Featured Rifle
A Cooper Varminter in 204 Ruger.
We had a look at Cooper rifles a couple of years ago, when Fox Firearms of Manchester first started importing them. At that time, a good portion of my review was taken up with a potted history of the Cooper company so I don’t intend to repeat it here, save to say that after one or two changes of ownership, the company has now stabilised and is reliably producing some fine rifles under the leadership of the founder, Dan Cooper. If you want the full story go to www.cooperfirearms.com
Although outstanding accuracy is Cooper’s objective, their rifles are not built for the target shooter but the hunter – by far the bigger market in the US. The rifles are offered in an impressive array of chamberings designed to appeal to the American ‘varmint’ shooter. In other words, the smaller end of the vast range of cartridges now available, though they have recently branched-out with their Model 52 rifle which caters for larger cartridges based on the 30-06 case.
The hunter market is very competitive and if you are ever fortunate enough to visit
Target shooters get behind their rifle and blaze away at paper – then put it in a box and chuck it in the car. By contrast, hunters take their rifles for a long walk and occasionally take a shot – if they are lucky. The target shooter is happy with a rifle as heavy as the rules and regulations will allow; the hunter, by contrast, is obsessed with lightness.
Cooper’s first task therefore was to build a light rifle. This was accomplished by scaling everything down as much as possible without compromising accuracy. This means that although the miniature receiver lacks bulk, it maintains stiffness by having a solid bottom. Whereas target shooters go for stocks of fibreglass and plastic, hunters like natural wood – in spite of the fact that such stocks often cause bedding problems - wood is light and it looks good. So, objective number two – select a nice piece of well seasoned walnut. Finally, if it’s going to shoot, we need a top-notch barrel – it doesn’t need to be heavy but it must be of benchrest standard in all other respects.
Clearly, working to these parameters isn’t going to be cheap and Remington for example want around two grand for their 40X ‘custom-shop’ rifles and frankly, I’m amazed that Fox Firearms can bring these rifles across the pond and sell them for under £1200.
The name ‘Varminter’ confirms that this rifle is aimed squarely at the American varmint shooter market – a sport which involves wiping-out small animals at extreme ranges. Not hunting in the normal sense but more shooting at live targets rather than cardboard ones. We don’t tend to do that over here but we do like small calibre accurate ‘field’ rifles for foxing and vermin control. Let’s take the Cooper apart and see what makes it special.
The solid-bottom receiver is just 1.15 inches in diameter, as compared to around 1.35 inches for a Remington or Savage but the slim three-lug bolt allows the receiver wall to be of similar thickness, thus maintaining stiffness. The barrel is of reasonable profile for our tiny 204 Ruger cartridge - tapering from an inch at the breech to 0.77 inches at the muzzle. The bedding is confined to the area of the front receiver-ring and recoil-lug and frankly, it won't win any prizes – full of air-holes and I would have expected better from Cooper but clearly it’s doing the job. The Cooper trigger looks exceedingly well made and works well but I’m amazed that Cooper don’t simply source a trigger from one of the many American manufacturers. But then again, competition triggers are expensive and can be finicky to adjust, whereas the Cooper is designed for owner-adjustment.
The walnut stock is well finished inside and out with crisp chequering around the wrist area. The front action-screw is supported by a largish ‘button’ which helps spread the load but there is no attempt to provide bedding pillars. The borescope reveals a well cut chamber free of machining marks and the internal finish of the barrel is what I would call ‘match’ grade.
Our test rifle is chambered in 204 Ruger. Not a particularly favourite cartridge of mine but that’s what a customer has ordered and we are privileged to have a play with it before he takes delivery. That ugly bolt-knob is not Cooper, neither is the screw-cut muzzle but Fox Firearms are able to supply these and other add-ons ‘in house’ if the customer requires it.
