rebuild or replace

[jippy1]

have a rem 700sps, in .308 which I have dropped into a magpul hunter chassis stock, with a trigger tech trigger.
want to replace the barrel with something newer, longer than 20", and heavier contour.
figure I'd get it blueprinted / trued up while I am at it

goal is to keep it under $1,500ish, and be sub moa to 800, hopefully 1,000 yards

1) one consideration is to just get something new (or new to me at least)
frustration with that is the ongoing gun scarcity

2) +/- on the magpul vs another chassis
I have two cases of Berger 185 juggernauts, which shoot fine, BUT ARE A LITTLE TOO LONG FOR THE NEW BOX MAG, WHICH CAME WITH THE MAGPUL HUNTER
----a) can front lip of mag be notched, to allow feeding through the magazine?
----b) can other mags be used with the magpul hunter
----c) (which I doubt) can I seat the bullet a little deeper to fit???

If I get the action re-worked, I am thinking of something m24ish contour at 24 inches
if I could limp by with current stock, than that would seem way to go

3) and of course the best answer is : "it depends . . ."
but, how much would a barrel, swap, and truing run (ballpark ranges)

 

[Aaros143]

For that kind of money I'd look at selling the barreled action you have and starting off with a bighorn origin action.

The Magpul hunter stock will accept standard metal AICS magazines. Which will allow you to feed those 185s. I would not recommend reseating the bullets.

For what it's worth. I don't ever really go heavier than a medium palma.

 

[PinesAndProjectiles]

I agree with Aaros.

Buy a bighorn origin, or one of the other actions out there for sub $1k, then find a prefit in your caliber of choice.

The magpul chassis will fit most actions out there as a majority are based on the 700 action.

Or sell the rifle now, use that to fund a more expensive chassis.

 

[JBoomhauer]

Origin. Proof prefit

 

[bbhank]

Lap the lugs and run a rem-age barrel. you can do it all yourself if you want to save a ton of money!

 

[spife7980]

You don’t need to true it. Just put a remage barrel on for 600, barrel parts and tools to do it yourself included.


Instead of the plastic magpul aics mag that limits you to 2.87 or something you can run a metal mag. Metal mags will have a binder plate that keeps the rounds back same as the magpul but you can get non binder plate mags that lets you run out to 2.95 or so I believe.

If you do run non binderplate mags then you will need to notch the rem700 feed ramp so they don’t get hung up under it.

 

[Jack's Dad]

Remage.

 

[blackblue]

LRI blueprint package and whatever blank he has in stock that you want.

 

[smoothy8500]

^^^^^Easy button

 

[moosemeat]

Another vote for the LRI crew. Will be done fast, correct and by one of the best shops in the industry. Also I'm 99% sure after he blueprints it he can make barrels to fit without having the rifle in hand.

 

[The D]

If you don’t care about any potential resale value and if you’re mechanically inclined and not scared to work on your own guns then buy a good remage barrel and maybe a better stock/chassis and use metal mags like Spife said. Having a factory action blueprinted and modified with all the best, newest add-ons is nice but isn’t necessary to get a great shooter.

If you buy and sell guns frequently then just start piecing together a new gun. Start with a custom action that accepts prefits of some flavor. I, personally, would also get an action with replaceable bolt heads(I want as much modularity as possible). When this new rifle is complete, or close to it, sell your Remington to recoup some $$.

The gift and curse of the recent rifle innovations is that there are so many great directions to go and options available.

 

[alibi]

Upgrade glass, tune trigger, buy or load a mountain of ammo to wear out the barrel, take a class or two

Sometimes I should take my own advice

 

[Im2bent]

20" is all you need.

 

[endlesscoffee]

I sent my 2011 .308 700xcr off to short action customs for a true and bartlien 22" barrel swap last year. I think it cost around 1200, due to the barrel. I absolutely love the rifle. Granted I really wanted to keep the 700 as this was my first rifle I bought. However, if I wasn't attached to this rifle I would have bought a custom barreled action and threw it in the stock I have.

