New to shooting remington 700 rifles

Hey guys, i am new to all this so i was looking for my first rifle. Now i would prefer to buy one rifle and use it for a long time. I was mostly interested in shooting at the range, not too much into hunting but got some mates who are into it so could join in if i can.
Therefore i started looking at the Remington range to start off.
I saw they had some entry models and the SPS tactical really caught my eye, i need recommendations tho, in term of range i saw that most of the ones around auckland do 200 -600 and clevedon does 1000 so would you go for a .308 or a .223 ?

also in term of the rifle in itself i went to a few stores and most of the stores staff mentionned that the SPS tactical stock was a really bad one, anyone have a user feedback they can share please.
I also saw a remington 700 5R, which according to the guys at the store was based off the US Army m24 program but retooled for civilian use as they did not meet the criteria for the m24 when tested.

i know i am asking a lot, just wanting to learn as much info as possible.

thanks guys

.223 cheaper to run and easier to LEARN with as recoil is less. if you are new to shooting fullstop a .22lr will teach you a heap cheaper still and far easier to find SAFE place to practice shooting.
when you can consistently shoot at 100 yards then think about shooting further...walk before you run..or in case of 1000yards back to back marathons carrying a 45kg pack.

im not even going to get into the 223 vs 308 debate - that is a different can of worms. ask to shoot different calibers that your mates hunt with and see where you feel comfortable. recoil can be dependent on fit as well, so one 308 could kick you like a mule while another is mild...

clevedon 1000yds is for specialized target rifles (see nranz.com), mostly single shot actions, with massively heavy match barrels. the likelihood of someone doing well with a standard remmy 700 is pretty remote...

my suggestion to you is to go along to one of all of the above ranges, ask to have a go, and try lots of different rifles before buying something.

and realize that anything that says "tactical" on the label is a marketing gimmick aimed at catching wannabe "snipers".

also go to several different gunshops, handle a range of rifles and see which one feels best. take anything a salesman in a shop tells you with a healthy dose of scepticism.

welcome to the wonderful world of spending money on guns :thumbsup:

Sps is short for shitty plastic stock

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Sps is short for shitty plastic stock

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yep total shite, and this from a reminton owner! mind you mine is a bit like "grandads axe" now

Cheers guys :) went to reloaders today in Onehunga and tried the 5R and it felt just right lol weigh barrel and stock, reason is i would prefer to buy one rifle and not spend on another one down the track hence why i am skipping the .22 :( but thanks for the advice i will def have a go at the different ranges and see which i prefer

reason i wanted a remington is due to the aftermarket parts available to them and also i saw a magpul 700 hunter stock at a show in USA before and felt for it completly lol

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Sps is short for shitty plastic stock

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You may be quite right there but maybe its just me but i actually like the REM 700 SPS. Ive got one recently in 308 and as plastic stocks go i actually dont mind it at all. Looks better than some you see, feels pretty good to me,seems a nice fit and i have been impressed with the REM 308 since i got it.
Take it bush shooting, in its short time its shot one 8 point stag and 6 goats. Key points ive found is shoots well, pretty accurate . Nice recoil pad with it, hardly feel any recoil.
Has a good half cock and a very solid positive safety. Darn nice trigger since i got it down to 2lb and like the fact its got a hinge plate for the mag. Cant really fault it, darn thing is going out in the bush with me more than my 243 and im a 243 man. I have no intention for changing stocks, i just like it. Nice balanced outfit, going well but each to there own. Dont use a bi pod and from all accounts if you going to use it more at the range the REM isnt a bad option. Lots of things you can change on it , ie stock, trigger etc if you going to do longe range shooting but for general hunting purposes they pretty good. (esp when you get a new one for half price lol)

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Originally Posted by sylpharion

Cheers guys :) went to reloaders today in Onehunga and tried the 5R and it felt just right lol weigh barrel and stock, reason is i would prefer to buy one rifle and not spend on another one down the track hence why i am skipping the .22 :( but thanks for the advice i will def have a go at the different ranges and see which i prefer

reason i wanted a remington is due to the aftermarket parts available to them and also i saw a magpul 700 hunter stock at a show in USA before and felt for it completly lol

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I'm thinking I might do a rem 700 with that stock. Looks good and if you can buy a good gun in a shit stock sweet as if you're going to be using an aftermarket one anyway?