Foxy has also given me one of his Hakko scopes in 8-32 magnification and I first need to mount this, bore-sight and zero the Cooper. The Hakko scope is made in
Foxy has generously thrown in a 20 round box of Hornady ammunition loaded with the 32 grain V Max bullet, so we can at least zero the scope and shoot a few groups. My first three or four rounds soon have the Cooper grouping close to the centre of the target and I have enough ammo left for three, five-shot groups. The best of these measures 0.59 inches, with the other two slightly larger. I must confess I was expecting better but, off a bi-pod and without wind-flags – maybe not too bad and at least now have some brass to work with.
The trigger? Never even noticed it so it must be good – no creep, crisp let-off. We’ll measure the pull-weight later. As you would expect, the Cooper action cycled smoothly throughout with no extraction or ejection problems from the Sako style extractor and spring-loaded, bolt-face plunger-ejector.
Shooting buddy, Dave Wylde of South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies, has some experience with this cartridge and kindly gave me a box of Berger 40 grain boat-tail bullets. I’ve also managed to blag a set of Hornady dies so now we can at least put some rounds together and see what this rifle is really capable of.
A week later and I’m back in Diggle’s covered firing-point and it’s a ridiculously cold, wet day for September and fiddling about weighing powder-charges and the like is just too much trouble. The task is made easier with the Smart Reloader electronic scales I have on test from Henry Krank. These scales are great value (£36) and if you cover them with a plastic food container, make a hole in the top for your powder-funnel, I found that I can weigh on the point in a veritable gale!
I had absolutely no idea where to start with powder. I’m thinking ‘small case, light bullet – fast powder’. Here’s where the internet comes in really handy and I soon found plenty of data for the 204 and fortunately for a powder I currently have on the shelf, namely Hodgdon’s Benchmark. This is a fast powder designed for small cartridges and the recommended load is around 27 grains with a 32 grain bullet. I’m using a 40 grainer, so let’s play safe and start off with 25 grains.
Cooper guarantee half MOA three-shot accuracy with this rifle using commercial ammuntion and a test target is included with every rifle. The Cooper would generally shoot under half an inch with three shots but not five so let’s see if we can improve things with our hand-loads.
I loaded up five rounds but the first two shots were wasted adjusting the impact point, which is now slightly lower than my zero with the factory ammunition. I can use the remaining three rounds to shoot a group and see if our load is anywhere near. Again, I’m shooting off a Harris bi-pod, on a concrete bench but I’m hoping that with a low-recoiling cartridge and a back-bag, I might get away with it.
Shot one is just to the left of the bull on my test target. I’ve no wind flags and a significant breeze is now fanning the range. I squeeze off shot two but there is still only one hole in my target. Puzzling. When I fire the third shot, it still looks like one hole! Can there really be three shots in that group? Surely not - not off a bi-pod on a horrible day like this.
At the first opportunity, I retrieved the target and you can see it reproduced here. Quite remarkable. But, three-shot groups test loads, five-shot groups test rifles, so let’s load a few more and make sure this isn’t a fluke. Thankfully, all my five-shot groups are below half an inch and all have at least three shots touching, so this is one accurate rifle. I’m starting to think just how good this gun could be – with some real load-development, decent brass, a good clean and a proper benchrest set-up.
If you went to one of our top gunsmiths and spec’d a custom field-rifle built to shoot like this Cooper, I doubt that you would have any change out of three grand. Yes, you would have a properly pillar-bedded bespoke rifle built without compromise but I doubt it would not give you better accuracy. With the money you save, you could buy one of those really nice Swarovski scopes in say 6-24 which would perfectly compliment this fine rifle. In fact, you could buy two!
Finally, thanks to Fox Forearms and the new owner for making this rifle available for review. The price of the model on test is £1188 and if you are interested in a Cooper, the choice is vast and it would be best to look at the Cooper website, pick your model and chambering and then give Brian Fox a ring on 0161 430 8278.
