Want to buy a new 22-250 in a varmint weight. Considering the following in no particular order
CZ 550 Varmint laminate
Tikka Continental
Remington 700 VLS
Will be used primarily from a bench, shooting ground squirrels. Any suggestions or experiences with any of these rifles would be appreciated

M700 VLS.

No experience with the other two, but plenty with the VLS (in three different calibers). Zero complaints.

OD,
Where are you shooting these ground squirrels?
Used to have both a .223 and a .22/250.
Still have a .223 but the .22/250 is better for coyotes. And the .243 is still better yet.

Remington refuses to fix their trigger/safety. Their extractor is also very weak, but that is not such an issue in a varmint gun. I think that I would give the Tikka a try.

OD Bear: I would definitely go with the Remington 700 VLS. I have shot a bunch of them and all have been very accurate. In fact I am just bringing a new VLS in 260 Remington online as we speak. I lapped the rings and mounted a scope on it last night. I used to have an FFL and alo mounted scopes on Rifles for extra money. I had occassion to sight in several VLS Rifles and they all shot very well. One of them was a 22-250 and it shot a 5 shot group with Remington factory ammo under 1/2"! I left word with that Guns owner if he ever wanted to sell it I was interested.
It is my firm contention there is nothing wrong with Remingtons triggers (I have owned at least 100 Rifles with the 700 & 40X style triggers) and fired them at least 100,000 times with nary a malfunction! I presently own at least 15 - 700's and 6 - 40X's and I am confident in the reliability of the triggers and their safeties. In fact it is the trigger I prefer among all factory triggers! Use the Rifles in a safe manner and as intended and if the trigger has been properly adjusted and the adjustment screws resealed you won't have anymore trouble with a 700 trigger than any other Rifle. I have recently bought Remington 700's for both my sons so you can see I am pretty confident they are safe Rifles.
And with the Remington you will be supporting an American company - Buy American!
Goodluck with whichever you choose.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Buy American even if it is junk?

Have you looked a new Remngton? I believe they fired the quality control department.

All the USMC sniper rifles we had in my STA platoon were modified Remington 700's. It's interesting to note that two things they didn't replace at Quantico were the trigger and the extractor. The triggers were tuned up. In thousands of rounds fired I noted one extractor failure in a USMC rifle. My own Rem 700's haven't failed yet. One has 4000 rounds through it, another only about 2500, but it's been through 28 years of hunting. These days the triggers do seem to need some adjustment though, my last couple of M700's needed attention there before I could reliably get 3/4" and 1/2" groups with hunting ammo.

Also, unlike Varmint Guy and his many M700's, I've only got three, unfortunately had to sell two others. They've all been good rifles.

Sorry I can't comment on the other rifles you mentioned, I have no experience with either of them. Regards & good luck in your varmint rifle search. Guy

[ 11-27-2002, 13:45: Message edited by: m700 ]

I have owned remington rifles and shotguns all my life and I have never had a problem with them.

You want a very accurate factory rifle try the Cooper. It is all American but a tad more than the Remington and comes with a fully adjustable trigger. I would bet if you took 100 Remington rifles and 100 Cooper rifles the Cooper rifles would out shoot the Remingtons. By that I mean tighter average groups from the lot.

With out a doubt I would buy a Winchester Stealth in 22-250. I have seen three of them shoot and they are all .5 MOA rifles. The Stealth in .223 and 308 are superb as well. Buy one and don't look back.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight....RiverRat

Try the Tikka Continental, you'll love it. Its features would cost you a few hundred dollars to get a Rem 700 up to its level. It has a 26" varmit weight barrel, the barrel is free floated,the receiver has a long flat bottom, the stock is very nice wood with a wide bottom on the forend and the trigger is adjustable from 2 to 4 lbs. You could bed the action if desired.I bought a new one in 22-250 for about $625.00 as an extra gun to take P-dog shooting this past March.It's features and accuracy is almost equal to my custom made rifle (rem700 blueprinted, shilen 28" select match SS barrel, jewel trigger, H & S precision thumbhole varmit stock,Holland recoil lug).It shoots 1/4" to 1/2" groups consistantly. I fired just under 300 rounds with it while pdogging and was very pleased.The receiver takes flat bottomed scope bases(2ea. weaver #61) or the Tikka base.

I'll be the odd one out in a overly green crowd. Don't have the varmint version but use a CZ550 in .308 and with good ammo it easliy groups around .5 if I do my part and it cost under $500! The single set trigger is a treat to when shooting from the bench, mine is probably breaking at in the oz. range (don't have a scale). No qualms with it's mauser action either.

Sako!You won't be disappointed.

Amen!!
I second Sako.

quote:

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Originally posted by DOCTOR LOU:
Sako!You won't be disappointed.

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I have a Cooper Varmint Extreme in 223 which is extremly accurate and would love one in 22-250. The problem is I have a Rem. 700VLS in 22-250 which is so accurate I can't justify selling it and spending the difference for the Cooper. The only thing I have done to the Rem is a trigger job.

Personally, I don't care what nationality makes my rifle so long as it shoots! That being said, I have a Remington 700 and like all the posters above, I've never had a problem with it of any kind. Right out of the box with no tweaking whatsoever it will shoot 1/2" groups all day long at 100 yards. If I do my part it will get down to 3/8", sometimes better. There is no question that the rifle is capable of better performance than I. This is with no handload tweaking. No scope lapping. No gunsmithing tricks. The gun has always performed flawlessly. Are there better rifles out there? Sure. My $4,000 State Arms Mach 5 shot one hole at 100 yards....but look at the difference in price (and weight!)

All I have to say is that I've never been disappointed by the Remington 700. Excellent gun, even better value for money.

shiflan

Nothing wrong with the Remington 700. You should also check out the offerings from Kimber. Very nice.

Dennis

[ 12-24-2002, 01:52: Message edited by: DOCTOR LOU ]

Cooper or Ruger VT should also be considered with the Sako & Cooper being worth the extra $=CJ

I don't think you could go wrong buying a Remington, Ruger or Winchester in a varmint gun. Why even Savage puts out a darn good shooting rifle these days. Buy the one you like the looks and feel of and then get to handloading up some ammo that it likes. The rest is sure shooting fun you betcha.

Try a savage,had no problems with remington,but had problems with tika,have three 22-250,a 788 which shoots withe the best,have two remington with costom work trigger ,blue print e.c.t. stocks whatever 1000.00 to 1500.00 bought a 110 savage for 350.00 and out shoots them all hell ground hogs don't care what they look like and it's great to out shoot your buddy with his 1500.00 nothing