After some though I decided the custom build or custom order was going to be more money than I wanted to spend. I ordered a Remington 700 stainless 5R 24" threaded 300wm with an HS precision stock. From all I have read unless I get a complete lemon this barrel will be more than accurate enough for me.

Some upgrades I plan to do.
Send it off to LRI for barrel and bolt fluting to save a little weight and to have them install a custom bolt knob and inlet the stock for a Magpul detachable mag well. I'm going to swap the trigger out for a trigger tech. If I like the stock that comes on the rifle I think I'll stick with that.

I am going to talk to LRI about the AR extractor mod and make a decision on that as well.

I will be adding a suppressor, do you guys suggest direct thread or QD? I could do either pretty easy but the can won't be dedicated to this rifle for now so I'm leaning to QD.

As for glass I'm thinking I'll get the Vortex Razor gen II 3-18x50.

Leaning more towards the Nightforce 4-14x50 shv for glass now

Thanks for all the help guys

First question...What's your budget?

Well it's a little flexible but I'd like to keep it under 3k. The parts list I have so far is about 1950. I would think it could be done for a fair bit under 3k but I've been wrong before. I say it's flexible because I'm going to start buying the parts slowly and I'm not in a huge rush for the rifle so I can save a little more if need be.

Whats the end goal?  What is the barrel contour and is it one of the carbon barrels?

Have you factored in machine work.  Ball park getting that thrown together is going to 800-1000 in labor alone.

The machine work, assembly and any small parts I may have overlooked is what i was trying to get an idea on the price of. I want a rifle that's light and accuarate enough to take out west elk hunting but has a rigid enough barrel that will dissipate heat well enough to take to the range and shoot with out having to constantly let the barrel cool down like a thin hunting barrel. Also the threads will accommodate a can. Would like to be able to get out to 700 yards. The barrel is one of their carbon fiber barrels and it is their sendero profile.

I believe that contour is pretty close to an M40 and won't fit into the magpul stock without opening it up which I wouldn't do because of what it is made of.  Manners has some very nice carbon fiber hunting stocks but they cost substantially more 

Thanks for the info! I'll check into that. I see that have one sendero that is 1.2 and another that is 1.25 and the sendero light that's even thinner.

Also have you considered a custom action?  They don't end up costing much more by the time you do all the action work that is needed for a 700 and they are far better quality.

HS-PRECISION has convensional stocks that will clear a straight 1.250" barrel $365 if I recall.

I know because I had to get one when I rebarreled with an MTU.

I wouldn't waste the money to have a custom built and then put it in a plastic magpul stock.

You need a scope rail.  

By the time you get the action trued, bolt bushed, barrel installed, bolt handle done (may also need to be moved to fix primary extraction), scope rail bedded (maybe re-cut the rail holes), barrel threaded, Ceracoat, any decent 'smith is going to be about $1200-1500.  Minor inletting and bed stock, You're up to $1700-2000.

I just priced out a build with Beanland and it was $50 difference to fix up my R700 receiver vs going with a Defiance with integral rail and lug.   There's just no reason to use a Remington action anymore.  I have a custom built on a 700 and I wish I would have plopped down the extra bit of cash and started with a nicer action.

This, or....

Since you probably wouldn't buy a $5000 trap gun because you decided one day to start shooting clays, I'd get something you can sell later if LR shooting doesn't end up being your thing.  

I wouldn't get a new or recent production 700 action to build a first gun on when there are plenty of used 700 Varmint Synthetics in .308 with the HS Pres. stock on Gunbroker.  (and I have several custom 700's)

Buy good scope base/rings and maybe replace the bottom metal and call it good.  Spend the money on ammo and a really good scope.  If it is something you want to stick with there is Surgeon, Defiance, etc. for a base action.

You can also save some decent money buying used, especially if you aren't locked in to any specific component.

