expectations to high ?

S

sneal

Guest
fellas, ill try to keep this short and to the point. after posting on centerfire benchrest and being redirected here, i am down to 2 rifles. i was in a financial pinch and sold a 22-250 darrel holland remington that shot under .5 moa over my truck hood with bags ,20oz soda bottles 400yd, with no proper rest. as well as a cooper 220 swift montana varminter . so maby my expectations are 2 high. im limited to 1500 dollars im leaning towards savage lrpv 204 ruger or savage lpv in 204. with nikon 5 x 20 x 44 monarch. the reason for 204 is im not good at hold over or yard estimation. i love shooting paper and the coyote crossing the field at 300 plus yd. what can i expect outta these guns. i got rid of my reloader as well, will have to start out with factory ammo. can i expect .5 moa at 100yd. im stuck on 32grain pill for that laser like trajectory. ive done so much reading and research i think im gonna be sick. PLEASE ANY INFO IS TRULY APPRECIATED. if my wife lets me go through this expensive phase again it will have to be a keeper . shooter or not...
 
I think you're making a solid choice with the Savage. The Darrel Holland rifle is in an entirely different class as far as accuracy and even the Cooper is a step up from the Savage BUT, the Savage platform is a sound starting point. The thing is, you take your chances out of the box, my expectation would be 1" @ 100yds and anything near 3/4" would make me happy. Now you take the time to glas-bed it and free up the barrel and you MIGHT get 'er down to 1/2moa but I wouldn't be too disappointed if that doesn't happen.


Your next step will be a custom barrel, the Sav is the best/cheapest platform for this. A cheap or even busted Sav from the pawn shop with a custom barrel and some cheap reloading gear and some TIME :) is another way to go.


I question the choice of .204 but I guess if you REALLY can't reload then it's probably got merit. Myownself I'd shop about for a used Savage and start collecting parts ...... I could put together a 1/2moa 6BR WITH all the needed reloading gear and stay within the 1500 easy. If you're handy with wood you could even make it look good. I've seen some perty sharp Savages that retain the original wood stock. You can pillar bed the wood stock and make it shoot extremely well and with epoxy and slats of wood you can add on for looks or stability and just paint it with a rattle can. I've got several wood stocks kicking around that look like benchrest stocks to the casual observer.....of course a closer look reveals a wooden barrel channel and the stocks are much heavier than a true BR stock.


i guess if you're not handy I'd STILL get all the Savage you can afford and anyone, even UNhandy, can open up the barrel channel for free-float, even if you don't bed it it'll help.


Also, I think one of your rifles is a TC Encore? Sell it. A Contender cannot be made to be accurate and it's worth more to someone who values versatility over accuracy. Myself I can't understand having a rifle which shoots lots of barrels poorly :confused: but that's just me. The T/C simply is not an accuracy platform and you can't fix it. Sell it and use the money.


Just my opinion :)


enjoy the journey!


al
 
This may start another controversy but you may want to rethink your decision on the choice of calibers. I have a 204 and really like it, but I have shot a couple of coyotes at the 300 - 350 yd range and in my limited experience it is marginal for coyotes at that range.

I have shot many with a 223 and 50 gr bullets at that range and it generally puts them down with authority - so far this has not happened with the 204.
 
.204lpv

IMHO The 204 with 39/40gr loads will surpass the 22/250 w/52/55gr loads @ 400yds by about 70ft.lbs. and be about 3" flatter. .204 arrives with almost 500ft.lbs-enough for Mr. coyote!:)Stan-share your sport
 
.204 fun...

i love shooting paper and the coyote crossing the field at 300 plus yd. what can i expect outta these guns.

