Remington 700 SPS – 7mm STW - Part 1

Part 1 – The Plan

Let me start this by saying, this project was awhile in the making.    I’d read the blurbs in multiple reloading guides about the 7 STW, and always thought it interesting, if a bit impractical.   The real spark to get moving on this was when Nosler announced a new long range Accubond with some really high BC options.  

Here’s the chart they released:

Looking for a new reloading project, this started to feel like it could have some real potential as a very long range round…  .652 BC with a possible velocity in the 3100fps range?  Sign me up! 

That’s a better BC than the 162g AMAX.

What sealed the deal was one of those random searches on gunbroker.com that turned up one of the factory runs of Remington 700 SPSs in 7 STW at a great price.   A few clicks and a phone call later, I had one headed my way from the good folks at Gitguns.  (http://www.gitguns.com)  

Like many of you, I can’t leave well enough alone.   The real fun seems to always start with the bolt on that turn a decent factory rifle into something a bit better.   

First, the factory SPS stock is, in my opinion, a flimsy chunk of crap.  That’s the kind, my saintly mother-in-law might actually read this post, edited version.   It had to go.

I’ve had two rifles with the factory Remington X-Mark Pro trigger, so I had some pretty low expectations of it as well.  I figured I’d go with the easy, always reliable choice, of picking up a Timney.   Besides liking to support a local company, they have worked extremely well three 700s I’ve used them on.    

The only decision left at this point was glass. 

A few other projects had eaten into my toy budget, so I figured I’d just repurpose a spare Trijicon Accupoint 3-9 I had sitting around.  It’s a good piece of glass, maybe not my first choice for a long range rifle, but certainly a good enough option to get started.   

As a side note, to anyone mounting this scope on a long action… go with the medium height rings.  My personal preference is to go for as low of a mount as possible, but the low height 1” rings, won’t clear the power adjustment ring. 

A call to Red Hawk Rifles out of Colorado, covered the rings, trigger and stock parts I was going to need. (http://www.redhawkrifles.com/) They have become my Remington aftermarket parts vendor of choice.  They have some of the best prices on B&C stocks, Talley rings and Timney triggers I’ve found.

Now I just had to sit back and wait for everything to show up…    you know, the hard part…

Next up - The build