Recommendations for off-the-shelf F Class grade rifles in 308

[emigre]

Hi all,

I'm on the verge of jumping into F Class shooting 308WIN out to 1000 yards and am wanting to build myself up over time, beginning with an off-the-shelf action and upgrading the barrel, trigger, stock etc over time. I was planning to spend around AU$3k. My research to date has turned up a few options: Savage Model 12 F/TR, Bergara and Tikka seem to have something in-market specific to F Class and then you've got the likes of the Lithgow La105 and the Remington 700. Personally, I'd love to kick off with the Lithgow LA105 for the primary reason that it's a local product.

What are you're thoughts on the best starting option?

Sorry if this has already been covered off in other posts. I had a quick search and could find anything that specifically matched.

Cheers

Steve

 

[rhsc]

What is brand support like there? Being that you're located in a relatively small market at the end of one of the longest logistics trains on the planet, you might want to take a look at what's popular with the local shooters/competitors. All of the choices you are considering will perform, but which of those can you count on being able to get parts and support in a timely manner and at reasonable cost?

If my impression of product availability there doesn't reflect your own experience, feel free to ignore me. Maybe some of your fellow countrymen will chime in here and set me straight about that.

 

[emigre]

What is brand support like there? Being that you're located in a relatively small market at the end of one of the longest logistics trains on the planet, you might want to take a look at what's popular with the local shooters/competitors. All of the choices you are considering will perform, but which of those can you count on being able to get parts and support in a timely manner and at reasonable cost?

If my impression of product availability there doesn't reflect your own experience, feel free to ignore me. Maybe some of your fellow countrymen will chime in here and set me straight about that.

You've got a fair point. As far as I can tell the off-the-shelf shooters are mainly made up of your usual suspects (Tikka, Remington, Howa and Savage) with a few Lithgow's thrown in. The LA105 has only really been available since 2019 and then covid smashed everything, including supply. As (you quite rightly highlighted) we're at the end of a rather long supply chain everything is taking a very long time to make it back on the shelves.

 

[hafejd30]

I’ve personally watched savages beat up on custom guns a few times. A guy had one a few years ago in a regional match I shot in. Was a savage chambered in 284 shehane (aftermarket barrel of course) he won the individual match beating a good handful of full custom rigs

Not saying savage is the best of what you suggested. Just stating it can be competitive

 

[Pete B]

Mate generally a fair few F class custom guns floating around forsale. Personally I would go the second hand Barnard Model P route...... Very well known and respected action. If you are in NSW LRP Solutions (Matt Paroz) is a man to speak too.

Regards
Pete

 

[Slides]

Yeah if shooting F std if you can manage a second hand Barnard you know you or your loads are the problem if you can't keep up, there are scoped Omarks getting around very cheap if you are happy to run an older action. If you want to run a Lithgow get it rebarrelled and a 3 inch slider on the front and larger rear bag rider before you start or you won't keep up on velocity or stability with the 24 inch factory barrel, it will be well under weight even for F std. 105 you can run as a sports hunter class as is but to really compete in F standard you will need more barrel at which point second hand single feed actions in built for purpose stocks make more sense.

In saying all of that I was happily shooting a stock LA105 6.5CM in sports hunter at one club and in F open at new club as they don't run sports hunter class. In no way competitive but I just want to shoot and improve myself.

 

[pineoak]

I don't shoot F class so take that into account.

Savages are hit or miss. Some are shooters, many are lemons. Their customer service SUCKS. Savage is a gamble unless you're buying low end and just want cheap.

I've never heard of Lithgow before.

Tikka... high quality action, great factory trigger (YoDave trigger spring is worth the $ for sure), excellent barrel. No experience with their CS. Supposedly the barrels are around 50fps slower which I don't think is a big deal.

I'd get the best Tikka for your purpose, use the factory lightweight cheap plastic stock, and spend your $$ on match ammo. Shooting, having fun, practicing.

When you burn out the barrel after a few thousand rounds... get whatever you want from there.

Starting with EXACTLY what you want with no compromises.

Since you're looking for turnkey, I'd assume that you don't have a list of what you want at this time. Bear in mind that sometimes it's more work than just bolting stuff together and having a perfectly functioning rifle. Nice thing about turnkey is that it usually just works out of the box.

 

[FuhQ]

If you can find one... Remington 700 5R Milspec 24" threaded .308 Win. Gen 1 or Gen 2 will work just fine. I have had my Gen1 since 2010. Phenomenal rifle! All I've done is swap the trigger, and re-torqued the action screws to 65 in-lbs. and she shoots between 1/4-1/3 MOA with handloads.

 

[Slides]

Yeah I reckon I would trust a Lithgow over a Remington, Thales/ADI group that makes the Australian defence force rifles, ammunition, as well as the big gear and munitions, ADI & Hogdon powders as well as the OSA and Australian outback branded civilian ammo. I have met toolmakers that did their apprenticeship there.

Never hear anyone say anything but good things about accuracy from the Lithgow rifles, a previous workmate's brother is a test firer there. They are doing drone tracking and electronic firing on then with the infantry guns.

But again, if it is solely for F class you are better off buying a made for purpose rifle second hand sporting something like a 30 inch barrel. You can probably pick up a scoped rifle, front rest and rear bag second hand for half the cost of an LA105.

 

[BigKev72]

Hi all,

I'm on the verge of jumping into F Class shooting 308WIN out to 1000 yards and am wanting to build myself up over time, beginning with an off-the-shelf action and upgrading the barrel, trigger, stock etc over time. I was planning to spend around AU$3k. My research to date has turned up a few options: Savage Model 12 F/TR, Bergara and Tikka seem to have something in-market specific to F Class and then you've got the likes of the Lithgow La105 and the Remington 700. Personally, I'd love to kick off with the Lithgow LA105 for the primary reason that it's a local product.