Dare to be Different - The Keppeler KS V Bull-pup Sniper Rifle
If the name Keppeler isn’t ringing any bells, then join the club. Until I stumbled upon the Keppler stand at last year’s (2007) IWA Show in
Keppeler tend to specialise in 300m 3-Position rifles, a discipline in which the late Malcolm Cooper excelled but sadly fails to attract participants in the
The Keppeler 3P Rifle
Right from the start, I’ve got to confess that I’ve not had the opportunity to shoot this rifle but I’ve handled it on range, worked the bolt and trigger and generally had a good old play with it. As it’s the only one in the
The Keppeler rifles are built around a very simple but sound aluminium ‘channel’ chassis. The flat-bottomed action sits in the chassis channel and this neatly takes care of any bedding issues and leaves the barrel generously free-floating. All other bits are also attached to the channel and the whole rifle is well thought-out. Very simple and effective – especially when you compare it to some of the other aluminium chassied (is that a word?) offerings. Simplicity means ease of manufacture, which should translate into reduced cost.
The UIT/Target Rifle model has a conventional layout, with attractive wood-laminate bits hung off the chassis channel and bull-pup configuration is reserved for this sniper version. Of course, Keppeler could have easily taken the easy route, added a scope and magazine to their target rifle and painted the wood bits green or black and called it a tactical rifle - as many of their competitors have done. But no, this is a ground-up design and a serious effort to produce a serious sniper/tactical rifle which ticks all the boxes.
Prone, off the bi-pod, the Keppler shoulders really nicely and the right-hand comes naturally to the pistol-grip and trigger. Adjustment is available to the butt-pad and rudimentary cheek-piece, which will enable the Keppeler to be adjusted to ‘fit’ most adult shooters and there is a handy mono-pod built into the butt. The left-hand is totally free now to either grip the mono-pod for additional support or change that lateral magazine which, although totally unconventional, somehow doesn’t look out of place. Of course, it has to be there because of the bull-pup arrangement.
With a little practice, mag-changes can be accomplished one-handed, leaving the right-hand to operate trigger and bolt. It would be wonderful if the bolt-handle were on the left – that would make it just about the fastest tactical turn-bolt gun going but then the magazine would get in the way………………..
Removal of the bolt looks difficult at first sight but it is easily accomplished by removing a thumb-screw (which you might just see underneath the cheek-piece) and sliding off the rear of the butt. Not too much of a problem but it could be if you were to shoot the Keppeler in formal competition where bolts needed to be removed frequently! The trigger is set quite heavy for my taste but breaks cleanly for a bull-pup configuration and is adjustable.
The bolt itself is of a tri-lug design but there are seven locking-lugs in total with a Sako style extractor and bolt-face ejector pin.
The scope mounts on a generous integral Picatinny-style rail atop the action which is long-enough to accommodate a good range of fit and eye-relief. A bi-pod fixing is available under the fore-end.
The medium-weight barrel is available in three lengths (500, 550 or 650mm) and comes complete with muzzle-brake. Popular calibres are 308Win., 300Win Mag, or 338 Lapua Magnum but others are available ‘on request’. With the longest barrel, the overall length is 1080mm. Weight is a modest 5.5 kg less scope. Magazines are available in 3 or 5 rounds. Sling-swivels are located fore and aft on the side of the chassis.
The whole rifle is finished in a very military-looking grey matt with blued barrel and black detailing on the grip, butt-pad and cheek-piece.
Is being ‘daring to be different’ enough to make the Keppeler the ultimate tactical rifle? No – we need to at least shoot it to determine that but it is a great-looking rifle and I’m sure it will not disappoint in the accuracy department. There is a growing interest in tactical rifles and tactical shooting particularly in the
fOOTNOTE - I got a chance to speak to the designer at IWA and he was able to fully strip the rifle and showed me several additional features. The action features a unique design with the action-lugs being a seperate unit sandwiched between the barrel and action. The pistol-grip is also multi-adjustable. Note also the bi-pod and mounting.
