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Used Remington SPS’s

11 Oct 2018
@ 06:31 am (GMT)

Ryan Nafe

Fellas,

Given the odds of about 50% that new SPS rifles have a good bore, is it reasonable to assume that a used blued model was likely sold because of that? Should I assume that they’ll need a new barrel?

I finally located a pair of blued SPS’s, both in 7mm Rem Mag. Prices are plenty good at $400, neither of them have even a trace of surface rust or any major handling marks. Slight wear on the bolt body on one and the other looks like it was barely fired.

Do you think it’s reasonable for me to assume that I could fire-lapp it, get a Timney 2-Stage trigger, a B&C stock and have a decent 1 or 2 MOA shooter? Or would you think it’s better to look at it as just an action that’ll need a new barrel right away?

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07 Dec 2018 @ 08:45 am (GMT)	Quote this Nathan Foster Re: Used Remington SPS’s Hi Ryan, the ali block version is OK. But the block is not always true and can require bedding. Bedding the Hogue can be difficult. The main concern with bedding is that the top 50% of the stock is rubber, therefore it is quite a challenge for a guy new to bedding, achieving a good mold that does not break away at the top where the sidwalls are as soft as an erasor. I generally recommend adding carbon or glass filler to bedding compound to give directional strength, applied at the upper rubber sidwalls. Many of our new customers bed the Hogue in order to correct issues. The Howa / Hogue combo is one of the most common projects I see among those getting into rifle accuracy (this version does not have the ali block). The Howa / Hogue is cheap to start with, then as the owner builds confidence and wants to learn more, he decides to get into bedding etc. The Howa itself is a good robust action to learn on but the stock does force the DIY worker into the deep end. Still, the outcomes are generally good. I have lost count of how many customers have used the Accurizing book to trick up Howa's. Notes: 1. Utilize book 1 (rifles) to check fit. 2. Utilize book 3 (accurizing), consider rigid mounting to save head aches. 3. See it for what it is. Its a cheap block with a plastic over mold followed by a rubber over mold. The grip is nice, the forend design is also nice. Thats about all there is to it.
13 Dec 2018 @ 06:41 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s For the scope mounts, I just ordered a set of Warne’s Mountain Tech rings and rail. I had strongly considered one-piece mounts from DNZ products, but in the end, I really didn’t want to have any limits on how I can position the scope on the rifle. I am slightly skeptical of an aluminum rail being used with aluminum rings, but we’ll see what happens I suppose. Hopefully proper torque settings and the anodizing will prevent any kind of galling or binding of the parts. One possible issue is that because there is a decent amount of recoil (160 grain bullets, at 3,000 FPS or more, ahead of 70 grain powder charges) using all-aluminum scope mounts means that I probably shouldn’t use a really heavy scope. It just seems like it could put undue stress on the mounts. But perhaps I’m wrong and it wouldn’t be a significant issue. The STANAG design is interesting, I have looked at diagrams of the difference between this design and a standard picatinny one, and just can’t see any downsides to the STANAG design. I’m not a formally trained mechanical engineer, but using the bottom angles to pull the rings downward onto the top surface of the rail struck me as being a very obvious improvement over the normal picatinny design that only puts clamping force on either side of the rail. The scope mounts are the only parts I’ve purchased up to this point, mainly because I have been waffling so badly with most of the other components. However, at this point, I’m virtually certain that I’ll go with an HS PSV-029 and a TriggerTech trigger, as both designs really don’t have any other competitors. They offer unique features that I’m very hesitant to pass up. Same thing goes for the scope, the S-TAC 2-10x32 or 3-16x42 are ridiculously feature-rich at that price point. I’m just not sure if I want to set this rifle up so that it’s useable out to 1,000 yards at the expense of in-close handling and balance, or if I should cap it off at ordinary hunting ranges of 300 yards maximum and gain what I consider to be a better rifle for close-range use.
