Which rifle should I buy (new to sport)

[Foxy]

I've decided to start shooting Standard F class, and I'm ready to buy a rifle. I notice that Remington 700's are popular?
I am considering the following rifles:
1) Sako 75 Varmint Laminated Stainless
2) Steyr Mannlicher SSG-69 P2
3) Tikka T3 Super Varmint
Some feedback on these rifles for F Standard would be appreciated.
I would like to use the same rifle for target and hunting, but I'm starting to think, a good target rifle may be too heavy to hunt with?
PS. What is FB
Those Rem 700's seem to be the go, by far???

[Simon C]

Remington 700VS would be good. Has a nice HS stock and is very good out of the box. U can buy heaps of stuff like after market stocks etc for these actions so it will be nice and versatile.

I know a couple of people shooting Varmint Sako's. THey also do well.
Not sure about the Steyr though....Ive heard that they are difficult to rebarrel but again Im not sure.

I like the remington actions as they are easy to tailor into something that fits and works well at a minimum cost.

[Matt P]

Depending on your budget I would either go with the rem700 or a 2nd hand FB rifle.

Matt P

[Ackley Improved]

What about a Remington Police in 308?

Might be the ticket?

Cheers
AI

[Foxy]

Okay i get it.
Everyone loves remington 700's, but they're like arseholes, everyones got one. There is an obvious reason too, I presume.
I'm leaning towards the Tikka T3 Varmint or Tactical now.
Can someone please convince me either way.
The next qusetion is scopes (I'm guessing 40mm long by 30mm Diam)
I am under the impression that Leupold or tasco is the go with scopes under $1500
I plan to make my own ammo but what is the best factory ammo.
Almost everyone at Anzac Range uses Winchester, but the more I read on the net, the more I hear about Federal being the choice?
I quickly found that I love this sport and I want to get good gear.
I would say my budget for Rifle & Scope is about $4,000.00
Thank you to all that have replied too.
Cheers.

[Matt P]

Foxy
For $4000 you can build yourself a very nice outfit. Give us some more in-fo on what you plan to use it for, purely for FC if so which one, or a varmit/ target rifle etc ??? I wasted alot of money by not asking these sorts of questions to get where I am now.
PM me if you like.

Matt P

[ned kelly]

G'Day foxy,
buy a second hand 6ppc BR gun , ususally a Rem 700, its fully accurised, open up the bolt to .308, and run a 6Br in Fopen or a .308 in F std. This way you have a world class target rifle that you can also rebarrel to .22-250 if you like for hunting or leave it as a 6br
Throw a good scope and for maybe $2500- plus dies you wont look back.
Cheerio Ned Kelly

[Foxy]

I'm 99% sure that I will go for the Remington 700Police. Bankstown Gun Shop quoted me $1,500.00, which is pretty reasonable considering I got quoted $1,840.00 at Safari Arms, who tried to convince me into a Steyr SSG-69, which felt good but I've read they're a bastard to rebarrel.
I am leaning towards a Nightforce scope, though I have been advised not to go for any NSX's?
If I could buy a rifle for $1,500.00 plus a good scope for $1,500.00, that would leave me with $1,000.00 to spend on all the other bits and pieces i'll need, which is my next question to all you veterans. What will I need?
Keep in mind that I only intend on shooting F standard and would like to do a bit of hunting once I am confident to kill what I'm hunting in a humain manner. I really appreciate your feedback, as some people are a bit vague when discussing firearms. They probably think I'm the next Martin Bryant or something. A special thanks to Matt P too. Good luck at Queens mate.

[AlanF]

Foxy,

Your Rem 700 in .308 will be versatile enough for both hunting and target shooting, but don't be surprised to see $300 second-hand Omarks getting better scores on the range. You can be lucky and get a good factory Rem 700, but normally they need to be accurised by a competent Benchrest gunsmith. This will cost money, and depending on who you can find to do it, take quite a few months. If hunting and not target shooting is your main interest for the rifle, then are you sure that a heavy barrelled .308 is the best rifle for what you want to shoot? You can still bring any calibre rifle (from .22 up to about 8mm) to a full-bore range and shoot (you would be classified F-Open for anything other than .223 Rem and .308 Win). Have you decided what type of animals and what type of country you will hunt in? These will have a bearing on the calibre and rifle decision. If you have your heart set on a Rem 700 Police, then follow your dreams, but don't expect too much of it. I personally don't know of any top target rifles which are also used for hunting.

Sorry if this sounds negative, but better to tell you now than later .

Alan

[ned kelly]

G'Day Alan,
I dunno, my rem700 .223 is pretty good on varmints with the 75 amax's!
However, Foxy, Alan makes some very good points. Try an work out exactly what you want to achieve otherwise you can waste hardearned $. I'd say most of the people you will meet in shooting will have stories about what they would have done differently if they had another chance.........no, no silly! not how you shoot a match, but what you buy along the way!

Foxy, a Rem 700 in 308 with a heavy barrel will shoot quite accurately but it still has mechanical variations from the factory that a custom or BR accurised rifle will not [should not] have. This will make a big difference to the accuracy potential of the rifle. But, it is a relatively inexpensive way to start out and if you dont like it you should be able to sell later on. If you are sure of what you want to do and this is after asking as many questions as you can [remember there are no dumb questions JUST dumb answers] You are learning, so ask away! Hopefully there are several people who will give you similar answers, usually based on their own mistakes but they wont let on!

