. Conditions here in Cody can be quite daunting for a 22 at times!

 

[Mike407]

Wow, that is excellent shooting! I've been looking at the 40x and this is going to help push me in that direction for sure!

 

[Kebo57]

I think from what I've read here and on other sites, the 40X is tough to beat without building a from scratch full on custom....and even then the 40X may still outshoot it. I got mine at about the same price a custom action alone sells for. I already had the HS stock and did the refit and bedding myself. The scope was already in my pile of swag as well. My only expense past purchase price was the different scope base and rings to fit it. FYI...Talley bases and rings with a 1" scope won't get you past 200. I also lucked out in the fact that it shoots "bottom" end match ammo exceptionally well. The top shelf stuff has gotten ridiculous! There are quite a few of these US marked rifles floating around. The CMP sold a bunch of them a few years back.

 

[Kebo57]

100 yd groups shot today with my 40X

only had time to get 2 groups shot at 100...one measured 0.744' and the other 1.034"...good conditions for Cody,WY....only about 5mph but switching directions

 

[Mike407]

That'll work Kebo! I'm on the hunt.

 

[sinister]

Great minds think alike.

I love this rifle.

 

[Kebo57]

Sinister....

we almost have twins! Yours appears to be a later 700 based model but it has the same barrel contour as mine. I don't know if Remington made the barrels for these things or outsourced, but they definitely shoot. What ammo does your prefer? We even have the same spotting scope....

Keith

 

[Skyyr]

One of those in an AICS would do nicely...

 

[eternal24k]

I hate to ask, but what's a good price for these?

 

[sinister]

Keith, I got mine from the CMP for $400 a few Christmases ago. I think when they went through Anniston a lot of them were mis-matched as far as bolts (mine has a swept-back 700 handle, and the serials don't match).

Charlie Robertson at Score-High down in Albuquerque took mine out of the old, shortened stock and bedded it into the H-S 700V stock with the GI bottom metal. It shoots darn near any standard velocity .22 well.

 

[Rolltide]

That is very cool! I just saw my first 40X a few weeks ago at a local shop. Guy had sold it on another board for $800 and couldn't believe that he got that for it. It looked perfect!

Chris

 

[Kebo57]

Sinister....I'm sure mine was a CMP rifle at some time, but likely a while back. I got the complete package....all matching. Redfield sights still with the boxes and instructions.... ,wood stock etc. I got very lucky I think. everything was in 95% condition or better. I paid $1300 for mine but have seen rifles that were in comparable condition metal wise without the sights sell for $800. AT either price you can't have a rifle built around a comparable action for what you can buy one of these. As a gunsmith by trade I get frustrated by the mentality that thinks 22's should be cheaper than a cf gun. Building a bolt gun around a quality action with a quality barrel costs the same regardless of caliber.

 

[sinister]

Amen. I know a few guys who went whole-hog with Obermyer and Krieger cut-rifled 1-16 twist barrels for their 40Xs and Anschutz rifles.

I have no earthly idea how many rounds were through the barrel of this rifle before I got it, but it still shoots better than I can hold with a 10X telescope.

 

[Redmanss]

This thread is making me want to chase down one of these. Great shooting and a fine rifle.

 

[sinister]

Here's another:

 

[RicosRevenge]

One of those in an AICS would do nicely...

Yup... it does...

 

[Kebo57]

This will be heresy on this forum but....I have an AICS 2.0 for a Rem 700 short action and I am not impressed. I tried it on one of my other rifles and didn't like it at all. It spite of all it's adjustablity , without mounting my scope at great altitude above the rifle, I can't comfortably get behind my scope. My 40X in this recycled HS stock works just fine thank you.

 

[RicosRevenge]

Not heresy at all. One size doesn't fit all. My 40x sits in an AICS just like my .308. They fit me!

 

[AK Sgt Maj]

I got 2 of these from the CMP, when they had them. One was a standard barrel, like yours and one was a heavy barrel. The standard one was for my wife, but she didn't ever shoot it, so I sold it the year before last, and got a 40X Single Shot and built a new long range rifle. Still have the Heavy barrel. If yours has a B at the end of the serial #, it is built on a 700 and if it doesn't have the B, it is built on the 722 action. My standard didn't have the B and my heavy has the B. I use mine for training, and shoot the 50 yard targets at 100 yards. Really nice rifles. I have irons for it but usually shoot it with an old Weaver T15 scope.

 

[Kebo57]

the date codes on my barrel show a pre-700 date of mfg and there is no B suffix on my low 10,000ish serial number. Here in Cody we shoot mostly at schuetzen targets because most of our gang comes from that background and we already have targets. The center 25 ring for the 100 yard target measures 0.75" and the 200 is double that....both are challenging for a 22 in our normal conditions. We shoot a monthly precision match with both RF and CF. For the RF guns we shoot 50, 100, and 200 yds. The 100 and 200 targets are at correct distance but at 50 yds we shoot at a 50' gallery target where the center is about 0.25". lots of fun!

 

[jhr1986]

Great shooting! I'm not very familiar with the 40x, are these single shot rifles? I'm guessing they are since it looks like the stock still has the BDL bottom metal, if so, are 40x repeaters available?

 

[Kebo57]

Most 40X's are single shots. I believe Remington's custom shop did some very high priced sporters as repeaters. There is also a thread on the hide about an outfit, Blackops?, doing a conversion on the single shot versions.