Bad years for rem 700 varmint barrels ?

[dryhumor]

The sps stock is junk for sure.

Yes they are

 

[jpjulian]

Remington haters are going to hate. My Remington is an SPS Varmint Stainless, (think that's the model), and it is a tack driver with many thousands of rounds down the barrel. Agreed the SPS plastic stock is garbage but that's an easy fix. See if the seller will let you take it on inspection and approval and put a few rounds down range and see how it shoots. Ten or 20 rounds will tell you whether it shoots or not.

 

[Evlshnngns]

I would buy new. My '23 sporter RAR700 243 8tw shoots as well as I can hope for a factory gun.

 

[JBT47]

I really thought about a ctr for a while . Just never seen one in person. Non around here . So it's basically a rem varmint contour barrel just shorter ?

The CTR contour is more along the lines of a Light Palma contour rather than a true to form REM Varmint. It’s about .780-.800 muzzle diameter vs .830” for R Varmint. They are functionally equivalent though and somewhat a similar contour. I never saw a CTR in person until I had my buddy who owns a LGS order me one and guaranteed I’d be happy with performance or he’d fully refund my purchase price and expenses on powder, bullets, primers, etc used in trying to develop loads.

I am quite taken aback at how well this little rifle shoots. Tikka are able to save you money by providing stocks that are plain but functional…put the CTR barreled action into an aftermarket stock or chassis you like and it will satisfy any accuracy expectations you have for a factory built rifle and quite likely will amaze you.

I’m not even going to post group sizes. I know how to tune and evaluate rifle accuracy potential. I’ve owned more than 40 premium custom barrels from almost all the aftermarket barrel makers. I’ve been into competitive precision shooting since 2010 but have been hunting and shooting rifles since age 6.

Like I said I’ve had custom rifles that were less accurate or more finicky than the Tikka. I’ve also shot their T3X sporter weight rifles and they have all shot way better than I thought they should have. If I buy a factory rifle it will be a Tikka or Sako. That’s it. But this Tikka was my 1st factory rifle purchase in 10 or so years.

All the above statements are in no way comparing a factory Tikka rifle to a more expensive custom built rifle. The Tikka is far from a custom built rifle. However the action is surprisingly smooth and short bolt throw. Nice action in a nice shooting mass produced rifle. Nothing less, nothing more. YMMV.

 

[Knotwild]

Remember - Eurooptics has a Tikka sale going pn right now with some good savings. I think the CTRs come in 24" as well as 20" barrels. I'll never buy another Remington new.

 

[SteveOak]

I can't for the life of me comprehend why someone would buy a 308 unless it was required for a particular competition in which case I would find a different competition.

 

[mike mccormick]

I have 2 R700 with RR actions. One is a 308 that had a runway trying to seat bullet close to lands. The other i bought as a 243 just for the action. Changed the whole thing up. I have ran into several guys with issues with these actions after blueprinting them. The bolt timing is off and they have extraction issues. Its known over the web. Have to get bolt handle re timed. I left mine alone and have no issues. The guys i know all had different smiths blueprint theres so its not just a bad job. Its an actual issue.

Most of that is induced by the guy "truing" the action.

 

[JB10]

Most of that is induced by the guy "truing" the action.

Very well could be, but i would hope that an extremely well known shooter and gunsmith in Arizona would know what he is doing and correct that as part of the job, but it was not.

 

[mike mccormick]

They were often a bit minimal on primary extraction to begin with. Too many guys recut the lug abutments, and then there is none at all. That and some guys have the idea that you can " correct" the tenon threads, but they are not oversized afterwards

 

[Dolomite]

I have a 308 5R RR serial # and had the lugs lapped, the smith said he barely touched anything as it was straight for a rem700. He said it doesn't need to be blue printed don't waste your money unless you plan on shooting 500+ yards.

The throat is long you will jumping a country mile to get close to the lands but the ones made in the early 2000's were SUPPOSED to be better than rifles made after. The gun can shoot .3-.5 for a factory gun all day if I do my part and tune the loads.

If you can scope the barrel to see if there is fire cracking that might help you make a decision. Its really a crap shoot, $800 you may get a gem, $1000 you may get a lemon. worse case buy the $800 and spend the $200 on ammo. PVA or PBB sells pre fits if the barrel is that bad.

 

[Kazman1960]

I really thought about a ctr for a while . Just never seen one in person. Non around here . So it's basically a rem varmint contour barrel just shorter ?

I have a CTR and 700 both in 6.5 Creedmoor. The rifles i have both shoot amazing , however , i have found my 700 to be "fussy " on bullet selection . It seems to like the 140g to 147 g bullets over the lighter ones . The CTR however seems to shoot everything i tried other than Speer bullets in 140g . Maybe i hade wrong powder or seating depth .