After thinking about it some and doing some more pricing and looking I think youre right. I'm going to find deal on a 700 and send it off to long rifle inc for a little tune up, put good glass and a trigger on it shoot the hell out of it and if I shoot the barrel out I'll revisit the proof research barrel.

I'm not brand new to long range but I'm definitely still a novice. I've had dabbled with bolt guns and LR shooting but always had a stock gun with good glass, I just want a couple of custom touches because I can't find exactly what I want from a production gun and don't want to spend 5-6k on a full custom gun.

What cartridge are you chambering for?

If you want to shoot long range targets, 6.5 Creedoor is where it's at.  Sounds like you're going for a 300 Win Mag.  That'll do it, but beat you to death in the process.

I'm going for the 300 win mag. I've had an itch for one ever since I got my first bolt gun, every time I bring up the 300wm people tell me this and y'all are probably right but I don't think I'm going to be satisfied until I have one of my own.

A buddy of mine has a 6.5, 308 and 300 win mag. I don't find the 300 win mag to be that bad, especially with a can on it. I've had 308s up until this point and will likely get a 6.5 in the future but for now I have to scratch the 300wm itch.

Not a lightweight build but it will get the job done.  The Leupold Mark 4 has been discontinued but can still be found.  Prices may vary a little.

$1,075.00 Remington 5R
REMINGTON – 700 SS 5R GEN 2 W/24? THREADED BARREL, .308 WIN (SALE)

$1,039.00 Scope 4 6.5-20x50mm Euro-Optic
Leupold Mark 4 6.5-20x50mm LR/T M1 Long Range Tactical Riflescope 60080

$71.00 Scope Base Amazon
LEUPOLD – MARK 4 PICATINNEY RAIL REMINGTON 700, SHORT ACTION

$69.99 Scope Rings Amazon
Leupold 61049 Mark 4 Riflescope Rings (30mm Diameter, Matte Black)

$32.99 Sun Shade Amazon
Leupold 4""-50Mm Lens shade Matte Alumina 52353

$94.95 MonoPod Amazon
Accu-Shot BT12-QK Standard Quick Knob Precision Rail Monopod 3.75" to 4.65" Aluminum Black

$249.49 Pelican Case
Pelican 1750 Rifle Case With Foam

$365.52 Bottom Metal - Detach Mag 3 Mags
Wyatt's DetMag (M4) Flush Mount Detachable Magazine Assembly - Remington 700 BDL Short and Long Action

$20.00 Scope Flip Up Scope Covers - Butler Creek Mark 4 LR/T 6.5-20x50mm
Eye Size 13 Part Number MO20130 39.9MM Diameter 1.6 Inches
Objective Size 43 Part Number 30430 58.7MM Diameter 2.3 Inches

$20.00 Possum Hollow Products Bore Guide #5
Bore Guide #5 Browning A-Bolt, Remington, Ruger, Springfield, Winchester, Savage Bolt Action

$30.89 40 Inch Cleaning Rod
40 Inch Dewey 1-Piece Cleaning Rod 27 to 34 Caliber Nylon Coated 12 x 28

$102.74 BiPod
Harris Engineering S-BRM Hinged Base 6 - 9-Inch BiPod

Total $3,171.57

I don't see the point in this, if you are going to send it off to a smith the there is no point in not putting a good barrel on it.  A good barrel is the only improvement you will actually notice, a "tune up" wont do shit worth mentioning. 

Something like this.  Get a solid base/rings/scope and buy ammo.  Enjoy the pain of shooting .300 WM.  SG Ammo usually carries Federal GMM 190 grain if you don't reload.  If you decide to go custom you have something that is pretty easy to sell, or keep as a beater rifle.  I just picked up an old 700 VS LH in .22-250 I'm going to cut to 21", thread, and use for a pickup/tractor rifle for woodchucks and coyote targets of opportunity.  




Sendero

Yep if you're doing any action work you get a premium barrel to put on it, and do it all.


judging from what I've read so far i'd suggest really figuring out what it is that you want.