 

[jippy1]

like the d.i.y. aspect and price savings, what profits are best?
watching YouTube videos about Criterion, and McGowan.
would a Proof go on just the same?
would all three be considered "REM-Age" profits?

have a metal AICS mag arriving in two days, which may eliminate one problem

actually, looking at proof research website, I don't see any "pre-fit" for rem 700
seem to have pre-fit for everything else

 

[Average guy]

Criterion are solid performers. PVA also does a Remage. Easiest is call Northlands Shooters Supply. They stock Criterion Remage barrels, and the other parts needed for the swap.

 

[jippy1]

looks like these pre-fits are usually 2 to 4 months out?
and not just sitting around in stock?

 

[Ty21]

If you do true it up and stuff in the end you will still have a Remington 700 action… if your fine with that then do it. If you want a different action then get a different action

 

[Hobo Hilton]

All good comments. After reading them all, in this situation, it comes down to the abilities and resources of the OP.
If you are a good mechanic then go the Remage route.
If you lack resources, go the gunsmith build route.

 

[JMGlasgow]

looks like these pre-fits are usually 2 to 4 months out?
and not just sitting around in stock?

Call and ask, they may be caught up on backorders. The last two 6.5 Creedmoor barrels I ordered were in stock, and I know Northland normally carries 308 as well. I waited over 6 months for my 308 barrel, but it's been 9 months since I received it.

 

[flatland1]

Over the past 17yrs, I've trued dozens of M700 actions in my lathe, using both a GreTan style fixture and a TrueBore Alignment system, and gotten good results, relative to builds using custom actions. The last several M700s I bought were bare actions - no triggers, no bolts - nothing but bare receivers. I always ordered PTG one-pc custom bolts, then fit/headspace them for each receiver, buying bolt stop/spring, ejector plunger/spring, and trigger pins from Brownells. I still have five rifles that I built for myself doing this, and am well satisfied with them, relative to the BAT 3L & Bighorn builds in the safe. However, I sat on the last receiver purchased until after Remington went tits-up, and didn't order in the bolt stop/spring, etc. for it. I did get the PTG bolt, complete with .061" dia striker assembly, mini-16 extractor & ejector plunger/spring, but still needed trigger pins & bolt stop, and wasn't having any luck finding these parts. I had some 1/8" drill rod, so cutting trigger pins to length was no problem, but I still needed a bolt stop & spring.

I'd seen the LRI youtube video that Chad put up when he got his 5-axis machine set up to do action truing, and was fascinated by the process, so, along with having a good deal of confidence in his company due to so much positive feedback here, I decided to ship this last receiver up to him for the installation of LRI's custom side boltstop, and since they were going to have the receiver anyway, I had them do the complete tier 1 action truing package on it, which included cutting the lugs of the PTG bolt to fit, diamond honing the receiver to fit the bolt - then splurged to include spiral fluting the bolt. By the time I'd paid for this excellent work, it'd have made more economic sense to have bought a Zermatt Origin action to begin with, but I have absolutely no regrets. Every time I get into the gun closet, I look at the completed rifle, and start looking for an excuse to take it out to the range. I fitted and chambered a Bartlein 20 cal/1:9tw #3 contour blank in 20 Tactical, threaded the muzzle for a TBAC flash suppressor/mount, put a TT Diamond trigger on it, used Hawkins DBM, and bedded it into a McMillan Game Scout stock in McWoody molded-in pattern, then used CeraKote armor black to finish the metal. My point in relating all this? - when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, there's no right answer to the OP's question, only several good choices.

