For months now I've been waiting for the new Savage 12BVSS-S with the Accu-Trigger to come out. I had thought about getting it in .22-250 This rifle would be for longer range groundhog shooting ,i.e, 400 yards and beyond. I figure I'll be able to get this rifle for about $550-560 out the door at my local dealer.

On the other hand I have a Remington 700 Custom Deluxe that I've had for a few years. It's a good deer rifle but has always been a little disappointing on the further groundhogs. It shoots MOA with deer loads but with the 85-87 grain bullets it's so-so. It has a 24" barrel which I understand is sub-optimal for this caliber. It is glass bedded and has a decent factory trigger.

I took the 700 to my local dealer and he will give me $350 for it....presumably because it has several scratches on the stock. I had previously decided that if I couldn't get $400 for it I'd walk.

On the way home I started thinking about parting out the 700 and keeping the action and using it as the basis of a long range varmint rifle. 25-06 maybe in a longer barrel... or 6-284 or 6.5-284. Pac-Nor maybe?

So what would you do? I want to end up with a nice longer range varmint rifle. Should I sell the 700 and re-invest the $$$ in the .22-250 Savage or go the custom route?

[ 02-20-2003, 03:23: Message edited by: Tim in TN ]

Custom all the way! It is going to cost more depending on how carried away you get, but it will be much better in the long run!

Good Luck
Frank D

OK, two votes so far for custom. More questions:

1. Could I start out with just rebarrelling to a longer 25-06 barrel? What recommendations for a barrel? Or should I go to the 6-284 or 6.5-284?

2. While it's in the shop should I have the action and trigger tweaked?

3. Should I keep the present stock (with appropriate bedding)? I will mostly be shooting from a Harris bipod and only using a bench rest for load development.

you have the mag length to do whatever you want. if you wanted a magnum the open the bolt. i know alot here would like to see you build a 257 weatherby. if that were the case i would look to swap even for a 7mag or 300 in another 700. you shouldn't have a problem trading for a bdl or at worst a adl. another option is to find a 700 sendero in a magnum or a 22-250 and sell the barrel. should get $125 or so for that. that leaves you with a varmint stock and the action you require. then send it off for a rebarrel and blueprint. caliber is up to you. that would be the most cost effective way to get where you are going. go stainless if possible. you pay a bit more up front but there is no bluing involved which usualy costs you the same in the end.
good luck
woofer

1. I would go with a Lilja barrel 28-30 inches, I lean towards the longer barrels. 6.5's seem to have the better BC's.

2. Having a custom rifle built and not having the action trued and the trigger reworked or replaced would be a complete waste of money.

3. You could use the stock you currently have after having it properly bedded. It can always be changed after the fact if money is a concern now. The only down side is waiting for the replacement stock down the road. If you are handy you could always order a stock and bed it yourself when money permits, and still use the rifle while you wait for the stock. Sending the gun back to the gunsmith a second time to have a stock bedded is always a hack....

Think it through and wait a little longer if you have too, and do it right the first time.

Frank D

[ 02-20-2003, 03:23: Message edited by: Tim in TN ]

Well, for better or for worse I traded the 25-06 BDL today for a 7mm Remington Magnum Sendero. So I'm rid of that high gloss BDL stock and the 24" barrel, the two reasons I didn't like the rifle. I figure at least I got a better stock (aluminum bedded) and a Leupold one-piece base and a set of Redfield rings for the $100 I shelled out. 7mm Remington Magnum? Well it isn't exactly a caliber that came to mind in considering a long range varmint rifle. The Sendero appears to be in pristine condition. So, woofer, there ya go...I took your advice. Now about that caliber...hmmmm.

Skim bed that stock,tweak the trigger and poke some 120V-Max in fronta some Re-22 and you'll REALLY have somethin'..............

Big Stick, can you tell me more about skim bedding?

I'm not an HS fan(assuming your's isn't a B&C) and the aluminum bedding blocks are a large bunch of hooey in a broad sense and in my opinion.

They are touted as bein' the end all,but they simply are not. The reason being the dimensional differences betwixt receiver to receiver and stock to stock,will not help anything but alas,bedding most certainly will.

Should that not jive with your thought processses,shoot a box of shells through her,disassemble it and note the shiny spots upon the receiver(the few places it actually touches) and the bedding block itself).

So on a stock that wears aluminum skivvies,you needn't remove a bunch of material to help promote strength and rigidity,nor fret compression issues. You just wanna mate it to your particular receiver.

Beings vast amounts of materials aren't being removed,you are essentilly complimenting the existing aluminum bedding block and making a perfect fit. To do so,requires little additional bedding material,hence a "skim".

I find it best to roughen up the aluminum surface,so as to promote adhesion of bedding compounds(I'm a SteelBed Slut). My preference is a Dremel tool and a sanding disc. With it,I lightly roughen up the bedding block and then bed it as per usual.

It takes but just a dab in the tang and in the recoil lug/receiever ring area,to orient and capture everything.

Lotsa folks like to tape the lug,but the reason I wish to bed something is to keep it from jumping around within the stock's confines. My preference is to bed the lug fully,the tang enough to get everything square and some goes the receiver front ring.

Your mileage will vary. If it were me(and it ain't)I'd give thought to selling your unaltered pristine Sendero stock and poking a McMillan on it,but hell,I'm biased that way.................

clerkofkirk--
If the 7 mm Mag. is not to your liking I have an as new Sendero (matte blue) I traded into in .270 Win. I would trade you for the 7mm Mag. I know the first owner and he shot it a total of 8 times and decided it was too heavy to lug to the deer stand. I have already done a "skim-bed" job on it with Marine-Tex, tuned the trigger to 2#, polished the crown, mounted the scope, and loaded 20 test loads for it(140 Nosler Balistic Tips). I haven't shot it yet because the damn rain won't quit long enough for me to go outside and set up a chronograph...If your interested, shoot me an email with your phone # and I'll call you... Chris

As an aside,I've had dealings with Chris and he is a most standup guy.............