30 Dec 2018 @ 08:45 am (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s I made a couple decisions today on the new parts, ordered everything except the stock. I’ll just note what parts I went with: Scope - Sightron S-TAC 3-16x42mm w/Duplex reticle Trigger - TriggerTech Primary, their standard M700 trigger with the curved shoe, with the silver/stainless finish Bottom Metal - Stocky’s brand (PTG made) Oberndorf-style in matte black aluminum, as well as a new set of stainless action screws Sling - Butler Creek Comfort Stretch, just a carry strap and not a shooting aid in this case Wheeler Engineering 30mm Scope Ring Alignment kit —- All that’s left is to pick a stock. I’m leaning quite strongly towards the B&C “Light Hunter” model or possibly their “Long-Range Tactical” model. Here’s a good picture of each of the two stocks, let me know what you guys think of each design: https://store.prophetriver.com/bell-and-carlson-remington-700-bdl-light-hunter-la-black-w-gray-spiderweb/ https://store.prophetriver.com/bell-and-carlson-remington-700-bdl-long-range-tactical-thumb-hook-la-black-with-red-web/ Note that the Light Hunter is only inletted for a Remington Magnum contour at most, while the LRT will accept bull/benchrest barrels. I’m not too worried about that for the 7mm Rem Mag but it would probably limit my options for future re-barreling.
02 Jan 2019 @ 07:27 am (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Alright, final update on this, I’ll take before and after pictures when it’s time to assemble everything: I called Stocky’s on Monday morning and had them add a stock to my order of the Oberndorf bottom metal and stainless screws, they had a year-end sale and I decided to take a chance on one of their own stock designs. Also, Optics Planet (where I ordered the scope, sling, trigger, and lapping kit from) emailed me on Monday saying that the trigger I ordered won’t be shipped for a couple months, as it was out of stock. That’s alright with me. Final configuration of the M700 SPS in 7mm Rem Mag is as follows: Optics System - Sightron S-TAC 3-16x42mm Duplex and Warne’s Mountain Tech rail and rings Trigger - TriggerTech Primary, curved shoe Bottom Metal - Stocky’s Brand Oberndorf, matte black aluminum and new stainless screws Stock - Stocky’s M50 laminate with AccuBlock, in brown/brown color. I’m gonna remove the middle swivel stud to clear some room for bags and hands, and to make the rifle carry lower on the shoulder. Sling - Butler Creek neoprene, standard black color —- I have a pretty accurate bathroom scale I can use to get a rough overall weight of the rifle, just by weighing myself with and without holding it. My guess is that it’s gonna be right around 10 or 11 pounds, and hopefully it will have a nice neutral balance that points well despite its ~50% increase in weight over my very light and compact .308 rifle. It should look like an interesting blend of modern technology and classic old-school style, and hopefully everything will perform well. Personally I think I’ll be quite satisfied with the looks of the whole package but if it doesn’t perform well then that’s not really worth anything. Two potential issues with the M50 stock are the slippery forend (though it is a semi-beavertail design, gives me something to really wrap fingers around) and the possibility that the block is slightly off-center from the barrel channel. Also the slightly raised comb might be an issue, but it is very very subdued and minimal when compared to something like a Weatherby stock. If it ends up being a disaster with the 7mm Rem Mag recoil then I’ll just try something else and keep the M50 for a future light-recoiling project. However, even with the above potential issues, I decided to give it a try because I like the weight, stiffness, and general durability of laminate stocks and I also think it’s a very nice-looking design. The grip is much thicker than the PSV-029, this was also a deciding factor because I have quite large hands, generally an L, XL, or even XXL glove depending on finger length. I don’t have a trigger scale but my uncle does, so either I’m gonna set the TriggerTech at 2lbs. or I’ll just remove the adjustment screw entirely which would put it at the lowest possible weight. —- At this point I just need some syringe-type two-part epoxy for the scope rail and also for possible glue-and-screw bedding. There’s some lapping compound that comes with the 30mm scope mounting kit, so I’ll use that to lapp the bolt lugs. My intention with setting it up this way was to have a rifle that’s very useful at my ordinary hunting ranges, but also doesn’t put any hard limits on shooting out to the full useful range of the cartridge. This was the main reason I went with the 3-16 SF instead of the 2-10, the 3-16 is just incredibly versatile but it’s really quite compact as well, not much bigger than a standard 3-9x40mm It’s just assembly time now, please let me know if you guys have any questions or criticisms of the parts I picked, or want to see specific pictures of anything.
