Beginners build for 308 bolt

[Grant H.]

Don't cut the barrel down. The .308 sucks enough you'll want all the velocity you can get.

The mossburg will suffer from the same lack of aftermarket support as the Savage except it will be even worse.

Buy the Remington and be done with it.

I'm curious why you are against cutting and threading the barrel??? Yes, you can get more velocity from a longer barrel, but depending on what he wants to do with it, a shorter barrel may be better.

16" .308 gas guns, and even more so bolt guns, are more than capable of 1000.

[Grant H.]

I appreciate all the feed back guys. I am leaning towards the R700. This model specifically:

http://www.remington.com/products/fi...armint-lh.aspx

I can have the barrel cut down and threaded. I haven't looked at rifles lately but looks like savage has lightened the load on lefty rifles. Any thoughts on a mossy MVP in 308?

It will shoot well out of the box, and be a good platform to build off of.

I also would vote to stay away from the Mossy. They are cheaper to get into, but they suck to change due to lack of parts.

[Tim K]

I'm curious why you are against cutting and threading the barrel??? Yes, you can get more velocity from a longer barrel, but depending on what he wants to do with it, a shorter barrel may be better.

16" .308 gas guns, and even more so bolt guns, are more than capable of 1000.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Threading for a brake or can is a good idea. Personally, I have no objection to long and/or heavy guns. I'd rather have the velocity of the longer barrel since length doesn't bother me.

.308 ballistics are not great in the wind. I think the cartridge needs all the help it can get from whatever additional velocity is available from the extra length. Cutting barrels short is all the rage, but unless there's some specific need for a short barrel I generally advise against it.

[XC700116]

I'm curious why you are against cutting and threading the barrel??? Yes, you can get more velocity from a longer barrel, but depending on what he wants to do with it, a shorter barrel may be better.

16" .308 gas guns, and even more so bolt guns, are more than capable of 1000.

Capable yes, however the more speed and BC the better when you're dealing with long range. Therefore, heavy bullets (higher bc) are already moving a good bit slower, so every inch of barrel is a plus to get them moving. The faster it's going not only does it drop less, it's less effected by the wind, which is where the real art comes into play in LR shooting once you have the basics/fundamentals of shooting down. The more you can decrease wind effects, the better, plain and simple.

Yes short barrels can shoot well, yes they can get the job done, and yes they are handy, but there's trade offs in every decision on a LR rig and I know myself, I'd give up some of the "handy" for performance down range.

That said if the longest you plan to regularly stretch it's legs to is 500 yds, by all means cut'er down to 16" but that's just getting started if you're talking about Long Range. It's the second 500 that makes the differences show up.

[Tim K]

One other thing about barrel length, shorter is louder. A brake on an 18" barrel is going to be incredibly obnoxious.

[Grant H.]

Tim, that makes sense. I was just curious if you had anything beyond the usual velocity and ballistics concerns. A couple guys I shoot with get really grumpy when I get my 16" .308 out.

I also have no issue with long, heavy guns, unless I am hunting. All but one of my long range guns are 26" or longer.