.270...stainless...w/ a 24" barrel

[steveNChunter]

I've long admired the .270, but for some reason, never got around to choosing that cartridge whenever I've been in the market for a new rifle. I'm planning on changing that soon.

I've been browsing through the gun manufacturer's websites, looking for what seems to be a sort of rare combination. Of course the cartridge has to be .270 win, I want it stainless, and I want at least a 24" barrel. I'd like to keep it under $1000.

So far I've found five rifles that I'm considering:

Weatherby Vanguard Stainless Synthetic- Great barreled action, but I'm unsure of the stiffness/quality of the stock

Winchester Model 70 Ultimate Shadow SS- Same story as the Vanguard

Remington 700 SPS stainless- Junk as-is, but a good rifle after I put a better trigger and stock on it

Remington 700 CDL SF- Beautiful rifle, but still gonna need a trigger to make me happy

Thompson/Center Venture Weathershield- Not really stainless, but the sub-MOA guarantee is nice. Unsure of the stock quality on this one too. Cheapest rifle of the bunch, so I could spend more on a scope.

I'd like to hear from people who have experience with these rifles to help me weigh the pros/cons of each, or if you know of any others that meet my criteria. Thanks

[jmr40]

All of those will shoot just fine even in the cheap stocks. If having a pretty rifle in a walnut stock is important then the CDL is the only real option. My personal preference would be a Winchester EW. The stock is acceptable, much better than the others

The 22" vs 24" barrel just isn't that important. If you were to take 10 of each length and chronograph them the 24" guns would average about 50 fps faster. But among individual guns you will find some 22" guns faster than some 24" guns. Unless you can chronograph them before you purchase you have no way of knowing if the 24" barreled gun you pick out is actually faster than another 22" barreled gun.

The Vanguard is a nice rifle, my only compliant is that it is also by far the heaviest. Not my choice for carrying around in mountains.

The Ultimate Shadow or Extreme Weather would be a good pick if I wanted SS/synthetic.

For an out of the box rifle I'd suggest the Kimber 84L in 270. It's CRF, has the 24" barrel, can be had in SS/Synthetic. The synthetic stock is every bit as good as a $600 McMillan replacement stock. It does cost over your limit, but needs nothing done to it. It'll be cheaper in the long run than buying one of the others and changing stuff. And if you choose the scope and mounts carefully you can keep total weight right at 7 lbs. Not a bad package at all.

http://www.kimberamerica.com/rifles/model-84l/montana-2

[steveNChunter]

I thought of the Montana but for some reason I forgot that it was stainless. That would be a good choice, I'll definitely consider it, but I may have to put off getting a scope for a little while if I go that route. It would be eating into the optics budget by a couple hundred.

I'm not dead set on either synthetic or wood, I just want a solid, stiff stock that's either bedded or worth bedding.

Only other new option I've found besides the Kimber is an ER Shaw build-a-rifle on a Savage action. But I've heard mixed reviews on their barrels so I'm not crazy about that idea.

[SCgman]

As JM40 mentioned above,

The stock on a Mod 70 extreme weather is a B&C Medalist product I believe. I have the same one on a M70 extreme sporter. It is a very rigid stock you should be satisfied with.

[taylorce1]

I hate the B&C Medalist stock on the Winchester EW. while it's not heavy, its overly thick through the wrist and forearm. Unless you have hands like a gorilla the rifle feels and handles like a 4X4 fence post. I almost sold my EW rifle but I found a good deal on a McMillan FWT stock with Edge fill that changed the feel and handling of the rifle. It was a 100% improvement as far as I'm concerned.

I'll not buy another B&C stock with full length bedding block. There are several high quality stocks out there that can be had without the extra thickness. I'd take the factory stock on the factory stock of the Ultimate Shadow any day over the EW stock, the US stock isn't bad for an injection molded stock.

[steveNChunter]

I'm a little unclear on what kind of "bedding" the Ultimate Shadow stock has. Here's a quote from Winchester's site:

FORGED STAINLESS STEEL RECEIVER WITH INTEGRAL RECOIL LUG IS BEDDED FRONT AND REAR

So does it have pillars front and rear? A bedding block? I've personally never seen the inside of an US stock so I don't know.

[taylorce1]

Winchester uses a bedding compound that is kind of like glue that never completely hardens. As far as I know there is no pillars in the stock. Their bedding compound isn't to hard to remove, to be replaced with a more traditional bedding material.

[steveNChunter]

taylorce1- How is the forend on the US stock? If I use a bipod am I gonna be getting barrel/stock contact?

[taylorce1]

I don't own an US rifle so I couldn't truthfully yell you the answer, jmr40 has the US stock and likes it. I had the Winchester Classic synthetic stock and it was far stiffer than any Savage synthetic I've owned that was injection molded. Under a heavy load on a bi-pod I imagine it would flex enough to touch.

[steveNChunter]

There's a gun show next weekend about an hour from home, I'm gonna go and try to find a Winchester US Stainless and hopefully take it home if the stock suits me.

I like the Kimber as well, but it's a bit more than I want to spend, the lighter weight will mean more recoil, and I don't see a substantial advantage over the Winchester for hunting.

My main turn off with the Weatherby is the stock, I've read that It's flimsy and I don't like the fact that it's not free floating.

The Remingtons will both need Timneys and the SPS will need a stock, which would put the total price for the SPS up there higher than the Winchester.

The Thompson/Center is still appealing for the price, but I want stainless, not a coating, and it is a "budget" rifle, though they shoot better than they should.