An accurised Rem 700 such as a BR rifle sells for around $1200-$1500 approx. This gives you a blueprinted action that will allow you to switch barrels....even if you didn't need to, you can later on as you learn more. Also for the Rem700 there is a huge variety of accessories for these rifles and many top shooting rifles have been built on them with many records shot with them. They are an excellent choice in my opinion.

I reckon you could put a new match grade barrel on it for another $800, which will give you longer barrel life that a factory barrel. This rifle should [will] out shoot a Rem 700 police. You can buy a good scope for about $800- such as a weaver 24x or 36x with finer elevation/windage adjustments of 1/8moa which is a help for longer range shooting. Or a leupold 8-25x around $1200 or so. However, I would like to buy a NF BR model the 8-32x as this gives you both 1/8moa adjustments for long range and a variable for hunting. Be aware either way that this will be a quite heavy rifle and should not be considered as a rifle for lugging around mountains or the like! This puts you about the same price bracket as a factory [mass produced] rifle and your ready to go with Fclass. Your trigger will need to be modified to 1.5kg as a BR trigger is about 20-30grams [1.5-2ounce] Triggers can be had for $120-$180. You can always sell the lighter trigger to pay for the newer heaveier trigger for F std, but again I'd recommend keeping it.

Alternatively, you can buy second hand or build a custom match rifle such as a [help me out guys if I'm wrong] Banard action with match trigger that allows you to switch barrels for $1800-$1900 but you still need a stock and barrel plus a good gunsmsith to get you on the way [plus scope if you want to shot Fclass. At the end of the day you will have a top class match rifle that will shoot better than just about any shooter can.

BTW to all those with factory rifles, if you are competive then dont change.......your gear is working for you and mentally that is a big plus. In no way am I suggesting that your rifles are not up to scratch, I'm just trying to prove that you can build a better quality rifle than the factory can for you for a little more outlay. I know of several unmodified Rem700's that are just accuractely freaky. This is just purely an ecomonic argument for the best value for money for performance delivered. ie bang for bucks.......no pun intended!
Hope this has not been to confusing!
Cheerio Ned

[pjifl]

Seriously - maybe you should buy nothing for a little while.

I have seen a lot of people spend money very unwisely to begin with. Especially people who have a background of getting gear from gunshops rather than club contacts.

Many clubs have a club rifle and some shooters can lend one a rifle for a few shoots. Dont expect shooters to lend a rifle more than a few times however - barrels do wear out and they cost. Make club contacts.

A cheap Omark will probably have the same resale value before and after you buy it and many are good enough to do some initial shooting with the barrel you will get with it.

I shudder when I hear of someone who will not start shooting unles they have all the latest you beaut gear. After spending a fortune, they find it hard to take being beaten by an old cheap target rifle and often give up.

Peter Smith

[daj]

Foxy,
Just to muddy the waters for you, a few points from a hunter (for 50yrs and counting) who just started FC (less than 1yr ago).
1/ I'd rather give you one of my children than part with my NXS.
2/ Hunting with a heavy barrel just means you need to be fitter.
3/ Make no equipment decisions until you have been to quite a few shoots.
4/ Establish YOUR priorities BEFORE buying.

eg My priorities:
Scope: NXS 3.5-15 x 50 Why so low in power? I still hunt and prefer x3.5 for close-in. For FC and long range hunting x15 works fine for me.

Factory Rifle with heavy barrel: I needed a magazine fed rifle for hunting and a heavy barrel for accurate target shooting when the hunting was done. The extra weight is soon forgotten as you get fitter and a biathlon sling helps in really steep terrain.

For a dedicated FC only shooter, the above choices may seem all wrong but they work well for me.

It's your money and your choice, but take your time.

[ned kelly]

G'Day foxy,
all very, very good advice from experienced shooters. But yes you do need to sort out what YOU want to do.
for target use you do need a hi powered scope, for hunting you do not.
Again, as otheres before me, think carefully, buy wisely and more importantly ENJOY it!!!!!!
Cheerio Ned

[Guest]

To all,
May I remind you all that there is provision in the rules that covers sporting type rifles, It"s called " field class " shot as F Class.
I have never seen it practised but should imagine it takes care of those people who want dual purpose rifles ie Hunting and target.
Barry

[pjifl]

Further to daj's advice about scopes.

A really good scope is a must for serious target shooting. I personally believe it should have a magnification of over 20 but this depends somewhat on your type of aiming and sight use. Some get good cheap scopes by selection but more and more are buying quality.

But the lower power for hunting is a must - so much so that I think I would have a second scope for hunting. This means the target scope can be handled like the precision instrument that it is. I well remember falling on a rifle with the scope downwards on some granite rocks. The old steel Khales survived it well but that would be dreadful to a target scope.

If we want a scope to shoot consistently to 1/8 minute - thats as good as many lower end theodolites. We ask a lot from our scopes.

And a long time ago I used to lug a really really heavy rifle up and down mountains and enjoyed firing a few very precise shots. Good exercise.

Everyone has different requirements.

Peter Smith