Platform of choice for distance in .308

[BPTactical]

My experience is as long as the gun will shoot half MOA consistently, it's mostly the shooter and the glass after that.

^x10
You can't stress this enough. Face it, with modern CNC machining very rarely is the rifle to blame.
I used to get a chuckle when I worked in the shop and a shooter new to the distance game would come in and talk about buying a Surgeon, McMillan or buying a Remington 700 and dropping 1K having the barrel replaced and the action trued etc.
If you do you are just throwing away your money.
You are far better off spending that extra money on ammo and range time, then tweak your rifle as you improve and discover what improvements are actually needed/beneficial for your situation.
I used to liken it to wanting to drag race. You are not going to go out and buy a Top Fuel rail and learn with it and be competitive. You are going to start with a bracket car and work your way up.

[Tim K]

What is your distance rig of choice in .308?
Semi or Bolt?
What mods and tweaks do you have or want?

Are we talking ultimate wish list, or reality? My .308 is a Remington and I'm satisfied with it, but then it's a $500 rifle. If you have more like $5,000 to spend, the discussion gets much more esoteric.

I have noticed one discrepancy with the precision rifle crowd. First, they tell you to buy a Remington 700 as a first rifle because it's the standard for custom projects. The explanation given is usually something about all the aftermarket goodies available for the Rem, long history, good resale value, etc. Then, when you do plan a custom rifle, those same people will tell you not to spend all that time and money on a Remington. They'll recommend something more exotic like a Surgeon. I understand the thinking behind it all, I just find it comical.

When my current barrel finally succumbs to wear, I will spend my money upgrading the one thing that really matters to accuracy, the barrel. I'll probably not screw around with truing or blueprinting the action, I'll just put my money where it will do the most good.

I have to admit that a number of the Savages I've encountered shoot pretty well. I have a knee jerk negative reaction to them, but I think that's just brainwashing. I wouldn't fault anyone for deciding on a Savage, but I might not spend a lot of money upgrading one.

[BigBear]

My current .308 is a Howa 1500... it shoots better than I do. I have several tweaks done to it but I don't remember them off the top of my head. I'd love to get it into the hands of someone that can actually shoot and see what it can do... any takers?

[TiGuy]

My 1000 yd gun is built from a trued rem 700. It is the only remington I own. The rest of my bolt guns are all savages. A 700 is a good precision platform once it has been trued. A savage needs no such tweaking IMO to compare. The savage has as much aftermarket support as the 700. Shoot the sucker and see if it needs any tweaks. A new recoil lug will take about 10 minutes to replace. It will probably take longer to rebed the lug than it will to replace it. Might not need it.

Swapping barrels is so easy. Once you are ready to step up a custom barrel, you'll save a couple hundred in gunsmith fees by doing it youself.

Check out savageshooters.com and sharpshootersupply.com.

[BPTactical]

My 1000 yd gun is built from a trued rem 700. It is the only remington I own. The rest of my bolt guns are all savages. A 700 is a good precision platform once it has been trued. A savage needs no such tweaking IMO to compare. The savage has as much aftermarket support as the 700. Shoot the sucker and see if it needs any tweaks. A new recoil lug will take about 10 minutes to replace. It will probably take longer to rebed the lug than it will to replace it. Might not need it.

Swapping barrels is so easy. Once you are ready to step up a custom barrel, you'll save a couple hundred in gunsmith fees by doing it youself.

Check out savageshooters.com and sharpshootersupply.com.

^This-
I will tell you I have never had to fill and redrill/retap the scope mount holes on a Savage, nor have I had to do trigger work because the firing pin released upon opening the bolt.
Both were instances on out of the box Remmies.
I think Savage puts out a better product from the factory.
JMHO....

[jmg8550]

I really like the Savage 10. It came with the Accu-Trigger, Accu-stock, heavy fluted barrel, and muzzle brake for $750. And it has a 4 round detachable box mag that can be converted to hold 10 rounds.

[OgenRwot]

I've got a Remington 700. Glass bedded action with trigger work done by my grandfather. It has a 26" 1:12 fluted SS floated bbl and a Millett 4-16x50 TRS1 on it. Harris bi-pod. The stock isn't my favorite but my grandfather gave me this rifle so the stock has sentimental value, I'll probably keep this rifle just as it is. The thing is a shooter. With the slow twist rate I'm using 155 AMAX with 44 grn of 3031 and Federal match primers.

Once I get some money saved up I'll build another one from the ground up. I'll probably stick with the 700 action because I like it so much but I will definitely go with a stock that has more of a vertical grip on it. I actually really like the Millett glass too, it's extremely clear for the price.