Mine has the Hogue stock, its by no means stiff but ok for a bit of fun.
I too want to get the hunter stock when its available as well as upgrade my scope...
My 308 700.
Attachment 36140
...one from the web with a Vortex HD... :)
Attachment 36141

I am also a remington 700 sps owner my one is in 270, I have not regretted buying my one it shoots very well out of the box I also reload for it because I could not be bothered spending hundreds of dollars finding the right factory load for it

i am also looking at that setup too :) we should pool up and do a group ordering for that stock :)

thanks for the feedback guys i think i will be starting out on a 223 sps with the shorter threaded barrel and then go from there :)

@Skatieguy want's one too ;)

If you are only using it for target shooting, have a look at the howa varmint, and tikka varmint rifles also. Both pretty good options and will likely shoot a little better out of the box than the rem, which by all review are a little hit and miss accuracy/finish wise these days. Not to say you wont end up with a good rifle, but there are a few rem lemons out there

If you haven't already made your purchase i'd suggest the 308.

223 is great, i'll probably get one at some point, but if you do get into hunting as you mention it's not really a beginners deer gun. Quite a few folks on here use them for deer but most of them have a lot of experience with shot placement, etc. Your effective range will be a lot less on deer in any case. I've hunted with an old culler who's used nothing but 223 for years and just brain shots, but even he admits he won't have a crack much beyond a couple hundred meters.

If you go 308 you've got your target rifle and can use it for any game in NZ. I doubt you'd even notice the cost of ammo unless you are shooting a LOT. I was considering a 223 due to these visions I had of firing hundreds of rounds a day, but i'm lucky if I fire 20 at the range. And if you go hunting and fire a couple of shots you've had a good time.

308 if your shooting on the long distance ranges 300m plus 308 for sure but as others have said master your gun control with a 22
something like this would be perfect
22LR Norinco JW-15-S Scoped Suppressed Package | Trade Me get the 16 inch barrel one every gun safe must have a 22 in my opinon

I also have a rem 700 sps and got it because it fits. One thing though they do not have a half cock! I also thought that was a half cock however I think you will find that in the 'half cock position' you pull that trigger and the hammer will fall.
I had a chat with gunsmith and he said remington void their warranties if you decide to put a half cock in.
Just a FYI

my new "Reminton 700" just picked it up
Attachment 36222

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Originally Posted by Willie

I also have a rem 700 sps and got it because it fits. One thing though they do not have a half cock! I also thought that was a half cock however I think you will find that in the 'half cock position' you pull that trigger and the hammer will fall.
I had a chat with gunsmith and he said remington void their warranties if you decide to put a half cock in.
Just a FYI

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My Rem 700 sps has a half cock and its works a treat. It wont go off, had trigger lighten by gumsmith and hes tested it all out and said there no way its going to go of by accident so why is your one going off with the trigger pull is beyord me

It's good to have a nice solid half cock. But I must admit it's always a bit worrying to be relying on half cock alone. X-bolt you can have safety activated and half cocked, but still worrying. I guess it's just that pill up the spout that makes me paranoid. More for bush hunting anyway I guess, and I haven't given that much of a go yet!

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Originally Posted by MattyP

It's good to have a nice solid half cock. But I must admit it's always a bit worrying to be relying on half cock alone. X-bolt you can have safety activated and half cocked, but still worrying. I guess it's just that pill up the spout that makes me paranoid. More for bush hunting anyway I guess, and I haven't given that much of a go yet!

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You can have the safety on as well with the REM with the half cock if it makes you feel better.

Nope! Like I said, I just get paranoid walking around with 1 up the spout, haha. I guess I would have to overcome that to bush hunt.

Half cock is for full cocks :P

The 5R is an excellent rifle and you won't go wrong there especially as a mainly range rifle and will pump out all sorts of ammo accurately and Federal Target 178gr cloverleaf.
There're a little heavy for the bush hunting mind.
Wind the screw right out on the trigger and remove..... then after a while get sick of crap factory trigger that doesn't do this rifle justice and replace with an after market

The 5r is not a SPS, and is approximately 2 x the price. Not many people know about these rifles and few would sell them once they have had one

thanks for the reply guys, just a quick question tho I see that some website have aftermarket stock for sale, are we able to order them direct or do we need to go through a shop in NZ to order one in ? thanks

Depends on the exported but typically if it is more than $100 us it is a nightmare to export with all the paper work and extra cost required at the us end. The exception to this seems to be redhawk rifles they ship without all the extra palava.
However, being the corolla of rifles there are parts galore here, and you can get a carbon fibre stock made through STUG or Senator stocks, can get an MDT chassis system of NZAR15, or purchase one of the many S/H aftermarket stocks that pop up on trademe from time to time.

thanks mate was looking at Shop Shooting Supplies | Reloading | Gunsmithing | Hunting gear — MidwayUSA and saw a lot of stock you could order but not sure what the requirement would be when they land here with custom not looking at a full rifle but just the stock in itself

