Compact and Lightweight, Scout-like, .308 Bolt Gun

[okie john]

...hockey pesos.

Brilliant line.

That article is also one of the funniest things I've read in ages.

Thanks.


Okie John

[Maple Syrup Actual]

Thanks - that was a fun project and the style of writing I actually enjoyed doing.

The guy mentioned in that article, Nick, is an awesome guy, good friend of mine and survivor of I think 3 ECQCs? Maybe one EWO and two ECQC. Solid judo base, tough guy, funny guy, and a very experienced privateer...teaches a very good tactical medicine course, actually. Lots of dirt time in Africa getting paid to make some sections of red dirt wetter and redder, and keep other parts of it from getting any redder than it is. While I was screwing around with my ghetto blaster, he was shooting a Desert Tech SRS with a Premier Reticles scope...I was glad I shot it after my rifle, not before.

We have a tentative plan to invade somewhere with beaches using all the local pros (and me, presumably to document things) if this C19 thing gets any worse. I will keep @BigT in the loop if my suggestion, Namibia, gets enough votes.

[Dov]

It’s a free spirit adventure manual 55”. We have the regular tent fabric version. They do make a “tri layer” version that has much thicker fabric and if you’d be in cold weather more often than not, I’d consider adding the tri-layer option if you go with any of their tents.

But even in our regular thin skin model we’ve camped when overnight temperatures have hit the low to mid 20’s, so could have been worse, but still pretty chilly. What makes it very comfortable is the fact that I added an additional 2” memory foam mattress (for a total of about 4.5” of floor insulation) and have a 0 degree two person sleeping bag with a flannel liner for the winter time. Compared to a ground tent experience, especially in the winter with snow etc., it’s as if I’m staying at the Ritz. It’s downright awesome. I use a much thinner bag for the spring, and only a thin blanket or just a bedsheet for the summer.

But again if you go much colder than the mid 20’s I’d get the tri-layer, or a similar type tent with more insulation...or yeah a teardrop trailer of some sort especially since you won’t be off-roading.

I do quite a bit of off roading, and if you do end up wanting an off-road set up, the RTT set up works really well as it will allow you the most off-roading ability. Case in point, I am thinking of getting a simple relatively light weight off road trailer to put my tent on and pack it with my supplies; but this winter I went up some pretty gnarly snowy/muddy trails which I don’t think I would have attempted with even a “ light weight” trailer.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions about it. Good luck on your search.

Thanks.

It's been awhile since I looked into this stuff, lost many of my notes on old PC never got around to backing up.

I'd looked real hard at I think it was AT Trailers like the Horizon & Chaser as platform to mount RTT on, and was real interested in the Maggiolina RTT. I tend to have expensive tastes

But I know at my current age and health issues I'm not going to try and get stuck off roading, more just want to be able to get away from crowds & both gf & myself are very casually interested in Astronomy so its nice to be able to get away from city lights with some comfort for meteor showers and such.

I also looked at some neat Toy Hauler trailers that were designed to also work as RV trailer, had sort of kitchenette at front of trailer, can't recall brand name or owner's name but exchanged email with them. That would probably more practical choice for us since gf could use it for her part time business for half the year or so in normal times.

[DacoRoman]

Those are some awesome pics, reminds me of mine when he was a boy.

Now he is all grown up, runs a BCM/LMT setup, and marches with his buddies on the capitol when they threaten his gun rights.

Attachment 51089

Thanks!

God bless and Godspeed to your awesome Patriot son! It’s nice to see a young man with a good mindset in this day and age! I’m sure he takes after his dad.

[DacoRoman]

A slightly different take on things: just for fun, I built a Remington 783 into a mag fed, pretty lightweight precision gun that ended up shooting to a mean radius of 0.31 MOA at 525 yards.

Whole gun, including the optic, the bottom metal and the magazine, was under a thousand hockey pesos. In the US this whole package would probably be like six hundred bucks.

I mention this mainly to say: you practically can't get this wrong. You take a rifle and shoot it, it's going to do the job.

Not very interesting to the Steyr Scout buyers among us, but for people who want to feel scouty and spend plinky,

https://calibremag.ca/remington-783-...or-under-1000/

That looks great. I need to study it. Thanks for posting.