200-400 from the .204 is certianly "doable". Specifically the 39 or 40gr bullets.
Much better in the wind and most certianly better on Coyote size game at those distances. 32's fer crow and PD's or <200yd Coyotes... 39/40 for any varmint/distance inside of 400... IMHO.
BTW, the 39gr Sierras are DAMN accurate little pills...!!! Even though the 32 vmax are my favorite (Crow POPer!).

will have to start out with factory ammo. can i expect .5 moa at 100yd. im stuck on 32grain pill for that laser like trajectory.

In total factory trim..... Maby, maby not... .5moa is alot to ask of any factory rifle right outa the box...
But a little trigger,bedding and practice .5 is certianly achievable.

I have shot worked on two LRPV .204 ... Both right outa the box were OK..
One was .60 - 1.00. The other was 1.00 - 1.50.....
Both needed bedding...
After bedding, the 1.00 - 1.500 gun really improved... .3 - .6 honestly with handloads and .5-.7 with Hornady factory 40gr vmax.

Month later the guy who owned the LRPV that was .60 - 1.00 developed a load with BLC-2 and the 39gr Sierras that went as follows... 3-shot .188 , 5- shot .530, 10 shot .795.... He was happy!

One thing, the LRPV is HEAVY...... You may want to go a tad lighter... VLP is a good choise and DOES have the accuracy potential of the LRPV.
Examples:
LRPV- available in .204

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/manufacturers_id/73/products_id/43537
VLP - available in .204

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/manufacturers_id/73/products_id/43543


On the cheap.... Alinwa ... Al is spot on.
cale
 
thanks

guys thanks for replying. i suppose i have alot to learn, the rem 700 done by holland himself came from an old time friend bencher who went rimfire. i just bought factory ammo and it shot awesome. when u refer to bedding, doesnt the lrpv come bedded,floated etc. i was choosing it for all those reasons. seems like for the money close to benchrest as they come. 6oz trigger caught my eye to. oh yea the remmy went for 900 on gunsamerica w\6x20 leupold vx3. I SURE WOULD GIVE THAT FOR HER TODAY.
 
Soild bedding...

doesnt the lrpv come bedded,floated etc.


Ahhhh yea, but....

If in factory trim it shoots to your expectations, your set...
However... A nice tight fiberglass epoxy "glassing" between the stocks alum bedding frame and action will "hold" the action consistently shot after shot.
This will provide the best potential accuracy the rig is capable of without spending a lot of $$$ up front...

cale
 
I had to bed my LRPV and it weighs a ton

Mine is a 204 and didn't seem to shoot as good as my other 2 Savages, a 223 and a 22-250. One a 112FV, the other a 12BVSS with no work except lighten the triggers. I bedded it and that cut the groups in half plus it is much more consistent. Previously it would shoot 2 groups - 2 in a hole and 3 in another, sometimes 1/2 inch apart. I have only had it out twice since bedding it and most groups are under 1/2". I have been using 39BKs and 27.5 - 28gr of Varget for test loads. I carried it into a field ground hogging once last fall, it seems a lot heavier to drag around than the BVSS. I am only 50 but it is too heavy for the field for me. The other thing I did was sand the stock and paint it. Now it rides the bags much better. I am no expert but this is my experince so far.
Dave
 
Savage single shot

I'll throw in my vote for a Savage platform. Shilen and Pac Nor pre-fit match grade barrels, easy to adjust for minimal headspace, good aftermarket parts. I also like rubbing it in with the range snobs who spent 2/3rds. more than me and don't shoot any better.
Chino69
 
+1 for Savage.

My epoxy bedded VLP 223 shoots 3/4 with anything you feed it, 1/2 with several loads and in the 3s or a little better (thats about the limit of my ability) with a couple loads.

2 friends of mine have LRPVs, one 204, one 223. The guy with the 223 has spent quite a bit of time developing loads and his gun usually outshoots mine. The guy with the 204 hasn't done much load experimentation and his gun shoots 3/4 to 1 MOA.

Bottom line; both VLPs and LRPVs can be quite accurate but it takes a bit of load development to find the right combination. I think that is the nature of most factory rifles.
 
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