Coming Back to Precision: Remington 700 AAC 16.5″ .308

After years of shooting .223 rifles almost exclusively, I’ve purchased a new .308 bolt-gun for 2014 and am excited about getting back into the precision game.

My core concept is a compact rifle for carrying through the bush, capable of a first round hit out to 600 yards. I really want an AR-10 SBR, but in Canada that means never shooting outside. With that in mind, I’ve settled on one of the new Rem700s, the AAC variant with a 16.5″ barrel on it.

In order to have it “shoot-able” I’ve put an S&J Hardware picatinny base on there to hold my Vortex Viper PST 2.5-10×44 and its precision rings. I figured I’d take advantage of the factory-threaded barrel by adding an Alberta Tactical Rifle Brake. Those little 5.56 guns have spoiled me, and I’m looking to tame a little of the recoil. A compact bipod rounds out the package.

I’m excited to pickup a sling from 3HGR, as their forest focussed design seems to match my goals for the gun.

I’ve always had a good rangefinder, spotting scope, windmeter, rifle rest, and ballistics calculator in the gear-bag, but haven’t had a long distance rifle to shoot with since I sold my old 6.5×55 Swede.

I’m looking forward to Shot Show in late January and trying to pick a setup that will bring me closer to that AR-10 dream.

Currently I’m envisioning a chassis for this gun. Possibly one from Ashbury, or Cadex, or MDT, but we’ll have to see how they stack up side by side.

After my first range trip I’ll post some initial groups! I’m looking forward to distance shooting again.