 

[The D]

Over the past 17yrs, I've trued dozens of M700 actions in my lathe, using both a GreTan style fixture and a TrueBore Alignment system, and gotten good results, relative to builds using custom actions. The last several M700s I bought were bare actions - no triggers, no bolts - nothing but bare receivers. I always ordered PTG one-pc custom bolts, then fit/headspace them for each receiver, buying bolt stop/spring, ejector plunger/spring, and trigger pins from Brownells. I still have five rifles that I built for myself doing this, and am well satisfied with them, relative to the BAT 3L & Bighorn builds in the safe. However, I sat on the last receiver purchased until after Remington went tits-up, and didn't order in the bolt stop/spring, etc. for it. I did get the PTG bolt, complete with .061" dia striker assembly, mini-16 extractor & ejector plunger/spring, but still needed trigger pins & bolt stop, and wasn't having any luck finding these parts. I had some 1/8" drill rod, so cutting trigger pins to length was no problem, but I still needed a bolt stop & spring.

I'd seen the LRI youtube video that Chad put up when he got his 5-axis machine set up to do action truing, and was fascinated by the process, so, along with having a good deal of confidence in his company due to so much positive feedback here, I decided to ship this last receiver up to him for the installation of LRI's custom side boltstop, and since they were going to have the receiver anyway, I had them do the complete tier 1 action truing package on it, which included cutting the lugs of the PTG bolt to fit, diamond honing the receiver to fit the bolt - then splurged to include spiral bolt fluting the bolt. By the time I'd paid for this excellent work, it'd have made more economic sense to have bought a Zermatt Origin action to begin with, but I have absolutely no regrets. Every time I get into the gun closet, I look at the completed rifle, and start looking for an excuse to take it out to the range. I fitted and chambered a Bartlein 20 cal/1:9tw #3 contour blank in 20 Tactical, threaded the muzzle for a TBAC flash suppressor/mount, put a TT Diamond trigger on it, used Hawkins DBM, and bedded it into a McMillan Game Scout stock in McWoody molded-in pattern, then used CeraKote armor black to finish the metal. My point in relating all this? - when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, there's no right answer to the OP's question, only several good choices.

Op, I think the takeaway message from this is you’ll be spending a good chunk of $$ no matter what you do.

The most economical way will be to change magazines and put a remage barrel on it.

Sending your action to a big player in the bolt gun industry will get you an absolute work of art and will gain some accuracy but will cost as much as an aftermarket action.

As mentioned above, there isn’t really a “wrong” way to do this, just different flavors

 

[moosemeat]

Bighorn Origin- $900
Prefit from Altus- $510
$1410

LRI Blueprint with EVERYTHING $590
Barrel fitting and threading $425
Bartlien barrel $340
$1355
You already have the rifle. It's not a added expense at this point. Now if you sell the rifle and build off a new action it's cheaper. As in I want to build a long action elk hammer. I do not have a long action. Cheaper to go custom action that accepts profits than buying a rem 700 LA and having the work done. But if you have a rifle your not going to use and will build a replacement then it's cheaper to invest $1355 in what you have than $1410 in something new.

 

[KnowNothing256]

Bighorn Origin- $900
Prefit from Altus- $510
$1410

LRI Blueprint with EVERYTHING $590
Barrel fitting and threading $425
Bartlien barrel $340
$1355
You already have the rifle. It's not a added expense at this point. Now if you sell the rifle and build off a new action it's cheaper. As in I want to build a long action elk hammer. I do not have a long action. Cheaper to go custom action that accepts profits than buying a rem 700 LA and having the work done. But if you have a rifle your not going to use and will build a replacement then it's cheaper to invest $1355 in what you have than $1410 in something new.

Where are you getting a Bartlein barrel, chambered, for $340? I want in on that action.

OP, it’s the same amount of money, I don’t know why you wouldn’t go the custom route but that’s just me. There are sufficient modern improvements in the custom side that it’s the obvious choice for me. Now, if you have sentimental attachment to the action, that’s different. Give it the TLC and enjoy it.

ETA: Ah, should’ve read more carefully, I get the price breakdown now. The blanks are now $400, but @Deep South Tactical will chamber and thread for $300, so it works out the same. With you now.

 

[JMGlasgow]

It isn't $340 for a chambered barrel. $340 barrel only plus $425 to chamber and fit it. I think you missed that part.

