Remington SPS Varmint 308 good or bad?

[timm]

I have been looking at the rifle for bench and a bit of deer shooting.

I have heard a few bad thing about them though .

Any help would be good.

Thanks,
Tim

[Member-Deleted]

You take a gamble buying any rifle & even bigger one buying a Remington

[lole]

I haven't shot it myself so can't say from experience, but as some general thoughts.

For a bench rifles it's got the makings of a good one. Full length heavy barrel is what you want.

For deer hunting though, it's going to be a heavy ass rifle to lug around with you out and about.

How much bench shooting VS how much hunting are you talking about?

[Chickenhawk]

Remington have a bit of a mixed rep these days it seems.

In the past a Remington 700 was the gun to have. These days though getting a new accurate one seems a little hit or miss and up to luck. Or people having to spend $$$ on aftermarket stocks and bedding, triggers etc. to get them to shoot well.

Others are getting stuff like the 700 SPS Tactical for nail driving accuracy at 100m so it's hard to say.

I know a few guys who opted for second hand ones to get an original rather than by a new one.

Not to say they are all like that. There's no shortage of people shooting them so they must have something going for them.

[petemacsydney]

i don't know much about the Rem SPS, but have u thought about getting the Tikka T3 Varmint in 308? i just got one for similar uses. very noice rifle indeed..

[redrum]

I think I'd go for a Tikka Varmint too over a Remington.

You know it's going to shoot well.

Personal preference there though...

I know the Rem 700 has billion accessories available, but that's not really my thing.

That MDT tactical chassis they have is pretty sweet though

[tactice]

I dunno about this hit or miss rep for the Rem 700.

I've got a pair in .308 and .22-250 Rem and they both shoot tops.

[Member-Deleted]

2 out of a million isn't bad, lol

[Silver87]

My 700 VLS .243 shoots 0.75 moa out of the box, also have a mate with a stainless SPS .308 that shoots just as well.

[Monty]

Not to say they are all like that. There's no shortage of people shooting them so they must have something going for them.

To be fair, feedback is often a bit biased towards the complained versus the praise.

If one person buys a dud, they're very vocal about it.

If 50 people buy a winner, and just get what they expected from it, you don't hear a peep.

As you say, there's no shortage of people shooting them. I wouldn't right them off completely based on a few bad reviews.

[Moonshine]

I have a SPS Varmint in 243 that is an awesome rifle. Best group I managed is .320" at 100 m using Hornady 87 gr V MAX....

[GPostal]

Buy one - Shoot it - Not happy - Sell on used guns with all the other rifles that don't shoot and buy a Savage or Tikka or Howa and so on.

It's all about the individual rifle.

[RDobber]

Or just buy a Tikka to start with

[Berper]

Buy one - Shoot it - Not happy - Sell on used guns with all the other rifles that don't shoot and buy a Savage or Tikka or Howa and so on.

Costs you a few hundred $$ each time to do that though.

Not a cheap way to find the right rifle

[Mark TAC]

I honestly wonder if all this talk of them being bad (or bad lately) is internet legend. Once a few people post a bad experience suddenly it gains momentum.
Go look at restaurant reviews online, try to find a good one. Apparently every place in Oz is crap....

My two 700's shoot great (0.3 and 0.75 moa with factory ammo and NO work done. The latter is a near on worn out barrel set back to be rethroated)

All my mate's ones do too, all SPS models shooting under 1".

If you are not happy with 1 - 1.5 moa, it is not hard to bed in front of recoil lug and tang with $15 of Devcon and play with other stuff for free like screw tension and reloading, no need for aftermarket triggers and stocks like people say you have to do to make a Rem700 shoot. (And I sell stocks for them so there ya go!).

If you buy a Rem700 SPS in .308 and can't get under 1moa with it I'll be damn surprised. And to those who say 1moa is not good enough that is 100% of hits on a dinner plate at 1000yd. Plenty.

[Chronos]

Before you buy a varmint barrelled borrow one if you can and carry it for a few minutes. They tend to be not only heavy but muzzle heavy making them feel worse to carry (trust me I've owned 2 tikka varmints)

If you are looking at remingtons take a look at the LTR range. A .308 with a 20" barrel could be a great gun for you

Chronos

[cruze82]

I have the SPS varmint in 308 and love the gun was sub moa out of the box and has only gotten better with hand loads

but chromos is right if you don't like heavy things rethink the varmint barrel
I personally don't find it to bad to carry around and my 700 sits in an AICS stock that adds even more weight

[1290]

Bad.

The 700s are now made in China with the barrels hammered on a human powered forged - I think they use 9 year olds to pedal it, may be 10.

[Chronos]

I personally don't find it to bad to carry around and my 700 sits in an AICS stock that adds even more weight

That might actually help, I have a 700gr lead shot bag in the butt on my Tikka Varmint. It brings the balance point back from in front of the magazine to just in front of the trigger, makes it better to carry and shoot

Chronos

[DaleH]

I have just gone through exactly the same comparison - I put my money down on the Tikka.

Although there are good reports on the Remington regards accuracy (sub 1MOA even with the crappy SPS stock), the quality of the Tikka is way better and is said to shoot better than the Remington.

The Tikka is better balanced for me than the Remington - the extra inch or so of barrel on the Remington makes it that much more front heavy.

The Remington trigger felt really nice but the stock felt thin and flimsy. The Tikka also had a changeable magazine vs the Remington internal.

For an extra $300 I got a better stock, stainless barrel and action and scope mounts included - and a rifle that I don't need to put all the aftermarket stuff on to make it better.

Go the Tikka.

[Monty]

That might actually help, I have a 700gr lead shot bag in the butt on my Tikka Varmint. It brings the balance point back from in front of the magazine to just in front of the trigger, makes it better to carry and shoot

Agree with that.

Better balance is worth a little extra weight IMO.

[Vati]

The Remington trigger felt really nice but the stock felt thin and flimsy.

Mmm, their synthetic stocks are definitely pretty ordinary IMO.