Remington- Buy complete rifle or action then build?

[skeet_man]

Thinking again about setting up a PRS style rifle, not sure if I'll do anything more with it than shoot it at the 200yd range at my club, but they look kinda cool and it would be nice to have something more long range capable than my slow twist 223 bolt gun. PRS is something I would like to give a go at some point, and is just starting in my neck of the woods.

Big question right now is do I buy a complete gun or buy an action and remage barrel.

I can get a stainless 700 action new for $350, and a barrel will run anywhere from 200-400, but I can pick all the specs, would probably lean toward 6.5 or 6CM. OR I could pick up a complete 700 Varmint for $550, and if Remington puts the $100 rebate on it soon, and selling the unnecessary components, I would be into the barreled action for around the same $350. Since I'm a lefty, only choices would be 223, 22-250, 243, and 308, 90% sure I'd go w/ 243

Ideally I'd spring for a Bighorn Origin, which i came close to last year when I went down this rabbit hole, but I just can't justify the extra 500 on something that will probably collect dust in the safe.

I guess it boils down to is having essentially a free Remington barrel and recoil lug worth not having the action in stainless.

 

[Just Say Moe]

Go stainless and choose your specs. The rough finish on the SPS varmints do not compare to smooth stainless - plus 243 is too vanilla.

 

[Clancy]

Whether it collects dust or not, I’d build something with value.

Go with the Bighorn.

 

[MikeMcCasland]

Just did two 700 builds myself, so figure I can shed some light.


If you're not planning on blueprinting/truing the 700 action, then it will be a few hundred cheaper than a custom action, and it will probably shoot well with a quality barrel screwed onto it.


However, if you're going to be pouring all that money into a rebarrel, you might as well get it blueprinted; you only have to do it once, and it can't hurt anything. Assuming you do get it blueprinted, it will probably shoot just as accurately as a custom action (or the differences will be extremely minor), but at the end of the day it's still a factory Remington; it's value on the used market will reflect that. Not sure if you're worried about resale, but figured I'd point that out.


I will also not be as smooth as most customs, and it still likely won't have all the features a custom would provide; you of course can add various things like bolt knobs, different extractors, and coatings to the action which will drive the price up even more.


It depends on how wild you want the build to be, but if don't already have the action, and you're planning on doing heavy modification work, then just start out with the custom action to begin with. It will be roughly the same cost, and you'll have a better product. You'll also retain a lot more value in the rifle if you ever plan to sell it.


If you already had the actions collecting dust in the safe, that'd be a different story.

My 2c.

 

[Bc'z]

I've been told to go custom action as to resale value. I'm sure this is very true if and when you decide to sell.
As for myself I have no intention of selling any of our firearms.
Therefore I will probably go with a trued Remington in stainless.
Points to ponder.

 

[AJC]

You could get a barreled action from shilen and drop it into a stock you may have laying around. When you decide what your need is then get the stock that fits your fancy. There nice components and they run a barrel nut for easy swaps and a 700 layout so it fits almost anything. This is my plan and it sounds like it may work well for you as well.

 

[JSH]

I will relate this to a hotrod. One piece at a time, finally after numerous errors and mistakes, it is as done as it is going to get, or, you get tired of it and it sets because you can't sell it and get half of you money back.

You go to a swap meet where a person such as your self is at, only they are about 3 years ahead of you. You buy a rifle set up as you would have done your self, for a heck of a good price.
While the seller is glad to get out from under it and feels pitty for you,lol.

 

[Kurz]

This is a topic which will generally split 50/50, 1/2 for using a Remington, 1/2 for a moderately priced custom. I would never suggest starting with a 'factory barreled action' unless you get rid of the barrel, then what's the point?

For your consideration; start by looking at what's available through a factory but made specifically for PRS-style competitions. Examples would include Ruger and Howa but here is a list of 10 to read about complete with suggested prices.

https://www.ballisticmag.com/2018/05/04/affordable-precision-rifles-2018/

Just another viewpoint to broaden the discussion.

 

[JBT47]

If you want to build a PRS rifle it may be helpful to look at what rifles and components PRS guys use.

 

[Mark W]

NSS sells trued Rem 700 actions for a decent price. http://northlandshooterssupply.com/actions/remington/

 

[GSPV]

I’d go with a Kelbly Atlas Tactical and build from there.