Upgrading a factory Savage BVSS for F/TR Class Competition
Stuart Anselm, proprietor of North West Custom Parts, is shooting in the F/TR League this year, partly to show-case his Savage products and, although he is currently heading the F/TR standings, he quickly found the limitations of his 12BVSS factory Savage and the 308 Win. cartridge. Most of the GB F Class League shoots are at 800 yards and beyond and the target is just over half the area of the usual Bisley-style 1000 yard target. At the Diggle round of the GB League last September, a gusty 25 mph wind blew most of the 308 shooters clean off the paper and with the final League round at Bisley only a few weeks away, Stuart approached me with a few ideas for improving his Savage without taking it too far away from the factory offering.
Stuart’s idea was to junk the 26 inch factory barrel and replace it with something longer and heavier but before we started tearing-down the Savage, I wanted to see just how good - or bad - it was. At 100 yards, I was astounded by the accuracy of this budget rifle. Off the bi-pod, Stuart was printing three-shot groups around half MOA with impressive regularity! I wasn’t confident that we could significantly improve on this - even with a custom barrel.
Our new barrel with the old Savage factory barrel - note that we have dispensed with the barrel locking-nut
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After shooting a few rounds over the chronograph, we spotted an area where there could be room for improvement - Stuart’s 155 grain Sierra Palma Match bullets were just making 2800 fps. Not near fast enough to stay super-sonic all the way to 1000 yards and this is where accuracy could be compromised. We need a muzzle velocity of at least 2950fps and preferably 3000 fps. to guarantee a supersonic terminal velocity and, at the same time, this additional speed will usefully assist the wind-bucking ability of our chosen bullet.
You may wish to query our choice of bullet. Why not go heavier – a 175 or even a 190 grainer – if most of our shooting will be at 1000 yards? The Match Rifle guys are famous for getting the most out of the 308 and drive heavy bullets at impressive velocities from ultra-long barrels out to 1200 yards. Although heavier bullets retain their velocity better, they need a barrel with a faster twist and the faster you spin that bullet, the more it will reveal its irregularities. Fine maybe, if you are using custom bullets but Stuart wants to stick with readily available commercial bullets.
The Savage’s factory 308 twist-rate is 1 in 10 but this can be reduced to 1 in 14 if we use the 155 gn. bullet exclusively. Stuart has plenty of contacts in the USA, so I left it to him to source a barrel and a couple of weeks later, he turned up with a 33 inch long Pacnor stainless-steel ‘super match’ blank. The Pacnor profile tapered from 1.2 inches at the breech to just a tad under an inch at the muzzle. Thirty-three inches was a bit longer than I had in mind but we can always chop it!
Don’t forget, we are using the standard Savage stock and bedding-area is not massive with the Savage action - the rear action-screw is forward of the trigger meaning that the rear tang is effectively free-floating. Having said that, for a standard factory item, the wood-laminate stock is not half bad. The back-end is a bit of a compromise but it’s quite solid with a good deep fore-end - hopefully capable of supporting the heavy Pacnor barrel without flexing.
Although our Savage action is one of the solid-bottom types, the stock still has a massive cut-out for a non-existent integral box-magazine. The first job is to fill this hole with Devcon. This will vastly increase the bedding-area and probably make the stock a little bit stiffer. We will then hog out the whole area where the action sits to make way for a proper bedding-job. This is time-consuming but not expensive, so will not add significantly to the cost of our project
We also added an accessory rail for the bi-pod fixing
The factory stock already has two steel pillars in the action screw holes. These are a tight press-fit and the first job is to knock out the pillars and re-install them with Araldite when the holes have been relieved. I’ve seen these pillars actually cause a stock to split; the factory installs them much too tight. We also need to open up the barrel-channel to ensure that our new heavy barrel is generously free-floating – not just for the obvious reasons but also to assist with cooling. Whilst the stock is in the milling-machine, I’m inletting the underside of the fore-end for an Anschutz-type accessory rail, which will be an improvement on the factory sling-swivel for carrying the bi-pod.
