My 1st build + 4 day class
Spent the last 6 months putting together my first precision rifle build. My base rifle was a Rem 700, SPS Tactical AAC-SD 308 I picked up at Ark. 20in barrel, 1 in 10 twist.
I added a Magpul 700 Hunter stock plus bottom metal and a Timney 510 trigger.
Once my stamp came in, on went an AAC 762SD can with a AAC 51T blackout QD break.
Warne 20MOA base, Nightforce rings and Bushnell Elite Tactical, 4.5-30x50 XRS optic top it off and an Atlas bipod holds it up.
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I reload and plan to develop a load for this rifle, however, I didnt have a good lot of match 308 brass. That combined with the fact I was schedule to take a precision rilfe course soon, I decide to find a good factory load for the time being. The idea being that after shooting a case of factory ammo, I'd then have a good lot of brass to work with.
After trying a couple dozen factory loads, I settled on Fed Gold Metal Match 175g SMK.
I purchased a case but inadvertently got the 7.62 variety of FGMM 175g SMK. Some research told me the load was the same except the 7.62 version was unpolished and had a crimped primer. Sucks for reloading, but it did shoot the same for me.
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Here is the surprising part:
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Very nice.
325 rounds through the gun finding a good load and getting dialed in and I was off to class.
The class was Magpul Core precision rifle 1, four full days in Wyoming. The location was a very large private ranch in the middle of nowhere.
Instructors included 3 retired Marine snipers (at least one of which also taught at the Marine scout sniper school). The main instructor is also very active in the PRS scene. The 4th instructor was a retired Marine recon guy who also did a stint as an Army sniper. Decades of combined, real world experience teaching the class. We had 10 students.
1st day was spent in the classroom (some tables setup under cottonwood trees in the land owner's yard) in the morning which included an in depth optic class provided by Leupold. The rest of the 1st day was spent on the 100 yard range confirming zero and developing good body position.
Day two included a some classroom learing about wind, digital tools and dope cards, chronograph on the 100 yard range and off to the long range. A dozen or so known distance targets from 200 out to 1150. We got into shooter spotter teams and worked on confirming our data. We were hitting 1000yard steel by the afternoon.
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We had a night shoot on day 2. First was some fun shooting paper at 100. One of the drills was very eye opening. A spotlight was shown on your target for a couple seconds giving time to get a good sight picture. At that point the light was turned off and we were to fire. This drill really showed how good or bad our natural point of aim was. Good body position and you hit your point of aim even with the light out. Bad...and you missed. We also had some fun shooting glow sticks at 100 yards with no other lighting.
Then we had the unique opportunity to shoot with military grade night vision gear. A rifle with night optic was provided along with a spotting scope also with night optic. Because there was zero moon that night, we also had an iR illuminator mounted to the spotting scope. Target was an e type steel silhouette at 600 yards. A-ma-zing. I was able to hit my first 3 shots, missed two then hit one more. Super fun.
Day 3 was spent mostly on the 1000 yard range working on known distance and unknown distance shooting.
Day 4 was spent on top of a nearby mesa working on alternate firing positions, shooting at a couple dozen steel targets below from 300 out to 700 yards, from 9 different shooting positions.
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I learned a TON. This level 1 class focused on the fundamentals and repeatability, no fancy stuff. If anyone wants to take a class, look to Magpul CORE. This is my 2nd class with them and both were incredible, no BS, learning opportunities provided at an incredible value.
I am extremely happy with the rifle. I'm thinking I'll switch to Harris bipod and add some sort of fabric tape to the stock (to keep my sweaty check from slipping). I also narrowed down to a rear bag I liked best. Otherwise, the rifle is awesome. Great results for a factory rifle with only minor changes.