08 Jan 2019 @ 07:42 am (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Just out of curiosity I decided to weigh the rifle yesterday afternoon, with the original SPS stock, Mountain Tech rail and rings, and the S-TAC 3-16x42mm Method used was a bathroom scale that displays pounds in increments of 0.10, I weighed myself without the rifle and again while holding the rifle vertically and very close to the body, just to keep it close to my center of gravity. Repeated it three times to try and minimize errors, and got exactly 9 pounds each time. I’m guessing it’ll be at least 10.5 or maybe 11 pounds with the new stock, sling, and bottom metal. The stock and floorplate should arrive tomorrow, I’ll have everything assembled by the weekend if my plans don’t change.
08 Jan 2019 @ 08:56 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ben Law Re: Used Remington SPS’s keep us updated ryan, looking forward to seeing the rifle and the groups once its all together. I use a basic set of digital kitchen scales if I want to check any weights, seem to be fairly accurate, only go up to 5kg though so have to separate the rifle file from the stock if its a heavy rig.
09 Jan 2019 @ 01:22 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s I shall, Ben. I did discuss the load development phase with my uncle over Christmas, found out that he has plenty of un-used 7mm Rem Mag brass, oodles of H1000 and a couple other suitable powders, and a few FULL boxes of 162 grain SST’s. It’s a very happy coincidence.
10 Jan 2019 @ 02:47 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s The current state of affairs, everything but the trigger (shipping tomorrow, according to Optics Planet) is mock-assembled. Anll-up weight without ammo is, according to my bathroom scale (weigh myself, weigh myself and the rifle, do it three times) 11.2 lbs. The balance point is just about perfect for quick handling, it balances right at the front hinge in the floorplate. Neutral and lively, despite being quite heavy, but the weight seems to help a lot with keeping the rifle on target during firing, even with the ridiculously heavy Skid-Mark Pro trigger. Two road bumps so far: - The front action screw was too long and wouldn’t allow the bolt to close, so I went back to the OEM part. - The bedding block is a little bit off-center from the barrel channel. I don’t know enough to say if this is a cosmetic issue or an actual functional issue. Once the trigger gets here, I’ll begin the full process of putting everything together according to Nathan’s books. Hopefully she shoots well enough.
10 Jan 2019 @ 04:54 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Compared to the Browning .308 I’ve been using for the last 8 years:
13 Jan 2019 @ 06:44 am (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Fellas, can anyone tell me if they think this will be a significant functional problem? The gap was roughly measured using a set of metric Allen wrenches as “go/no go” gauges, and the gap is roughly 3mm on one side and 2mm on the other:
13 Jan 2019 @ 11:44 am (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Used Remington SPS’s Is it bedded? Have you bore sighted it? You said that the bedding blocks off centre. Which makes the barrel sitting off centre of the channel what you should expect. Unless the barrels😲 bent The block needs to be aligned with the centre of the action to fix this problem. Your going to have to address this issue and anything else you find when you follow the bedding process in the books. Its not a bad thing. Because the end result is that you have a good accurate tool for the rest of your life.
13 Jan 2019 @ 12:14 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Warwick, I think that the reason for the barrel being off-center is that the block in the stock is off-center. It passes the 1 O’clock test just fine so I don’t think there’s an issue with the block itself. What I’m wondering is if the barrel being off-center like that is only a cosmetic problem or if it could cause functional problems related to accuracy.
13 Jan 2019 @ 12:42 pm (GMT)	Quote this Frank Vallich Re: Used Remington SPS’s Nothing is perfect! Doesn't matter if there is a minor offset. Equilibrium chasing is purely cosmetic. Grab the forestock and fire rounds. Get your own thoughts. Dam man. My foerstock isn't symmetrical but the cartridges loaded hot where I aim. Forget about having a perfect looking piece. Enjoy having a perfect firing rifle.
13 Jan 2019 @ 12:42 pm (GMT)	Quote this Frank Vallich Re: Used Remington SPS’s Nothing is perfect! Doesn't matter if there is a minor offset. Equilibrium chasing is purely cosmetic. Grab the forestock and fire rounds. Get your own thoughts. Dam man. My foerstock isn't symmetrical but the cartridges loaded hot where I aim. Forget about having a perfect looking piece. Enjoy having a perfect firing rifle.