Although I like Savages, there is a draw-back – the trigger. Savage have recently addressed this with their new patented Accutrigger. The Accutrigger would be perfect for F Class shooting but Stuart wants to use the Rifle-Basix SAV 2 trigger as he installs these when upgrading customer Savages. This trigger is not cheap at around £130 (from Tim Hannam) but the old factory trigger is just not suitable for serious competition work as it is not easy to reliably re-work. The SAV 2 can be adjusted down to about 4 ounces but I’m setting this one at half a pound - plenty light enough for shooting a rested rifle.
We can now put some costs on the project:
1 £130 for the SAV2 trigger
2 £250 for the Pacnor super-match barrel
3 £20 for bedding-compound and sundries
Total £400. The initial cost of Stuart’s secondhand 12BVSS Savage was £450 so we will be looking at £850 for our upgraded F/TR rifle. If you were to attempt a similar project, you would obviously have to factor-in the gunsmithing costs. If your Savage bolt-head isn’t compatible with the 308 case, no problem - fitting a new 308 bolt-head is literally a five-minute job costing under £30
Of course, some will question the ethics of going this route for an F/TR rifle. If shooters start to build special rifles for the class – it’s happened in
Really, the all-new purpose-built factory 308 Savage F/TR rifle is the way to go. For under £1200, it offers a solid-bottom action with small ejection-port, the excellent Accutrigger, 30 inch stainless-steel barrel and a good quality laminate stock. I’ve had chance to have a brief play with one and I was astounded by the accuracy. They must be the ideal rifle for F/TR class and at a bargain price but, back to our project.
We chambered our barrel with what Pacific Tool & Gauge describe as their ‘308
Finally, we must check the overall weight. Remember, the F/TR Class limit is 8.25 kilograms – or just over 18lbs. – with scope and bi-pod. We have half a pound to spare!
It is now less than a week away from the final round of the GB F Class League at Bisley and Stuart has barely time to run-in the barrel and sort out a load. The final choice of powder came down to Vihtavuori’s N540 and N550 double-base powders. In theory, the double-base powders are claimed to offer increased velocity without increasing pressure. Can this be possible?
Top, 300 yd groups were just over an inch and below, a sub half-inch group at 100 yds
We started load development with 44 grains of each powder and worked up the load very slowly. It soon became apparent that the same load of N540 was making about 80fps more than the N550. The magic 3000 fps was attained and the final accuracy-load was marginally over 3000 fps, with flattish primers but easy bolt-lift. It was a very warm day for October and I’m happy that this load will be safe come the warmer weather. DON’T FORGET, THESE LOADS WERE SAFE IN OUR RIFLE – THEY MAY NOT BE SAFE IN YOUR RIFLE. ALWAYS START LOW AND WORK UP THE LOAD IN SMALL INCREMENTS. BE SAFE!
The rifle performed exceedingly well in its debut at the final GB League shoot at Bisley which was also the European F Class Championship. At the 900 yard stage, Stuart was one of only four shooters to score a ‘possible’ 75 out of a field of Europe’s top 89 F Class shooters – and that’s on the Palma target with the one MOA bull not the Bisley two-minute variety! Stuart was also the only F/TR shooter to record a ‘possible’ over the weekend and I’m pleased to be able to report that he clinched the first ever GB F/TR League Championship. Having said that, Stuart would be the first to acknowledge that it was persistence rather than performance that gave him victory but, you’ve got to be in it to win it!
Stuart put the Savage to good use in the final GB League shoot at Bisley
The F/TR class is a sensible way to start your F Class career or maybe you already shoot F Class but prefer not to enter the Open class ‘arms race’ and wish to return to some sanity. The F/TR class offers that much vaunted ‘level playing field’ and is a great way to enjoy shooting long-range rifle competition and don’t forget, a brand-new Savage F/TR rifle is up for grabs in 2008.
THE RHINO RIFLES HOWA
Rhino Rifles is a relatively new outfit started by two close friends, Chris Blane and Brian Glover, who also happen to be members of my home range – Diggle – but I’ll let Graham Glover take up the story.
“We have been repairing and improving accuracy on rifles for friends and their friends for some time, though this was becoming increasingly difficult without being an RFD (Registered Firearms Dealer). We decided early in 2006 to form Rhino Rifles and apply for RFD status and in April 2006 we were granted our certificate.