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Originally Posted by sylpharion

thanks for the reply guys, just a quick question tho I see that some website have aftermarket stock for sale, are we able to order them direct or do we need to go through a shop in NZ to order one in ? thanks

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The most used after market stock is the one you have as standard, why would you want to change the perfectly good stock you have for some thing else, the only change I would make would be to replace the trigger to a Timney
and have a bedding job done even with the alloy bedding block the fit is not that great they are still mass produced rifles,
Then get a about a 1000 rounds of match grade ammo and go shoot the thing on a range, there must be a suitable Rifle club some were handy were you can learn how to shoot at distance,

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Originally Posted by deer243

My Rem 700 sps has a half cock and its works a treat. It wont go off, had trigger lighten by gumsmith and hes tested it all out and said there no way its going to go of by accident so why is your one going off with the trigger pull is beyord me

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Hmmm I wonder if there was a difference depending on the year? I know mine i put it to the 'half cock' stage and pull the trigger and down she comes. Might post a vid and see what others think. What year was yours @deer243 also mine is 7mm08 and just wondering if calibre plays a roll?

Hi Willie, mines new(may of been in box for awhile). Half cock certainly works well.Had the trigger adjusted to 2 lb by local gunsmith. He tested out safety, half cock etc and said they very good, couldnt get them to accidently discharge no matter how hard he tried.(308)

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Originally Posted by sylpharion

i would prefer to buy one rifle and not spend on another one down the track hence why i am skipping the .22 lol

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Bwaaaaaaahahahahahahahaha :ORLY: :wtfsmilie:

The man thinks hes only buying one rifle. good luck with that :thumbsup:

my advice : give up guns now and take up something less addictive .. I hear Crack is good ...

seriously though : buy yourself a ruger 10/22 and put a couple of thousand rounds thru it.

unlike @ebf I will wade into the centrefire calibre debate : the 223 is a very accurate, VERY cheap (to run) and nicely deadly calibre for anything up to Fallow (and reds if you are extremely accurate with shot placement)

T

I have a M700 stainless with the plastic SPS stock in .308 win. I have used it for approx 8 years. It shoots 1" groups with both 150 grain Hornady SST and Remington core lokt. I did install a timney trigger and have thought one day I will upgrade the stock but it shoots so consistently good I have just left it alone. The major advantage of a Rem 700 is all they want aftermarket parts and accessories that are available for it. I can't fault my rifle as I have killed many deer and hog with it. Its a simple production rifle that works.....it is not in terms of craftsmanship a superb rifle like the German Sauers etc but its performance in practical terms will serve a person just as well....I like the stainless Remington particularly in bad weather. Mine has been wet and abused for eight years and it holds up very well to rough weather.

Post script:
The remington fit my budget back when I bought it and it has served me well. In retrospect by the time you upgrade the trigger and stock you are into Sako A7 and Browning X Bolt money. If buying new today I would get a stainless X bolt.....better stock better trigger detachable mag etc.

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Originally Posted by bill f

Post script:
The remington fit my budget back when I bought it and it has served me well. In retrospect by the time you upgrade the trigger and stock you are into Sako A7 and Browning X Bolt money. If buying new today I would get a stainless X bolt.....better stock better trigger detachable mag etc.

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One of the key reasons I got my Remington everything fit into the budget I was originally going to get a ruger american in 7mm08 but when I saw the package deal for the remington offering a free GPS and free rings with it for 1K I grabbed it, I could have gone a couple of hundred more and got a remington stainless in 7mm08 but the package deal was shit and that is how I ended up with a 270 which I do not regret one bit :D

You should regret that.:)

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Originally Posted by BRADS

You should regret that.:)

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Not one single bit at all @BRADS and I don't care what anyone says :P

Rifles I have regretted buying
x2 Parker Hale 303's that could not hit the side of a barn at 50 meters
x2 mossberg ATR100's
x2 6.5x55's which turned out to have fucked barrels due to neglect
x1 BRNO ZKK600 in 270 that booted the shit out of me because the stock was poor fitting and had been modified to shed some weight by one of the previous owners
x1 norinco bolt action in 7.62x39

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Originally Posted by hunter308

Not one single bit at all @BRADS and I don't care what anyone says :P

Rifles I have regretted buying
x2 Parker Hale 303's that could not hit the side of a barn at 50 meters
x2 mossberg ATR100's
x2 6.5x55's which turned out to have fucked barrels due to neglect
x1 BRNO ZKK600 in 270 that booted the shit out of me because the stock was poor fitting and had been modified to shed some weight by one of the previous owners
x1 norinco bolt action in 7.62x39

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x2 You just don't learn do you! :-)


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Originally Posted by Matt2308

x2 You just don't learn do you! :-)


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Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies :D