[DEE50]

Hello Gentlemen,

I am wanting to get a nice but cost effective sniper rifle and I really don't have alot of knowledge about them.

Any suggestions? I would like the rifle to be fairly tactical looking and I'm not wanting to spend much over 2,000.

Thanks!

[NeverMore1701]

Remington LTR and the rest on a decent Leupold scope.

[DEE50]

It looks like the remington itself would run $7-800? Can you teach me a thing or two about which Leupold to buy? Purposes are hunting and sporting.

[NeverMore1701]

Go look at a bunch and find one you like. $2k is a lot to drop on a rifle and optic you don't know much about. Have you considered getting a Savage with Accutrigger and a Nikon for half that or less, just to get your feet wet?

[UtahIrishman]

Pretty much what NeverMore said. That's a lot to drop on a first time long distance rifle. You can get a Remington 700 and a matching scope for probably a grand or a bit more,that will shoot well out to 600 yards and beyond if you do your parts.

You will also want a decent to good spotting scope and various other odds and ends. It can get expensive real quick.

Myself I have a Sporterized 8 MM Mauser with a Vortex scope that all together cost me just over $ 350.00. I'm not going to be world class with such a setup but it's a good start...and I enjoy it more because I haven't tied too much up in it.

Stick with a decent Remington or Savage and a matching piece of glass and you'll be good.

edited to add: Assuming this is your first rifle. If so, I wouldn't buy used unless you have someone along that is knowledgeable about guns. Most used rifles are fine, but occasionally there's a brick and you may not see it until it's too late

[countrygun]

If i dare say, "sniping" or long range shooting, is not something you can "buy the ability to do". A less expensive rifle, like a Savage in .308 or 30-06 is capable of shooting above the ability of a heck of a lot of people. the Savages with the "Accu-trigger" can be frighfully effective at ranges beyond what their price would indicate, in the right hands of course.

By the time you can outshoot a Savage you would have a pretty good idea of what you really need/want in an expensive, dedicated rifle. there are stock upgrades and barrel upgrades available to keep a Savage ahead of it's operator for a long time.

[DEE50]

Is there any truth in the rumor that the rem. 700 goes without pulling the trigger?

[gruntmedik]

Unless you are sitting in a blind overlooking a large field, you are not going to enjoy hunting with a "sniper rifle".

[byf43]

Originally Posted by DEE50

Is there any truth in the rumor that the rem. 700 goes without pulling the trigger?

In my not-so-humble opinion, if you 'jack' with a trigger, you can get it to go 'bang' without pulling the trigger.

I had a friend (May he Forever Rest in Peace) that had a Remington 700 in .22-250, and he let me shoot that wonderful rifle, quite a bit.

He forewarned anyone that fired that rifle. . . .
"Do NOT put your finger on the trigger until you're ready to shoot, and do NOT be rough with the bolt, when closing it. It WILL go off!"

That wonderful rifle had a trigger pull weight in OUNCES.


With that said, you can either get a Savage bolt gun and do quite well with it. Scope mount and rings, plus scope for another $500.00 or so.

Or, get a Remington 700 SPS "Tactical" -AAC-SD for around $600.00-$650.00, then spend another $100.00 for a Leupold steel mount w/ 15MOA built-in, and another $152.00 for Leupold MkIV (medium height) steel rings.
Then, another $350.00 to $4,000.00 for a scope. (Yes, those numbers are correct. That's a LOT of spread!)


ETA: A 'sniper rifle' could be a .22 lr semi-auto, IF you are hiding.

Also, what caliber are you interested in??
.22 lr?? .223/5.56x45mm??? .308/7.62x51mm?? .30-'06???? .300 WinMag???
.338 Lapua??? .50 BMG???

[rayetter]

Remington 700 SPS. 308 with nikon prostaff or monarch, harris bipod and you are gtg. Otoh, that is not a lightweight setup.


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[Victoriagotagun]

Originally Posted by DEE50

Purposes are hunting and sporting.

What kind of hunting and what do you mean by sporting? What ranges would you be shooting it?

[Glockdude1]

You want a tactical looking rifle???

Do you plan on shooting it, or just mounting on the wall and looking at it??

[SigFTW]

Originally Posted by NeverMore1701

Go look at a bunch and find one you like. $2k is a lot to drop on a rifle and optic you don't know much about. Have you considered getting a Savage with Accutrigger and a Nikon for half that or less, just to get your feet wet?

That is what I did.

Savage 110, 7mm Mag.

Before:


After Mods:


I have also resonantly added a Nikon Prostaff BDC Scope and an ammo holder that straps to the stock.

This thing is very accurate and the total cost was under $800.00

[jollygreen]

Originally Posted by DEE50

Purposes are hunting and sporting.

I guess you can "snipe" with anything. I used to "snipe" w/water balloons out of an upper story college dorm window, but I assume you're wanting a big, heavy barrelled rifle to hunt with? Are you sure you're going to want the extra weight to lug around in the field when, after all, you could accomplish the same thing with a much lighter weapon?

Originally Posted by DEE50

Is there any truth in the rumor that the rem. 700 goes without pulling the trigger?

I actually owned an older (1970s model) 700BDL that did that to me. I thumbed off the safety and the rifle discharged. It was a problem with some of the older 700s. They fixed that problem on later models, but I also took in a different 700 for a retrofit.

If you buy a recent manufacture 700, it's not an issue.