This made matters much easier and also gave us the freedom to build and sell complete rifles. We decided to build our first rifle as a ‘showcase’ for the new business and the initial inspiration was Vince Bottomley’s Howa project rifle featured in Target Sports.
The Howa actions are readily available at reasonable cost via Fox Firearms of Manchester and we chose a barrel from an American company, Montana Rifles, again sourced through Fox Firearms. We wanted to make something ‘short, fat and heavy’ which would obviously have to shoot well but on the other hand, we had no particular discipline in mind – or calibre for that matter.”
I got my first glimpse of the Rhino Howa earlier in the year and it certainly has that ‘wow’ factor and I couldn’t wait to grab it for a review. Everything about this rifle is just a little bit different. At first glance, it looks every inch a 100 yard benchrest rifle but on closer inspection, subtle differences become apparent.
The stock for example is close to a benchrest stock but not quite - with that adjustable cheek piece! The stock was sourced from Danny Ryan of Triple S Stocks and the eye-catching paint-job is superbly done. I initially thought of Hydrographics but no, this one was painted by a custom motorcycle guy, Mark Renolds of
The Triple S stock features and adjustable cheek-piece and butt-plate. Quality of paint finish is evident in this shot
The chambering is also a bit different. The 221 Remington Fireball was initially conceived by Remington as a ‘silhouette’ pistol cartridge but it also gained a reputation as a benchrest cartridge as it is just a shortened version of the treble-two, which dominated the sport in the sixties. The case is nicely proportioned but these days, there are so many tiny 22 cartridges to choose from, we don’t see much of the Fireball. Again the choice of cartridge was more accident than design when Graham remembered an old shooting buddy having a Fireball built and although the rifle was long gone he just happened to have kept hold of the reamer.
The 'quarter' on the bolt-handle is becoming a sort of signature for Rhino Rifles - there are one or two about.
Like me, the guys found their Howa action to be pretty true and most of the work centred around making the standard trigger lighter and improving the ‘let-off’. The barrelled-action was then highly polished and Devcon bedded into the stock. The guys have also bedded beneath the barrel for a couple of inches forward of the action. Personally, I’ve never seen any point in this method but it probably does no harm but it does make switching barrels more difficult.
Lots of shooters are attracted by the looks and shear accuracy of a benchrest rifle but don’t necessarily wish to compete in formal BR competition and this is probably the appeal of the Rhino Howa - since its debut, the guys have built three more for customers but using different chamberings and paint-jobs.
The stubby
Benchresting the Howa
Graham handed the rifle over with a box of handloaded ammunition using Fowler bullets and after a few photographs it was time to shoot some groups. The Fireball has not proved to be the easiest cartridge to tune as there is very little data in the reloading manuals but the guys reckon they are pretty close. Regular readers will know that I am a great fan of small cartridges – they are so sweet to shoot and the little Fireball was no exception. Negligible recoil, no bag upset - this is one accurate little rifle that just begs to be shot and shot.
My best 5-shot group was a 0.473 inches and the best 3-shot a 0.197.
It did have the habit of throwing the occasional shot, spoiling an otherwise good group on more than one occasion and I would be trying some H4198 rather than the Accurate Arms 1680 which the guys are using. Having said that, it’s difficult to get benchrest quality brass for the Fireball unless to form it yourself from Lapua’s 223 Rem. cases. Of course, the Howa action is no Stolle or BAT and doesn’t have that ‘knife through butter’ feel when you close the bolt but everything works as it should and it provides that benchrest experience without spending £3000 plus.
Centre, the 221 Fireball with the 'parent' triple-two on the left and the 223 Rem. on the right
The Fireball loads were definitely ‘on the edge’ with flattened and cratered primers and I did experience the odd duff extraction during the test. I didn’t get to chronograph any loads but the Fireball is an efficient little case and should be capable of pushing a 52 grain bullet at around 3000 fps.