 

[moosemeat]

It isn't $340 for a chambered barrel. $340 barrel only plus $425 to chamber and fit it. I think you missed that part.

And muzzle threads are figured into it aswell. I included everything I could think of including pinned recoil lug with LRIs lug, side bolt release, tig and time, 8-40 screws to make a remington action as close to a Origin or Nuc as possible.

 

[jippy1]

thanks for all the food for thought, here goes "spilling my guts" :

the .308 gun is kinda sentimental, bought it used off of arms list, and rang steel at 600 yards that same day with a cheap little Nikon BDC scope that came on it. had never shot past 100 yards prior to that.
have taken a few deer with it

I understand the limitations of .308, and kinda hate to sink 2 to 4 grand into .308
still, I feel it's an AWESOME all around cartridge.
and feel it'd be a feather in my cap to shoot a 308 as well as friends with slick little 6.5's, and 6mm's etc

if a full custom in .308 will hang with 6.5's, then maybe???
I do like the "older school" feel of the historic .308

though I've changed the stock and trigger, I DID IT , and still feel its "MY gun"
if I do a barrel swap, and upgrade stock again, it STILL feels like "MY GUN" that I bought used, it's just "grown up" a little

not looking at prs with this,
I want something I can hunt with, and still take to the range, and reach out to the 1,000
=======
I DID buy a Sako s-20, in 6.5 creedmoor, when my dreaming was hotter and heavier of dipping my toe into PRS

went to K&M precision for the 3.5 day long range course (spring before last), and quickly learned what a mistake I made by buying a skinny barreled rifle
I still like it, but would have bought differently with more advice and guidance
I hope to one day get a heavier barrel for it which they have in Europe.
sounds like Beretta usa, isn't the most customer service oriented in terms of getting sako stuff for 'mericans.
=========

feel like if I did a custom action, I would want a different caliber than 308
and do a FULL custom if doing prs, maybe a 6gt???
not really sure what direction i'd want to go.

maybe a masterpiece arms if leaning towards chassis system
maybe a GA precision, ???
============

have dabbled with deer hunting in south carolina
lots of sitting, little seeing, less shooting.
pretty content punching paper and ringing steel

was watching some western long distance hunting on youtube
folks hitting antelope at 800 plus yards
to me THAT IS SEXY!!!
======

I'll never be a big time traveling hunter.
would like to go to the mountains and bag a big old elk for the walk one day
but would probably be just as satisfied popping ground hogs and gophers at 600+ yards, for a lot less $$$
===============

kinda stream of consciousness, that there

I hope to either find a timely rem-age in 308,
or some patience, while determining my direction

not super attached to the Sako s-20, more apt to sell that and start over in 6.5 creedmoor
than sell the .308
will probably eventually ditch the magpul hunter for something else one day

 

[Ty21]

If your sentimental about the 308 and want to keep it for hunting.. then keep it and sell the Sako there has been quite a few build guns on px lately…. Are you looking for a complete rifle just add scope and ammo or would you want to do a barreled action and chassis or stock of your choice?

 

[jippy1]

if I ditch the sako, a complete scope-less gun preferred,
but I could gofer a barreled action, and find a chassis

 

[Ty21]

It all depends on what you want you want a chassis get an mpa you want a stock get a ga precision or piece it together. You want control round feed looking at 6.5 creed or something?

 

[jippy1]

You want control round feed looking at 6.5 creed or something?

here's where I expose more of my ignorance.
elaborate?