13 Jan 2019 @ 01:04 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Cool, Frank. That’s what I was hoping to hear. Cosmetically it doesn’t bother me at all so I’ll just roll with the way it is now. A little off topic, but I just pulled into my driveway and there were four big deer eating off the crabapple tree in my front yard. Kinda gives me an itchy trigger finger. :-D
13 Jan 2019 @ 03:12 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Used Remington SPS’s If it doesn't matter? Then don't worry about the trigger or bedding it. Just use it as is. Or save ammo and set up a piano wire snare in the crab apple tree. Job done. Eh! Easy? Who wants an accurate rifle? They are selling protein patties at the New World Orders. Human feed lot. Down the road from you real estates People cage farm lot...... Hunting is now obsolete dangerous and a public health hazard. The sooner the practice is banned from your choice of free activities the easier it will be to heard you into dumb submission. The cosmetics can then be put on your face...... Sorry what was the question again???? The square peg wont fit in its round whole.......
15 Jan 2019 @ 03:52 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Warwick, I’m not really sure what you meant in your above post. I installed the trigger tonight, but I discovered that the trigger shoe is too long/tall to fit in the new floorplate and trigger guard assembly. So I went back to the factory one. As for the trigger itself, I have only one word to describe it: “Wow.” Unbelievable improvement over the factory trigger. I removed the set screw that adjusts the pull weight, effectively setting it at the lowest possible weight. The pull weight is now around 1.5 pounds, here’s what I’d say about that: - After making sure that I could still easily rest a finger on the trigger and make a clear choice as to when the gun goes off, and did a pretty hard drop test about 6 or 7 times, I really can’t see any reason to have a trigger weight that’s higher than this. It’s still fully safe and controllable, but I can now fire the gun with an absolute minimum chance of moving it off-target before the break. The fairly heavy rifle combined with the very light and crisp trigger should make a huge improvement on my ability to hit what I’m aiming at.
16 Jan 2019 @ 03:04 pm (GMT)	Quote this Luis Vazquez Re: Used Remington SPS’s Hi Ryan I believe what Warwick was trying to say is you can't just say the hell with it at this point and go and shoot some rounds if the rifle is not finished. To his point, is the rifle bedded? Is it bore sighted? In other words, is this project finished? After all the time and money invested you can't just drop it and say the heck with it, at least that's how I believe your answer was perceived. Especially when you are looking for advise and when given it's not appreciated or it's ignored, well, that's just my simple point of view. Best regards, Luis
16 Jan 2019 @ 05:07 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Louis, nobody said anything about shooting the rifle at this point. Nothing has been set up to actually shoot it, it’s all been mock-up assembly. I probably won’t shoot it until April at the earliest. As I’ve said at least a few different times. I’m not sure what you meant by, “... you are looking for advice and when given it’s not appreciated or ignored.” It would probably be good of you to point to specific instances of that behavior if you’re going to accuse me of it, rather than just make the accusation without any supporting evidence. A word of warning: Ordinarily I don’t really like going down this sort of argumentative path anymore, but, if people are making untrue claims about me or my behavior, I’m not gonna just let it happen without challenging the claims. I’m extremely talented at verbal argument and dialectics, so be careful of what you get yourselves into, fellas. This could quickly start to look like a person with no martial arts background deciding to pick a fight with a UFC-level MMA fighter. Not pretty, and it only happens because the untrained person is too ignorant to see the danger ahead.