 

[drover]

I would buy the Remington Varminter in the caliber of your choice, but rather than going into the rebarrel mode right away go ahead and shoot it until the barrel is toast. At that point you will have a lot better idea of what caliber you may want, what stock you want and other ideas about what constitutes the ideal PRS rifle. Or, you may find that you do not enjoy PRS competition and if you have built a dedicated rifle for it you would have a lot of money tied up in a rifle that you are not using.

drover

 

[Delfuego]

Buy used here! The market for rifles is so soft now, you can get a humdinger for a great price. I have seen $3-$4k rifles that struggle to sell for $2k. You could not build rifles like these for >$3k. Don't waste your money and time on a Remington. Get a good custom action rifle used and you will have it a long time

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Like the list posted above theres a bunch of chassis rifles ready to go til you figure out how its going. I like the bergara for a chassis rifle myself. Shooting in those comps is more about technique than the gun 99% of the time. You need it to be 1moa accurate but you need to be able to do that under severe stress with good dope which is the factor more than the rifle.

 

[skeet_man]

The biggest problem is finding something in lefty. Would be a TON more options otherwise.

 

[jdh47]

You can attend some PRS matches and see what's available. Someone's always wanting to upgrade or change. Depending on what you want the stock and extras will cost a lot. I haven't looked in a while but PTG did sell some good bargains on trued Remington 700 actions with a lot of extras like their fluted bolt and mini 16 extractor plus a good bolt release.

Rather than buying a complete rifle I'd go that route getting a trued action and go from there or you could just get one of the various chassis type factory ensambles now being offered.

 

[Delfuego]

You could list a WTB thread, just be careful of scammers. I shoot with a couple lefty's (they are still good people though). I could reach out to them. I think lefty's have their own little network to swap stuff back and forth. You may also look at the "forum that will not be named", I think they have a lefty gear thread mixed in with all the bad information.

 

[VaRandy]

Thinking again about setting up a PRS style rifle, not sure if I'll do anything more with it than shoot it at the 200yd range at my club, but they look kinda cool and it would be nice to have something more long range capable than my slow twist 223 bolt gun. PRS is something I would like to give a go at some point, and is just starting in my neck of the woods.

Big question right now is do I buy a complete gun or buy an action and remage barrel.

I can get a stainless 700 action new for $350, and a barrel will run anywhere from 200-400, but I can pick all the specs, would probably lean toward 6.5 or 6CM. OR I could pick up a complete 700 Varmint for $550, and if Remington puts the $100 rebate on it soon, and selling the unnecessary components, I would be into the barreled action for around the same $350. Since I'm a lefty, only choices would be 223, 22-250, 243, and 308, 90% sure I'd go w/ 243

Ideally I'd spring for a Bighorn Origin, which i came close to last year when I went down this rabbit hole, but I just can't justify the extra 500 on something that will probably collect dust in the safe.

I guess it boils down to is having essentially a free Remington barrel and recoil lug worth not having the action in stainless.

"but they look kinda cool"......Get an airlift and save a lot of money.

 

[Evan]

I don't see any reason to buy a Remington these days. Every Remington I've handled in the last decade feels decidedly lower quality than the 2 700s I have that are from the 80s. The bolt slides roughly in the raceways on the new ones and it's like the timing is all outta wack cause bolt open and close never feel right. If you're not going to have any work done to the action, then I'd choose a different platform to go with, like a Tikka or Howe. If you're going to have work done, then a factory action makes little sense.

 

[spaniel]

Part of this depends on your budget. I'm pretty happy with the last couple Remage builds I did...1/3 MOA or so at 100yds consistently. Can't say my custom actions shoot tighter. I wouldn't both blueprinting unless you aren't happy with the accuracy you get. That's the beauty of a barrel nut....try it out, if you don't like it, have it fixed (as long as they don't muck with the threads).

Custom actions, I have a few, they are nice, but it's more a nice to have than a must have. Custom guns, I have a couple, I'll never have another. Waste of money. I don't shoot benchrest and I can screw barrels on myself and get the same accuracy as a custom gun outside that arena.

The aftermarket barrels ARE worth it. I have very accurate factory barrels, but on average they are rougher and foul/copper worse. I have a Remington 300WM barrel which is a hammer but originally became a shotgun after 15-20 rounds due to copper fouling. Did a Tubbs treatment and now get 40-50 rounds. Will probably pull the barrel halfway through its expected life just to get away from these issues.