 

[Ty21]

Well your Remington is a push feed which means it pushes the cartridge into the barrel and if you need to get the round out you have to push it all the way into the barrel and lock the bolt handle down in order to pull it out and eject the round….. with a control round feed rim of the case goes into a like a c shape bolt head and is controlled the whole way into the chamber so if you need to pull the round out you can eject it anytime after it clears the mag lips…. Makes sense?…. Eather one will work nothing to get hung up on just personal preference honestly…. If you do want a control round feed and complete rifle the arc nucleus looks like a win for price and features

 

[jippy1]

does push feed vs control feed impact accuracy and precision?
don't know enough have a preference

 

[Ty21]

Nope has nothing to do with that…. Like I said nothing to get hung up on… just some that’s a few custom actions have so just something to thing about if you want it or not

 

[CaptNemo]

Sell the Sako, buy a remage barrel for the 700 and beg / borrow / rent the headspace gauge & barrel tools. Keep the OEM .308 barrel safe & sound if you want to put it back on one day.
6.5 CM or 6 CM are the easy buttons to getting 1k yards wil money left over for ammo or an optic upgrade.
Buy a KRG Blravo chassis and sell the magpul stock or stow it with the .308 barrel for later on.
Go out and shoot the receiver in factory form for now, then decide what you want to do after you have a couple of hundred rounds down the barrel. If you want a custom action, I’d look at a Mack Bros Evo action now that they adjusted the dimensions to make them “Remage Friendly “

 

[Average guy]

I would definitely go the Remage route. I’ve had good luck with criterion barrels sourced through Northland shooters. A 308 will always be a relevant cartridge in our world.

 

[jippy1]

decisions made:
rem/age barrel, nut, and lug on the way
mag-pul hunter stock update to KRG bravo or other t.b.d.

the 185gr juggernauts from burger are still 3mm too long for the metal Ai mag, which came in the mail today
may have to just hand feed the Bergers, and keep the nice brass for re-loads?????

going to try an MDT non binder mag, next

 

[JMGlasgow]

Accurate Mag is what I use.

 

[jippy1]

what's the difference between three rib vs (TWO??) on the accurate mag
beside more pleasure for her


is that notching on the feed ramp something I can do with a dremmel??

 

[KnowNothing256]

what's the difference between three rib vs (TWO??) on the accurate mag
beside more pleasure for her


is that notching on the feed ramp something I can do with a dremmel??

It sure is. I did it to my Bergara B14, for the same reason. Dremel slow, be careful, and it’ll be just fine. I notched it from top and bottom, so there’s not a razor edge there. I also hit it with Oxpho-Blue to make it pretty and a little less rust-prone, but that’s not necessary.

 

[jippy1]

reviving an old thread,
I think I've decided on the d.i.y. approach, and just doing a home made custom, with an origin action and profit barrel
been reading a tone here lately lately and am confident I can do this

was looking into various profits, and came across someone talking about TIMED prefit barrels for origin, or impact, or other actions

how important is it to get a timed barrel?
and what exactly does that mean?

 

[spife7980]

reviving an old thread,
I think I've decided on the d.i.y. approach, and just doing a home made custom, with an origin action and profit barrel
been reading a tone here lately lately and am confident I can do this

was looking into various profits, and came across someone talking about TIMED prefit barrels for origin, or impact, or other actions

how important is it to get a timed barrel?
and what exactly does that mean?

You can have a shoulder that is cut into the barrel itself in a very specific location which mates up to the face of the action, thats called a shouldered barrel. And in order to get the markings to line up with the stocks waterline it needs to be cut precisely so that the threads are timed to line up and do so.
You can also do a shouldered barrel but not care about where the thread starts and its not a timed shouldered prefit.

OR you can do a barrel nut set up so that the actions shoulder diesnt batter, you set the chamber off the bolt face and use a jamb nut to hold the barrel in that position

 

[jippy1]

Is it just to make sure that any engraving on the side of the barrel winds up in the right place, and is visible

 

[spife7980]

Is it just to make sure that any engraving on the side of the barrel winds up in the right place, and is visible

Yeah. The timed will be so that it presents right above the water line on the stock evenly

The untimed can be scribed radially or in several points or further out towards the muzzle beyond the stock so that it can be seen but without respect to its final location when installed

 

[jippy1]

So it’s just for appearances
And no impact on precision

 

[spife7980]

So it’s just for appearances
And no impact on precision

correct
Some people have been complaining about it lately when something doesnt line up so its become a selling point for some