16 Jan 2019 @ 08:40 pm (GMT)	Quote this Luis Vazquez Re: Used Remington SPS’s Hi Ryan: I apologize if I ofended you or came about it the wrong way, was not my intention. I might have misunderstood the previous comments. Is the rifle beeded yet or not? If not, it might fix the issue and will also improve accuracy. Best regards Luis
16 Jan 2019 @ 10:15 pm (GMT)	Quote this Warwick Marflitt Re: Used Remington SPS’s The bedding block is a little bit off-center from the barrel channel. I don’t know enough to say if this is a cosmetic issue or an actual functional issue. Ryan when you ask about issues with a mechanical item. People are going to have opinions and offer solutions for you. Because they want to help and see you succeed. I'm a bit of a "strange duck" (thanks Paul Leverman) So I say what I think. From what is described. As I Visualized it from what's been said. I'm not always going to be right but hey😆 I have a go and try...... So if it was the front axle in a car that was out of alignment. To correct it you would do a full 4 wheel alignment of the castor, toe and camber settings measure and adjust to correct the problem....... Same applies for a crooked door, dragging gate or split hose? So when you have a cock eyed barrel on a rifle one of three things are most likely wrong. 1. Bent barrel 2. Bent or warped stock 3. Action not sitting true in the stock. So we get to the what to do to fix it? Question.... I could have said that the answers are in the books have a read....? Instead I asked some questions about your rifle and What you'd done so far. My thoughts where that you wanted It fixed. right, true and as accurate as accurately possible for a LR hunting rifle. So accepting that not worrying about it was ok Didn't make any sense to me!!!!. So I took a verbal swim in the middle of a mental Winter, without my clothes on. Sorry mate. I guess I was expecting more from you than I should have? So I recant my Heretical opinions. I hope that the range of your beautiful rifle is less than the circumference of the possible bend in its barrel? Otherwise come April sitting may be uncomfortable.......😊😁😂😅 PS..... You have the books and there's no excuse for not knowing what's wrong or how to find and fix the problem. Unless you don't want to? Which is perfectly fine because it's your rifle and you're project that I've been enjoying see come together up to this point. Good luck with it and hopefully we'll see how it works out. Warwick
17 Jan 2019 @ 10:23 am (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Quote: So when you have a cock eyed barrel on a rifle one of three things are most likely wrong. 1. Bent barrel 2. Bent or warped stock 3. Action not sitting true in the stock. So we get to the what to do to fix it? Question.... I didn’t ask why it was off-center, how to fix it, or anything else like that. I asked if the barrel being slightly off-center of the stock is a functional problem or only a cosmetic problem. So you’re answering questions that I never asked in the first place and giving advice that I never asked for as well. Which is generally not a very helpful thing to do. Quote: My thoughts where that you wanted It fixed. right, true and as accurate as accurately possible for a LR hunting rifle. Right, so in that statement you’re demonstrating that you’re making a lot of assumptions that you actually have no real evidence for. You’re jumping to conclusions about someone else’s thoughts and motivations and then attacking that person’s character because of what you think they think about a situation that doesn’t actually exist. Really nice. Quote: Sorry mate. I guess I was expecting more from you than I should have? So I recant my Heretical opinions. And then you resort to the all-time low in argumentation, personal attacks. Ad-Hominem is something I’d hoped not to run into around here. But it rears it’s ugly head once again. Quote: PS..... You have the books and there's no excuse for not knowing what's wrong or how to find and fix the problem. Again, I NEVER ASKED WHAT IS WRONG OR HOW TO FIX IT.
17 Jan 2019 @ 10:23 am (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Quote: So when you have a cock eyed barrel on a rifle one of three things are most likely wrong. 1. Bent barrel 2. Bent or warped stock 3. Action not sitting true in the stock. So we get to the what to do to fix it? Question.... I didn’t ask why it was off-center, how to fix it, or anything else like that. I asked if the barrel being slightly off-center of the stock is a functional problem or only a cosmetic problem. So you’re answering questions that I never asked in the first place and giving advice that I never asked for as well. Which is generally not a very helpful thing to do. Quote: My thoughts where that you wanted It fixed. right, true and as accurate as accurately possible for a LR hunting rifle. Right, so in that statement you’re demonstrating that you’re making a lot of assumptions that you actually have no real evidence for. You’re jumping to conclusions about someone else’s thoughts and motivations and then attacking that person’s character because of what you think they think about a situation that doesn’t actually exist. Really nice. Quote: Sorry mate. I guess I was expecting more from you than I should have? So I recant my Heretical opinions. And then you resort to the all-time low in argumentation, personal attacks. Ad-Hominem is something I’d hoped not to run into around here. But it rears it’s ugly head once again. Quote: PS..... You have the books and there's no excuse for not knowing what's wrong or how to find and fix the problem. Again, I NEVER ASKED WHAT IS WRONG OR HOW TO FIX IT.
17 Jan 2019 @ 12:12 pm (GMT)	Quote this bryan long Re: Used Remington SPS’s It says discussion forum up top. Not answer my F'in questions forum. I guess you got confussed.
17 Jan 2019 @ 12:37 pm (GMT)	Quote this Ryan Nafe Re: Used Remington SPS’s Bryan, it’s not an actual discussion if the would-be participants aren’t talking about the same things. When one person is talking about idea “x” and the other is talking about idea “y”, there’s not actually a dialogue going on. It’s just two people talking about entirely different things in the same thread. This is why it’s so important to make sure both parties understand what it’s in question, otherwise no progress is made. You’d end up using time and effort without actually getting anywhere.