What are you're thoughts on the best starting option?

Sorry if this has already been covered off in other posts. I had a quick search and could find anything that specifically matched.

Cheers

Steve

I would sniff around and see if you can find an old Omark. I used to shoot one very well at 1000 in competition before F class even existed.
I don’t know if Dennis Tobler is still making barrels in Oz but I did have a few of his barrels on my Omark and they were spot on. Been a number of years since I’ve been home and don’t know what the availability is like now though.
You might look on your state rifle associations websites and see what they have listed there. Last time I looked on the VRA’s site they still had a for sale section.
Another thing you might look into are some of the old Lee Enfield No. 4 with 7.62 rebarrel. They, believe it or not, do bloody well at the longer ranges. I often shot my Omark out to 600 then flipped to my No.4 past that. The only downside to the No.4 is that it might be hard to mount a scope effectively on the action. I was just using central sights on my stuff (again pre-F class).

 

[McMillan]

There are far better options. Buy a used single shot target rifle with a 30 inch or longer barrel.

 

[BigKev72]

There are far better options. Buy a used single shot target rifle with a 30 inch or longer barrel.

Which would be an Omark or similar…

 

[BAMAboy18]

Wait, I was under the assumption everyone down there shot a Howa? Thats why I started. Y'all even have accessories even we don't have.

 

[Whiskey Tango Foxtrot]

If you can find one... Remington 700 5R Milspec 24" threaded .308 Win. Gen 1 or Gen 2 will work just fine. I have had my Gen1 since 2010. Phenomenal rifle! All I've done is swap the trigger, and re-torqued the action screws to 65 in-lbs. and she shoots between 1/4-1/3 MOA with handloads.

I made it to expert in FTR with one. I have not shot comps in years so I converted it to a box mag setup. Love it still.

 

[McMillan]

Wait, I was under the assumption everyone down there shot a Howa? Thats why I started. Y'all even have accessories even we don't have.

That did seem to be a thing for a while. Maybe 10 years ago. Then people figured out they suck

 

[FuhQ]

I made it to expert in FTR with one. I have not shot comps in years so I converted it to a box mag setup. Love it still.

Yeah, I converted mine recently to a Magpul Hunter stock with the detachable AICS mag setup. Best thing I've done for it, as far as ergonomics goes. I really like it over the palmswell on the HS Precision stocks. The old HS Precision stocks like on the original Sendero and Sendero SF were awesome. But the SFII, PSS and others suck.

The only people who hate Remington are the people who've never actually shot a 5R Milspec model. They are a civilian M24 with a barrel that's contoured somewhere in-between the M24 and Sendero/Varmint barrels. Literally, the same exact rifles, same barrel blanks, etc... They are NOT reject M24 barrel blanks like rumors used to claim. The very first runs were, back in like 2000-2004, but they became so sought-after and so popular, that after that, they were first-run production barrels, and have been ever since.

 

[HousePlant]

The guy that got me into long range shooting uses a Savage Target Action (single feed) and gets his barrels from Krieger. He had a guy do work to the bolt to make the bolt lift easier. It's a laser. Savages are pretty common in F-class as far as I've been able to tell.

 

[gigamortis]

The guy that got me into long range shooting uses a Savage Target Action (single feed) and gets his barrels from Krieger. He had a guy do work to the bolt to make the bolt lift easier. It's a laser. Savages are pretty common in F-class as far as I've been able to tell.

Savage is a hell of a value deal for accuracy. I started off in FTR F-class with a .308 model 10 with a 20" barrel and surprised a lot of $4k custom builds on the rifle line at 600 and 800 yards. I had quite a few 196-198 scores for a 20 shot relay. Our local range only went out to 800. I knew if I ever tried to go to 1000 yards at another range with the 20" barrel, I would probably be fighting transonic issues.

I eventually wore out the throat of the factory 20" barrel and screwed in a Shilen match barrel. With the new 26" barrel and switching to Berger 175 OTMs, I found an accuracy node at 2730fps without pressure signs. That's plenty of gas to get to 1000 for a .308.

I even wore out the factory AccuTrigger to the point of it tripping against the safety blade if I ran the bolt hard. I put a Jard 3-lever trigger in it set at 3/4lb and it was definitely an improvement. I could run the bolt as hard as I could and the Jard stayed put.

 

[Txshooter3]

You can't beat a Savage for off the shelf rifles. I used an old #10 action, Schillen barrel and rifle basix trigger to win many FTR matches. My buddies completely stock 12FV in 223 has won many 600 yd matches. Just get the right load, add good optics, and you WILL be competitive.

 

[BigKev72]

You can't beat a Savage for off the shelf rifles. I used an old #10 action, Schillen barrel and rifle basix trigger to win many FTR matches. My buddies completely stock 12FV in 223 has won many 600 yd matches. Just get the right load, add good optics, and you WILL be competitive.

Most of this stuff is the barrel anyway. Action harmonics are a thing for sure but a good tube makes a night and day difference.

 

[gigamortis]

My stock Savage barrel shot very tight groups, but the 1st coldbore shot of the day was about 1 MOA different than the warm shots. The aftermarket Shilen barrel I put on grouped the exact same cold or warm. I think this cold bore phenomenon has to do with whether the barrel has been double stress relieved or not. Most aftermarket barrels get a 2nd stress relieving treatment after the rifling button is dragged through.