I Finally brought my first Rifle

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I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Robin » 22 Aug 2020, 11:32 am

After many months of waiting for my licence and then PTA, on Thursday I finally brought my first rifle.

I brought a Remington 700 Varmint Stainless Fluted 26 inch .223, with a Hawke Frontier 5-25x50, now I know some don't like Remington , but I shot this down at belmont for the first time today and after I got my zero correct, I was punching very close holes at 100m , so far so good, hopefully after awhile it will still stay the same, I know its a heavy rifle, but when I get better with my aim, then I'll get a lighter dedicated hunting rifle, unless im not going to be walking far then this will do.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by TassieTiger » 22 Aug 2020, 11:38 am

Nice work! It should get better as it settles in (barrel) - as should you, so if your already shooting nice groups, they should improve even more so.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by marksman » 22 Aug 2020, 1:17 pm

l'm one of the guys who isn't keen on remingtons but hey its your rifle mate and only you will know if its what you want
good for you and as TT said as you shoot the barrel in and get used to it, it will get better
always a happy day when you get a new rifle :drinks:
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by linkoln » 22 Aug 2020, 1:26 pm

I like the Remington 700 but why did you decide on such a long barrel? I've looked at the 308 magpul enhanced version which comes with a 20 inch barrel and that seems excessively long.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by on_one_wheel » 22 Aug 2020, 1:27 pm

Awesome choice of rifle and caliber.

I'm a big fan if 700's and the .223 is a brilliant round.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Robin » 22 Aug 2020, 1:50 pm

linkoln wrote:I like the Remington 700 but why did you decide on such a long barrel? I've looked at the 308 magpul enhanced version which comes with a 20 inch barrel and that seems excessively long.


I might be wrong with my thinking, but I got this to do more target shooting then hunting, altho hunting is on my list to do , I don't know if I would get to do that often enough , so I thought being a 26in is long, but I thought it would be more accurate, especially at longer ranges, again, I could be wrong with my thinking, I also put it down to buying a car for the first time, it sometimes takes owning a few cars before you know what you like.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by SCJ429 » 22 Aug 2020, 3:14 pm

linkoln wrote:I like the Remington 700 but why did you decide on such a long barrel? I've looked at the 308 magpul enhanced version which comes with a 20 inch barrel and that seems excessively long.


I am not sure why you think it is excessive? If you are looking for speed, then every little bit helps.

If you want a short and light rifle and you are not worried about speed, then a 20 inch barrel could be excessive. Why not knock it back to 16? Get your hacksaw out and start chopping.

Great to finally get out to the range with your new rifle Batman, was there much copper fouling in your barrel as you ran it in?
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Robin » 22 Aug 2020, 4:10 pm

SCJ429 wrote:
linkoln wrote:I like the Remington 700 but why did you decide on such a long barrel? I've looked at the 308 magpul enhanced version which comes with a 20 inch barrel and that seems excessively long.


I am not sure why you think it is excessive? If you are looking for speed, then every little bit helps.

If you want a short and light rifle and you are not worried about speed, then a 20 inch barrel could be excessive. Why not knock it back to 16? Get your hacksaw out and start chopping.

Great to finally get out to the range with your new rifle Batman, was there much copper fouling in your barrel as you ran it in?



Took about 15 patches to clean it, the first patch was as dirty as my mind, but it got less pretty quick.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by linkoln » 22 Aug 2020, 4:11 pm

SCJ429 wrote:.If you want a short and light rifle and you are not worried about speed, then a 20 inch barrel could be excessive. Why not knock it back to 16? Get your hacksaw out and start chopping.

If I was to find a 308 I wanted first thing I would do is get the barrel chopped as short as legally possible; preferentially no longer than 16 inches.
223 isn't a super long range round so for me personally I wouldn't go any longer that 18 inches.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Bugman » 22 Aug 2020, 4:39 pm

Good stuff, Robin. Enjoy.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by in2anity » 22 Aug 2020, 4:40 pm

You’ll find it’ll foul less as you break it in, as the tooling polishes out. There are two reasons for a longer barrel - 1) a longer sight radius for iron sights 2) optimizing velocity. But If it’s a 1:8” twist, probably what’s more important for reaching out there is to just use a longer, heavier, low-BC pill, nearer to 80gr.