I managed a string of five-shot groups around the half MOA region at 100 yards and with a set of benchrest wind-flags, I might have done even better. My best three-shot group was just under two-tenths of an inch. The recoil was so light that it made my 6PPC benchgun feel lively!
In summation, an interesting little rifle. If you are looking for something a bit different and do most of your shooting at 100 yards then a rifle like the little Howa Fireball might well appeal. Have a look at the Rhino Rifles website at www.rhinorifles.co.uk . The guys also offer ‘ready to go’ tactical and F Class rifles built on the Howa action.
TIM FINLEY'S 'JACK OF ALL TRADES' REMMY
The standard .308 Winchester cartridge is a magnificent round for the club shooter and a perfect introduction into the world of hand-loading. I speak from experience as I only took up full-bore shooting three years ago. I thought long and hard about what gun and calibre to start with - I wanted to shoot from 100 to 1000 yards in any competition at Diggle, my home club, from Tactical, “F” Class, McQueen’s to 1000y bench rest. I eventually went for a Remington 700PSS in .308 Win.
It started life as a standard PSS, bought from Hydrographics of York. They had the capability to do the small modifications I wanted to the PSS. The PSS stock is good, but I wanted an adjustable cheek-piece and butt-pad, both of which they fitted to the stock. It was cheaper and quicker than throwing away the PSS stock or waiting six months for a McMillan stock. (Not wishing to upset McMillan who have helped us in the past but their waiting time is 3 months - Ed.)The stock had to be refinished after the modifications, but as Hydrographics specialize in the film dipping process, that is what was done. I chose a striking Realtree Hardwoods Green over a silver background to match the natural silver of the cheek-piece and butt adjusters, with a clear gloss lacquer finish. Other modifications were done to ensure the rifle would be accurate. The standard barrel was re-crowned and threaded for a muzzle brake. The muzzle brake was made by them in steel and chrome plated. The radial style brake is preferred at my club so that was the type we designed. It does work well and calms down the recoil of the .308 when fitted, or put it this way, I know when I am shooting with it off.
The brake tames recoil effectively for rapid follow-up shots but can't be used in F Class competition
After taking advice from a few decent marksmen at the club, I went for a handload of Vihtavuori N140 powder, Federal large rifle primers, Lapua brass and Lapua 155 grain Scenar heads. As with all reloading I started below the maximum loads recommended in several reloading manuals and increased it by a grain at a time with five rounds of each to test at the range. It became clear which load suited the rifle and was still safe. Always check the state of the primers for excessive pressure. A chronograph is a must when developing loads and I needed 2850 feet per second at the muzzle to ensure the 155 grain heads were still supersonic at 1000 yards.
A stunning sub.quarter MOA group - off the bi-pod!
As with all new rifles, the barrel must be carefully run in. I used some cheap PMC ammunition with a 'shoot one round then clean' system for twenty rounds. After two sessions of load evaluation the rifle shot a 0.48 inch center to center group at 100 yards, a month later this went down to 0.22". That’s sub MOA accuracy. All shot off a Harris bipod and the Hydrographic's fitted rear butt support. With the stock and barrel sorted, the standard trigger was also binned in favour of a Shilen match trigger. What’s the use of a fully 'singing and dancing' action and barrel only to leave a trigger in that is more suited to being safe if dropped out of a helicopter? Match triggers are made for a reason and I wanted match accuracy from this project.
In order to shoot from 100 yards to 1000 yards with my chosen scope, a Nightforce 12 - 42 NXS, we would need an angled scope rail. Fitting a Badger Ordnance 20 MOA ramp solved the problem as well as stiffening up the action, although I needed to pack it up another 5MOA to get the 1000 yard dial-in as the 42X mag. NXS has a very limited amount of elevation adjustment. I am going to fit a 25 MOA rail when I can get one.
