Discussion Forums

Nathan Foster

Hi Trevor, I had a look at the accuracy, it is very good, infact for an out of the box 2012 SPSS, it is exceptional. If this is consistent, it tells us that the bore (and action) is extremely good. You will be able to build on this, refining accuracy down below 1" and further down to hopefully you hit the sub .5" mark- if you want to achieve this.

There are several ways to go on a limited budget. I could go on here for pages and pages. Instead, I will offer a few ideas.

Utilize existing stock and learn how to bed and stabilize the rifle for yourself. This can really extend your knowledge. This can allow you to make mistakes without the worry of negatively effecting the aesthetic appearances of a custom stock. You can then go on to bed a custom stock later on if you so choose.

Obtain one of the following- Boyds laminate stock, Bell & Carlson, H.S precision or McMillan stock. The rifle will still need bedding for optimum accuracy, there is no way around this sorry. The Boyds stock will be the easiest for you to learn on, you will not have to worry about paint chipping during the bedding process. On the other hand, the B&C and H.S Sendero style stocks have a textured grip and tend to be a little better regarding fore hand / forend control. The Boyds is $U.S (( while the B&C is the cheapest of the glass / ali stocks, usually around $U.S 300. The choice is entirely yours, I have used all the brands, each have merit, I like them all.


The trigger will need to be lightened to 1.5lb for precision shooting. Your trigger may achieve this but it may also be a rubbish bin job. Please refer to the post in the long range thread, wants to buy an SPS 7mm Rem Mag for long range hunting. I would like you to read it in full please. Regarding the trigger though, in summary, a Timney trigger is the fix.

Polish the bore and keep it well polished. Some folk have a funny idea that abrasive polishing compounds will wear the bore out. We can excersize some common sense here. The heat of shootng opens up the pores in the steel. If left unattended, the pores will continue to open (for all you metal workers out there- think of it as a typical heat effected area, you know how that looks and how the steel looks like it has been bead blasted). Polishing closes up the pores and preserves the throat, so abrasiz=ve polishing achieves the opposite of what many folk perceive. During the break in phase, abrasive polishing also removes fine burrs.

Articles to refer to on the Knowledge base are:

What is rifle bedding
Bedding tutorial
Stock stabilizer tutorial
Hold that forend (regarding technique)
How to break in a rifle barrel

Hope that helps a bit. You have a really good rifle, never sell it, when its worn, simply replace the barrel or stock or whatever needs replacing. Your rifle is a keeper.