Head over to the hide, buy a used rig.

It cost me $660 to have the action true and barrel installed. The only thing that I gave the gunsmith was the action, barrel, and bolt. I did the rest. I did supply the reamer and go gauge as the cartridge  was something he did very few of. The work was done done by a gunsmith in San Jose, Ca. and has done a lot of PRS type guns. I'm very happy with the work that was done by Marc and looking forward  to have another rifle built by him.

I've heard  that   some of the customs end needing some work to be done also to be trued.

If he wants to use the magpul stock, he'll be just fine. No loss of performance there - it's the best option in the sub 500 range.

Rail bedding can be done at home. Bolt knobs aren't a necessity. My 1/4-1/2 MOA 308 would even argue trying of the receiver may not be need either.

I ended up ordering a Remington 700 5R stainless, threaded 300 win mag. From what I've read that barrel will be plenty accurate for me. I'll have the bolt and barrel fluted for a little weight savings. Swap the trigger out for a triggertech. I may keep the HS precision stock that it comes with and just have it inletted for detachable mags if i like that stock, I've considered the AR extractor mod that LRI offers while they have it. I will probably put a vortex razor hd gen II on it and already have a suppressor to use on it but I do have a question on that.

Do you guys prefer direct thread or QD mounting for a can on a precision rifle? It will be an ASR mount as I have silencerco suppressors.

Magnum action? What caliber do you want to build? 300 Winchester Magnum wears me out.

You should double check the AR extractor mod, it may not be available for a belted Magnum.

I have been "playing" with a .300 Winchester Magnum Remington 40-X. It's a single shot, very accurate but came from the Custom Shop with a short action which puzzled the crap out of me. It doesn't really matter that it's short action basically because you have to slip each round in the chamber one at a time anyways. The ejected case is shorter than 2.800" so it works just fine.

I have been loading Sierra's 190 and 200 grain Match King bullets using RE-22 to drive them 2900 fps and 2800 fps respectively. My rifle has close to a 27.5" barrel and the powder charges are considerably lower than I expected.

Because of the recoil and muzzle blast I sent the barreled action off to Steve Thompson @ ADCO Firearms to have it threaded to accept a muzzle brake. It made all the difference in the world shooting the beast. It went from painful to fun for a little over a hundred and fifty dollars.  

I did the pillar bedding job myself using Devcon Steel Epoxy and lots of it. I completely filled the dead space under the action with epoxy and a full four inches forward of the recoil luge to add support under the heavy barrel. The McMillan fiberglass stock was useable for a blind magazine repeating rifle, but because the Remington custom action is completely closed on the bottom there was a no reason not to fill the compartment to the top with epoxy.

This is the largest caliber I have ever owned power wise and it's been interesting. I'm using Winchester brass that I match prep and Remington 9.5 Magnum primers with good results.

Have you ever shot a 300WM??  Weight savings is not what you want.  You're gonn look like this guy>


Under no circumstance should you waste money fluting a factory Remington bolt or barrel.

By the time you do all that I would have just gotten a custom action and gone from there.  It will however probably shoot fine.

Don't flute the barrel, you can only make it worse for zero return. No need for an AR extractor either.
You want the rifle heavy unless you are making a hunting rifle. 

I get the custom action and barrel is better or just a custom rifle but I figured the price both ways and the custom action route would have been substantially more even factoring in the work I want to have done to the 700, honestly just out of my league at the moment. Maybe next time but right now I don't think the return is great enough to justify the cost FOR ME.

I just want a sub moa gun which I think the 5R 700 will do if I do my part and find a load it likes, I can't see spending 2-3 more thousand dollars to get a sub .5 moa gun

Fluting is not going to help anything.   If it does anything, it will likely make it worse.  

If you're gonna mess with a Remington, start with fixing it.  

Fluting the factory bolt and barrel is like putting spinner hub caps on hoopti.