I had my HB 223 cut to 22” as a compromise length, to reduce on weight. It’s a 1:9” and I feed it the 69gr SMKs. I regularly shoot it to 400m in (Non-)Service matches and it’s just an awesome gun to compete with. Tack driver that bucks the wind good at that distance.
Last edited by in2anity on 22 Aug 2020, 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by TassieTiger » 22 Aug 2020, 4:46 pm

Robin wrote:
SCJ429 wrote:
linkoln wrote:I like the Remington 700 but why did you decide on such a long barrel? I've looked at the 308 magpul enhanced version which comes with a 20 inch barrel and that seems excessively long.


I am not sure why you think it is excessive? If you are looking for speed, then every little bit helps.

If you want a short and light rifle and you are not worried about speed, then a 20 inch barrel could be excessive. Why not knock it back to 16? Get your hacksaw out and start chopping.

Great to finally get out to the range with your new rifle Batman, was there much copper fouling in your barrel as you ran it in?



Took about 15 patches to clean it, the first patch was as dirty as my mind, but it got less pretty quick.


It might not be the case with your rifle - but look really close at the rifling, once you have cleaned out carbon. Helps to put a torch on angle at muzzle - some of my new rifles looked copperless until I really new what to look for and cleaned door/carbon - then slowly copper streaks...if you can get on it early, it makes it much easier in long run.
Tikka .260 (Z5 5x25/52)
Steyr Pro Varmint .223 - VX 3
CZ455 .22 & Norinco .22 (vtex 4-12, bush 3-9)
ATA 686 U/O 12g & Baikal S/S 12g.
Adler a110 reddot
Sauer 30-06 - VX 3
Howa 300 win mag. SHV 5-20/56
Marlin SBL 45/70
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by InisBineest » 22 Aug 2020, 5:53 pm

Robin wrote:After many months of waiting for my licence and then PTA, on Thursday I finally brought my first rifle.

I brought a Remington 700 Varmint Stainless Fluted 26 inch .223, with a Hawke Frontier 5-25x50, now I know some don't like Remington , but I shot this down at belmont for the first time today and after I got my zero correct, I was punching very close holes at 100m , so far so good, hopefully after awhile it will still stay the same, I know its a heavy rifle, but when I get better with my aim, then I'll get a lighter dedicated hunting rifle, unless im not going to be walking far then this will do.


Good choice mate, my first centerfire was a Rem 700 VSF in 223, almost the same as yours but not stainless. Get a good bipod for it too, you won't be doing much shooting freestanding with that weight.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by SCJ429 » 22 Aug 2020, 11:02 pm

TassieTiger wrote:
Great to finally get out to the range with your new rifle Batman, was there much copper fouling in your barrel as you ran it in?



Took about 15 patches to clean it, the first patch was as dirty as my mind, but it got less pretty quick.[/quote]

It might not be the case with your rifle - but look really close at the rifling, once you have cleaned out carbon. Helps to put a torch on angle at muzzle - some of my new rifles looked copperless until I really new what to look for and cleaned door/carbon - then slowly copper streaks...if you can get on it early, it makes it much easier in long run.[/quote]

I am with Tassie, check to see how much copper is in the barrel. Are you using a dedicated copper solvent after you clean the carbon fouling out?

I think a 26 inch barrel is perfect for a range rifle or some longer range varmint shooting. My own 223 has a 26 inch barrel on it.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by marksman » 22 Aug 2020, 11:30 pm

this is what you should be looking for but may not see it so close to the muzzle

Image
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Robin » 23 Aug 2020, 1:06 am

SCJ429 wrote:
TassieTiger wrote:
Great to finally get out to the range with your new rifle Batman, was there much copper fouling in your barrel as you ran it in?



Took about 15 patches to clean it, the first patch was as dirty as my mind, but it got less pretty quick.