[DPris]

A sniper rifle & a hunting rifle are not the same thing.

Generally, a so-called "sniper" rifle will be relatively heavy with relatively heavy & expensive glass for distances out to a thousand yards or so. I said GENERALLY.

A hunting rifle that'll be carried a bunch will be three or four pounds lighter & have less money & weight tied up in glass that normally doesn't need to go beyond 200 yards.

And the Remington 700 trigger has been addressed in current rifles.
Denis

[smokin762]

There are many choices of rifles for hunting. In the past, I have owned a Remington 700 and a Savage 110. I thought they were both accurate rifles. At That time the longest rifle range I knew of was 200 yards.

Recently, I have decided to get back into hunting. This time after posting some questions here on GT and doing some research, I am going to buy a CZ 550 American. I have read some nice things about this rifle. My local Gun Shop said they can get me one for $719.00.

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-550-american/

[m2hmghb]

My suggestion is to buy a pair of Savage rifles and a VERY good scope for both. Buy a .223 and a .308 or whichever heavy caliber you want. Use the .223 for trigger time and to learn about ballistics and use the heavier rifle for the longer ranges. The .223 is a lot cheaper to shoot but is more limited in range and power, so it's a great round to use to get started.

[vafish]

Originally Posted by m2hmghb

My suggestion is to buy a pair of Savage rifles and a VERY good scope for both. Buy a .223 and a .308 or whichever heavy caliber you want. Use the .223 for trigger time and to learn about ballistics and use the heavier rifle for the longer ranges. The .223 is a lot cheaper to shoot but is more limited in range and power, so it's a great round to use to get started.

If you are going to do that get a .22 le instead of a .223.

Shooting a .22 at 100-200 yards will teach you a lot about long range shooting.

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[ezdaar]

rifle: Rem 700 ADL, rebarrel it for 6.5 creedmore, drop on stock of choice for that Tacticool look.
optics: Leupold VXR 4-12x40.

Comes in under your target price and will do everything you want it to.

[NEOH212]

You can find alot from Remington or Savage in the price range and still get some good glass to put on top of it.

If it was me, I'd go Savage. My Model 10HS .308 is sickeningly accurate and I paid around $800 new for it. It has a Mark 4 4x14x50 Illuminated TMR retical.

I shopped around and was able to put the entire package together for just over $2k.

I can hold 5/8" groups with it all day long at 100 yards and all the way out to 600 yards, It's at the very least MOA accurate but a little better most of the time.

It's alot of bang for the buck and certainly worth a look.

[Travclem]

My vote is for the Remington 700p or LTR (depending on you barrel length preference) and a Leupold MK4 4-14x50. It will max out your budget but buy once, cry once. Dont buy a substandard rifle only upgrade later, that costs too much.

[DEE50]

Originally Posted by gruntmedik

Unless you are sitting in a blind overlooking a large field, you are not going to enjoy hunting with a "sniper rifle".

I have a blind overlooking a large field. Correct.

[DEE50]

Okay, to clear some things up I am wanting a round that has power and long range capability yet not too powerful such as a .338 Lapua or .50 BMG but rather maybe .30-06 or .308 Winchester.

And since I got harrasment for saying this I think I will clear it up, what I really meant by saying, "Something tactical looking" is that aside from the fact that I will not be using this gun for law-inforcement but rather Hunting and sporting I still would like a gun that either is or cosmetically looks like a SWAT or Military type rifle rather than an old grandfathers hunting rifle persay.
Does that make sense?

I am leaning toward a Savage or a Remington 700. Is it true that the 700 can go off without the trigger being pulled but by merely being tapped?

Can someone tell me more about Savage and Remington Rifles?

[8-Ball]

Originally Posted by DEE50

I am leaning toward a Savage or a Remington 700. Is it true that the 700 can go off without the trigger being pulled but by merely being tapped?

Can someone tell me more about Savage and Remington Rifles?

My 700 trigger is great. I guess it will fire if you "tap" it hard enough. I don't really know what you're asking.

It's adjustable from 1.5-5.5 lbs. (IIRC)

[CanMan]

Potential Remington 700 Rifle Accidental Discharge

Remington Under Fire: A recent CNBC Documentary Investigation of the popular Remington 700 Rifle raised my eyebrows. It appears that there have been numerous customer complaints involving the premature detonation of a chambered round without the trigger being pulled in the 700 series rifles manufactured as early as 2002 to the present, suggesting that there is a serious manufacturing defect in the trigger mechanism.

The CNBC documentary also reports that numerous police departments across the country have abandoned the use of this popular "Sniper Rifle", with many police departments reporting that they have had "hands on" experiences with such premature detonations. The US Army & the US Marine Corp Sniper Training Schools have also complained to Remington that such dangerous malfunctions have ocurred at their training facilities, suggesting that the mear "touching" of the bolt with a chambered round was sufficient to cause detonation. Remington has assurred its customers that their popular rifle is "perfectly safe", as they have not been able to duplicate any such malfunctions at their testing facilities. However, they also stated that the 700 series in question were no longer under "warranty", and that perhaps these rifles have been modified or poorly maintained.

In statements released by the US Army & US Marine Corp, as well as by Police Departments across the Nation, all maintain that none of their 700 series that have malfunction were altered in any manner, nor were they improperly maintained.

I believe this was the beginning of the X-Mark Pro trigger.

http://www.remington.com/en/pages/xm...o-trigger.aspx