I hope I can find what I'll be looking for, I've heard the Winchesters have had sorta spotty availability as of late.

[Picher]

Here are the latest pictures of my new Rem 700 CDL SF, .270 Win. It has a plated Timney trigger set at 3 lbs, a Leupold 3-9 VX2 with wide duplex crosshairs for long-distance shooting.

It's been pillar-bedded and the barrel free-floated.

I've shot it a few times and carried it yesterday on a walk-about. The recoil pad and stock configuration combine to provide the best felt-recoil reduction I've ever experienced from either bench or offhand.

[steveNChunter]

Picher- That is a beautiful rifle indeed. You've already done exactly everything I would do to it if it were mine. Was the barrel not floated from the factory?

[Picher]

No the barrel wasn't free-floated. It had significant pressure pads, at 4 and 8 on the clock-face.

It's much nicer than it appears; the pictures don't do it justice.

[steveNChunter]

Picher how does it shoot? Did you notice an improvement after floating and bedding?

[Picher]

SteveNChunter: With all the snow we had, I didn't shoot the rifle before bedding and free-floating it, but took advantage of the conditions to "fix" it before I knew it was "broken". LOL

There's no concern that I haven't yet found the magic formulation for my handloads to wring the most out of the rifle. It will probably shoot 3/4" groups at 100 yards before long. I never had a Remington that didn't.

I've only shot a few factory rounds and experimented with seating depth with 90 grain Sierras, so far. The barrel isn't broken-in yet, only about 20 rounds through it, but it's very promising. The last seating depth produced a 1" group at 100 yards, under less than ideal conditions. That's just the beginning.

I'm eager to try 130 grain bullets and some other varmint rounds. I don't intend to turn it into a dedicated varmint shooter, but like to carry most new rifles, and get them "used to hunting with me" (or the other way around). So far, I'm very pleased with it. It's not quite as light and compact as my .223 Rem 700 LVSS, but the stock has better carry qualities, especially the rounded forend that falls nicely, in the muzzle-downward left shoulder sling carry.

It also feels very comfortable when held offhand. The combination of the rounded forend, great checkering, nice pistol grip contour, along with the perfect comb position, makes it feel like a custom-fitted rifle.

[steveNChunter]

I agree, I've never seen a Remington 700 that didn't shoot great after a bug or two was worked out of it.

I have two model 700's, one is a 16.25" barrel .308 (new take-off SPS stainless barrel that I had shortened) on a '71 model receiver, fully cerakoted metal with a Boyd's laminate thumbhole stock. The other is a mid '70's BDL heavy barrel in 6mm rem. The .308 shoots consistent 3/4" groups, the 6mm shoots one ragged hole If I'm shooting well enough.

I've never owned a post-Freedom Group Remington but it seems they have started to get their act together after a few hiccups along the way. However I still don't consider what they put on an SPS to be a legit stock for anyone's uses. I also wish they would make a decent trigger. Their budget 783's trigger is even better than the X-Mark Pro. I know it's lawyer influenced, but there are some good trigger designs out there that are lawyer approved (see Winchester MOA)

[Picher]

Went to the range today, meeting my buddy there. I didn't think the State Police, who had rented the range, would be shooting on the main range, due to the amount of snow. I was wrong. They brought their snowshoes and despite having over two feet of snow there, still shot their ARs.

Oh well, maybe now I can load more ammo for the next time we can make it...maybe next week.

[B Cuz]

I'm a .270 guy too. I know you said a 24" barrel but have you considered Tikka? 22.43" barrel. I've been kicking over the Tikka and T/C too. Both have the sun MOA guarantee.

[Mystro]

The 270 is a wonderful caliber. Can't go wrong with a Kimber or Winchester M70.

[Picher]

If I haven't had so many Remington 700's over the years, I'd have bought a Win 70 years ago. It's hard for me to like controlled round feeding, especially when loading singly, as I do at the range.

[steveNChunter]

That's true, I will have to get used to no single loading if I go with the Winchester. I haven't set anything in stone yet though, if I see a deal on a 700 CDL SF in .270 at the gun show this weekend, it might just follow me home.

[Picher]

Good luck finding a 700 CDL SF .270 Win at a gun show.

I searched the web and several dealers before finding one at Bud's Guns. It was the only place that had one, and only one.

[steveNChunter]

Bud's shows to have one right now as well. My chances of finding the particular Winchester I'm looking for aren't great either. Availability of new Model 70's is spotty at best around here but I guarantee there will be truckloads of "budget" rifles, AR's, AK's, Glocks, and anything that has "tactical" in it's name.

[Pathfinder45]

Well, I have the Winchester model 70 Classic Sporter in 270, and I don't have any problems single loading it. Just pop one round into the magazine and let it feed from there. My rifle will hold 5 rounds in the magazine and you can still get the 6th round into the chamber. My rifle is not free-floated. I expect it would shoot tighter groups if it were, but I have worked up one recipe that is sub-MOA at 300 yards, so I have kept it original. And yes, it wears a Walnut stock; I wouldn't have it any other way. Mine's blued steel. I could live with stainless steel, but I just can't abide with a plastic stock. Laminated stocks could be doable, but honestly, as my brother says, "It's plywood!".

[taylorce1]

If you can find an Ultimate Shadow SS for a good price you can always pick up a Winchester M70 stock and be into it for about the price of the Rem M700 SF. The stock that I linked is inlet for the FWT magnum rifle which is the same contour as the Ultimate Shadow.