The front 'accuracy-asset' is essential for a good benchrest set-up
The standard finish on the PSS action is not very good and it was refinished with a black Epoxyphenolic paint. The other job Hydrographics did was to make an add-on flat fore-end to allow me to use the rifle in a bench-rest. I bought a Cadwell 1000 yard rest from South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies. The new flat fore-end attaches to the rifle via two allen screws and two threaded bushes were set into the PSS stock to accomplish this. There is a hole in the top of the fore-end add-on to fit around the front QD sling-stud in the rifle's forend. It is finished in the same gloss silver and Realtree Hardwoods Green as the rest of the rifle. The rear adjustable spike in the butt was replaced with a length of aluminium which slides in the rear bag rest. I managed a 5-shot 7 ¼ inch group with the rifle at 1000 yards using this set up. That is with a standard Remington barrel with has only been re-crowned, I achieved smaller groups than 7mm WSM’s and 6.5-284’s on the day but did not get the 'small-group' patch as the rifle does not qualify as a UKBRA Factory Sporter due to the extensive modifications, even though it has a factory barrel. Still, I do not make the UKBRA rules.
A year after that, another modification was needed. I shoot the McQueen’s competition with the rifle and this rapid fire accuracy comp. needs an extended bolt handle to really speed up the reloading process. SYSS’s new resident gunsmith soon fitted a Badger Ordnance knob. This indeed did transform the feel and operation of the 700. Dave the gunsmith’s next idea was to fit a ten-shot mag on my rifle. I would not use it for McQueen’s but for tactical shoots, as the
South Yorkshire Shooting's mag. conversion
SYSS admit that the original idea for their mag. conversion came from John McQueen, a Mattersley club shooter. He stuck two four-shot mag extenders together to give him a ten shot mag for a fraction of the price of getting a HS Precision conversion. Dave at SYSS refined the idea and his fine machining produces a flawless joint between the two mag’s and they are triple pinned and glued together. The system replaces the original floor plate to form a non-detachable mag. extension for the 700. SYSS have successfully fitted the “JM” conversion to .223 and .308 700’s. With a proper detachable magazine system costing around £350-£400, £85 for the “JM” system is a bargain.
So, my .308 really is a ‘Jack of all Trades’ now, with a perfect set up for F-Class, benchrest and tactical applications. In these days of wildcat centerfire cartridges, the humble .308 is still a round to be considered. It’s easy to hand-load and can be just as effective as other more exotic calibres. I came joint third in our club’s McQueen’s league, beating 6.5-284’s and drawing with a 6x47 Swiss Match. The gun cost £2000 but it does everything that can be shot at our club.
It might not be politically correct but it's good fun and the McQueen competition dates back to the first World War. That circle is four inches across and we shoot it at 200 and 300 yards. A three-second exposure is given for each shot and the head may appear at any one of ten 'windows'
The .308 is not a noted barrel-burner, but if - or when - it looses accuracy, I’ll simply rebarrel it. SYSS also provide that service now. There is a current 'backlash' with the way F-Class is going with more extreme wildcat calibres and £3000 rifles taking over. F/TR is seeing a greater following owing to the calibres being limited to .223 and .308. making it a cheaper, more accessible competition and all rifle manufactures produce rifles in these two calibres.
The ability to bolt on a few ‘add on’s’ and make a tweaked Remington 700 shoot such a diverse range of competitions is ideal for those shooters on a budget. Do not discount the .308
Cost when built
Rifle - Remington .308 PSS £765
Barrel threading £80 Un-Proofed £140 Proofed
Epoxyphenolic coating to action, bolt and scope rail £80
Shilen Trigger £100
Adjustable cheek piece £130 on PSS stock
Adjustable butt spike £80
Adjustable butt plate £100
Pillar Bedding £60
Defcon Action Bedding £160
Muzzle Brake £120
20 MOA Badger scope rail £150
Bench rest add on’s £100
Total cost £1925
Contact Hydrographics/Jon Sykes on 01904 778188
Badger bolt knob fitted £75
“JM” 10 shot magazine conversion £85
They also do barrel crowning threading, blue printing and re-barrelling - POA
Contact
Nice one Tim - if you have a similar project get in touch and we'll feature it. - Vince