It might not be the case with your rifle - but look really close at the rifling, once you have cleaned out carbon. Helps to put a torch on angle at muzzle - some of my new rifles looked copperless until I really new what to look for and cleaned door/carbon - then slowly copper streaks...if you can get on it early, it makes it much easier in long run.[/quote]

I am with Tassie, check to see how much copper is in the barrel. Are you using a dedicated copper solvent after you clean the carbon fouling out?

I think a 26 inch barrel is perfect for a range rifle or some longer range varmint shooting. My own 223 has a 26 inch barrel on it.[/quote]

I'll have a look in the morning,
I'm using No. 9 Gun Bore Cleaner followed up with G96 Gun Oil, if there is anything better, im more then happy to try it.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Robin » 23 Aug 2020, 1:07 am

marksman wrote:this is what you should be looking for but may not see it so close to the muzzle

Image


I don't recall seeing any of that, I know when I had the bore light in, it looked really shiny and reflective.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by in2anity » 23 Aug 2020, 10:23 am

Sweets 7.62
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by SCJ429 » 23 Aug 2020, 10:30 am

in2anity wrote:Sweets 7.62

Ballistol Robosol, Boretec Cu+, Proshot copper solvent, will all do the job.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Jarhead » 23 Aug 2020, 1:31 pm

I am using Sweets Copper Solvent to clean up the copper- It is great as you know it is working - the patches come out looking vibrant blue like lapis lazuli.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Robin » 23 Aug 2020, 2:05 pm

When your using something like sweets, do u use that first with a patch and the scrub it with a bore cleaner followed up with a patch and then oil, and do you do that after every shooting session, sorry it sounds like a stupid question, but I don't want to ruin my rifle.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by in2anity » 23 Aug 2020, 2:17 pm

I leave it in for 15mins (set a timer). Nylon brush forward only, then thoroughly get it all out with white spirits. That's the important part - you don't want any trace of ammonia left. You can follow up then with a carbon cleaner like bortech C4 or similar, but I don't bother, I just run a few oil patches through it. That's my primary comp gun which sees weekly use. The barrel will be shot out before any "incorrect cleaning" or chemicals might do any harm. The 223 copper fouls more than the 30cals, like-for-like.
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by solarpak » 23 Aug 2020, 10:16 pm

Robin wrote:After many months of waiting for my licence and then PTA, on Thursday I finally brought my first rifle.

I brought a Remington 700 Varmint Stainless Fluted 26 inch .223, with a Hawke Frontier 5-25x50, now I know some don't like Remington , but I shot this down at belmont for the first time today and after I got my zero correct, I was punching very close holes at 100m , so far so good, hopefully after awhile it will still stay the same, I know its a heavy rifle, but when I get better with my aim, then I'll get a lighter dedicated hunting rifle, unless im not going to be walking far then this will do.

Nice rifle Robin in 223 and the scope is a beauty also.
Good for range work and also long distance sniping at pests over a bipod.
Enjoy.
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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by solarpak » 23 Aug 2020, 10:20 pm

Robin - cleaning your barrel is like skinning a rabbit - many ways to do it and my process has been the result of 30 years of rifle and shotgun shooting. Works well for me.
Lots of information on the net about this - as well as the pro's and cons of running in barrels........

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Re: I Finally brought my first Rifle

Post by Diamond Jim » 24 Aug 2020, 12:40 am

linkoln wrote:
SCJ429 wrote:.If you want a short and light rifle and you are not worried about speed, then a 20 inch barrel could be excessive. Why not knock it back to 16? Get your hacksaw out and start chopping.

If I was to find a 308 I wanted first thing I would do is get the barrel chopped as short as legally possible; preferentially no longer than 16 inches.
223 isn't a super long range round so for me personally I wouldn't go any longer that 18 inches.


Ummm....muzzle blast? I know you can go short if you want and all power to you (if you are SAS or Navy SEAL etc.) but I wouldn't like to be beside you firing your 16 inch barrel .308 or even your .223 for that matter. For me, having my muzzle (or anybody else's) a sensible distance away from my face and ears is a nice starting point and makes for a much more pleasant shooting experience.
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