So for the Dicks Sporting Goods black Friday special (Thursday night) I picked up the special, a Remington 700 Varmint in .308 with the 26" heavy barrel. It had a butt ugly camo stock but for $349 I didn't think it would be too bad. Plus I had $60 in rewards so I got the thing for $289. I picked up a plain black stock for $20 bc the camo is just nasty and took the 4x12 scope off and stuck it on my R597 and took the rails off. I have a couple 100yd ranges available and possibly a 300 yd with 600yd after certification,but membership is over $600 first year, followed by $400 following so I doubt that will happen. Other than that I just picked it up bc I had never owned a bolt gun and thought what the hell. Anyways since then I have read and read and probably done myself more harm in reading than good. I have come up with some questions and thought I would ask on this forum.

First: Is 26" a decent length? I read about guys having anywhere from 18" to 26" barrels. Should I chop mine? I was thinking of a 20" or 22" plus brake length. I doubt I'll ever see 1,000 yards. About the only thing I read is you lose about 50fps/1" & who knows if thats even right. Which brings me to my next question....

Second: I'd like to put a brake on and have settled between the Badger Thruster & JP Enterprises standard brake. I know the Badger has to be turned down to the OD of the heavy barrel, but how does the JP match up (Machine it?)? Does a shorter barrel benefit more from a brake? Your thoughts?

Third: I picked up Trjicon Accupoint 5-20×50 and plan on using the Nightforce one piece mount. Is bedding the base just par for the course or do some guys not do it? Is it permanent? would prefer to do it, just wanted thoughts and opinions.

Thank you for enduring my long post, and thanks for the replies in advance. Also, if anyone shoots in North Central Illinois lmk!


It said my file attached was too big. Heres an imgur link.

http://imgur.com/LLtrqZa

Congrats on the new rifle and welcome.

First: I personally find 26" a bit long for my tastes and uses (hunting and target shooting) and since your thinking that 600 yards is you longest distance I would feel the same. Reasons for my belief on this is at 26" you are loosing maneuverability and adding weight. With your standard 168 gr Match round you will stay supersonic out to 1000+ yards with anything 22" and longer.

Second: My only experience with a muzzle break on a .308 is my Ruger Gunsite Scout and all I can say is "OUCH". When I changed from the birdcage to a liner comp from Joe Bob Outfitters the perceived sound by the shooter was reduced to a comfortable level with ear plugs. I don't see the need for a brake on the .308 because its not a heavy recoil round and the negatives of the sound signature on the shooter out way most other benefits.

Third: I've never bedded my mounts (I use a Leupold 15 MOA picatinny rail with Burris XTR rings and a Leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x) and have never noticed any issues. Sorry I cant give more advise here.

Now for a few Questions:
1) What's your intended use for this rifle?
2) What's your shooting experience?
3) How often do you plan on shooting it?
4) What's the range conditions where you plan of shooting.

Best of luck.
-Deuce

Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum duanet85 !!

1.) I myself would not shorten the barrel...but that depends on it's intended use.
2.) Brakes are not necessary and tend to make the report louder...
3.) I've never bedded a scope mount...only the action in a stock.

Chuckdeuce wrote:Congrats on the new rifle and welcome.

First: I personally find 26" a bit long for my tastes and uses (hunting and target shooting) and since your thinking that 600 yards is you longest distance I would feel the same. Reasons for my belief on this is at 26" you are loosing maneuverability and adding weight. With your standard 168 gr Match round you will stay supersonic out to 1000+ yards with anything 22" and longer.

Second: My only experience with a muzzle break on a .308 is my Ruger Gunsite Scout and all I can say is "OUCH". When I changed from the birdcage to a liner comp from Joe Bob Outfitters the perceived sound by the shooter was reduced to a comfortable level with ear plugs. I don't see the need for a brake on the .308 because its not a heavy recoil round and the negatives of the sound signature on the shooter out way most other benefits.

Third: I've never bedded my mounts (I use a Leupold 15 MOA picatinny rail with Burris XTR rings and a Leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x) and have never noticed any issues. Sorry I cant give more advise here.

Now for a few Questions:
1) What's your intended use for this rifle?
2) What's your shooting experience?
3) How often do you plan on shooting it?
4) What's the range conditions where you plan of shooting.

Best of luck.
-Deuce

Deuce, thanks for taking time to answer.
1. Intended use is to get into bolt action guns and precision long range shooting.
2. Pistols, AR's, shotguns.
3. I honestly don't know the answer to that. I really depends on range availability. I've never looked into joining any bc I have enough land available to suit my needs for pistol and the ar's I have.
4. I hear a club by me that has 100 yd range is $40/year just shooting. There are also a couple other 100 yd ranges too. Thats doable, but the same time feels like 100 yds might get boring pretty quickly. A friend of mine owns lots of land about 3 hours west of me, enough for 1,000 yds, but thats a long haul, and he travels quite a bit for work and prefers to be present when I use his land. (Same guy with land suitable for my current shooting needs, 10 mins from home.)

SHOOTER13 wrote:Welcome to the Remington Owners Forum duanet85 !!

1.) I myself would not shorten the barrel...but that depends on it's intended use.
2.) Brakes are not necessary and tend to make the report louder...
3.) I've never bedded a scope mount...only the action in a stock.

Shooter, thanks for the reply.
1. I will never hunt with it if that helps any.
2. Same deal as my AR. I like shooting flash hiders at ranges bc comps arequite loud.
3. I only ask because of this page...

http://www.gunsumerreports.com/review_n ... mounts.php

-Duanet85

Ok then, since you don't plan on hunting and its more of a fixed position/bench rest rifle I'd suggest that you leave it with the same barrel and assemble the rifle with the current parts you have. Next I'd recommend getting Leupold rings/mounts or a rail with sturdy rings and hold off on the Nightforce mount. Lastly I'd recommend getting a decent amount of ammo and if you can find a class take it. Learn everything you can and when your shooting skills surpass the rifle invest in a re-barrel job and action blue printing.

By all means the goal here is to make you happy and if you have your heart set on those parts by all means get them. I just feel that its best to learn the skill on a factory barrel and once you have became confident in your skills and can out shoot the rifle then upgrade the barrel. I constantly find my self looking for the "next new part" and don't spend enough time on the trigger to justify it. My rifle is like a sports car that I love to buy new things for but don't drive to its full potential.

I hope this helps and if you have anymore questions please ask away.
-Deuce

Chuckdeuce wrote:-Duanet85

Ok then, since you don't plan on hunting and its more of a fixed position/bench rest rifle I'd suggest that you leave it with the same barrel and assemble the rifle with the current parts you have. Next I'd recommend getting Leupold rings/mounts or a rail with sturdy rings and hold off on the Nightforce mount. Lastly I'd recommend getting a decent amount of ammo and if you can find a class take it. Learn everything you can and when your shooting skills surpass the rifle invest in a re-barrel job and action blue printing.

By all means the goal here is to make you happy and if you have your heart set on those parts by all means get them. I just feel that its best to learn the skill on a factory barrel and once you have became confident in your skills and can out shoot the rifle then upgrade the barrel. I constantly find my self looking for the "next new part" and don't spend enough time on the trigger to justify it. My rifle is like a sports car that I love to buy new things for but don't drive to its full potential.

I hope this helps and if you have anymore questions please ask away.
-Deuce

Any reason for not going the nightforce mount? No heart set on anything really. Just trying to make the best out of what I currently have so its ideal for the first shot and beyond. The barrel would also stay the same barrel, I'd just have my local smith take some weight off the front by shortening it.