[DacoRoman]

Thanks.

It's been awhile since I looked into this stuff, lost many of my notes on old PC never got around to backing up.

I'd looked real hard at I think it was AT Trailers like the Horizon & Chaser as platform to mount RTT on, and was real interested in the Maggiolina RTT. I tend to have expensive tastes

But I know at my current age and health issues I'm not going to try and get stuck off roading, more just want to be able to get away from crowds & both gf & myself are very casually interested in Astronomy so its nice to be able to get away from city lights with some comfort for meteor showers and such.

I also looked at some neat Toy Hauler trailers that were designed to also work as RV trailer, had sort of kitchenette at front of trailer, can't recall brand name or owner's name but exchanged email with them. That would probably more practical choice for us since gf could use it for her part time business for half the year or so in normal times.

I totally get where you are coming from. At one point I was thinking of going for a very expensive Carbon fiber maggiolina. I then decided to go with something more economical to see if I even like the whole RTT thing. Well it turns out that I really do like it.

I don’t know much about enclosed sleeper trailers but it sounds like that may give the most comfort and still allow for light off road/unpaved areas. For trailers designed for RTT’s but with fully built in kitchens and water have you seen the very expensive and very impressive Patriot trailers, from Australia? Turtle back trailers from AZ are also very nice.

I am not familiar with the ones you mentioned and I’ll be checking them out.

Going out there with a telescope sounds like a great time. My wife has an app on her iPhone that you point at regions in the sky and it shows you constellations and planets. What would be a good entry level but good telescope one could buy?

[SecondsCount]

A slightly different take on things: just for fun, I built a Remington 783...

Whole gun, including the optic, the bottom metal and the magazine, was under a thousand hockey pesos. In the US this whole package would probably be like six hundred bucks.

I mention this mainly to say: you practically can't get this wrong. You take a rifle and shoot it, it's going to do the job.


https://calibremag.ca/remington-783-...or-under-1000/

I am a big fan of the Remington 783 and if people ask me about which budget rifle to buy, this is the one that I recommend. The 783 is based on the Marlin X7, as Remington had purchased Marlin in 2007.

My experience with either model was limited until a good friend purchased one on a whim because of a $75 rebate. I think he ended up paying $280 after the rebate. He bought one in 223, brought it home and put a scope on it, made some reloads, and proceeded to shoot sub MOA groups at 100 yards.

Now we both have some nice rifles...trued actions, aftermarket match grade barrels, high end stocks, etc, but we thought this would be a fun experiment to see what we could do for little cost and effort. I ended up with a 223 as well for a little bit more, $300 if I remember correctly, but I had problems. The first trip to the range was disappointing as getting it zeroed at 50 yards was difficult and moving to 100 was a disaster. The bullets were keyholing. The 223 versions have a 1:9 twist but this gun wouldn't stabilize anything I tried including 55, 62, or 69 grain bullets.

A call into Remington generated a call tag. I sent the rifle to back and a few weeks later, they called to tell me the entire rifle was going to be replaced under warranty. When the new rifle arrived, I immediately took it to the range. This range requires you to shoot at 50 yards before moving to the 300 yard range and this was my first 3 shot group after I zeroed-



After that I proceeded to 100 yards and shot some groups with the cheesy chinese scope that came on the gun.



Not bad for a $300 rifle that included the scope. Load was a Hornady 62 BTHP with TAC.

I now have changed the scope to a Cabelas Covenant 6-24 FFP and shot on steel out to 675. One of these days my friend, who lives in another state, is going to join me and we will attempt to shoot out to 1000 yards. We both have been working on a new load with the Nosler 70 RDF that looks real promising.

All I have done so far is change the scope and adjust the trigger, and have no plans to do anything else. The stock isn't bad for what it is and the magazine that came with the gun works well enough. I just wish they would put a 1:8 twist in these so I could shoot the higher BC bullets.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

Interesting - yeah, I think they're capable of shocking performance for what they are. I guess if I'd been just a tiny bit smarter I would have hit mine with camo spraypaint and just told everyone it was a full custom build from some obscure precision guy trying to make a name for himself, and then I would have seemed like a high-dollar guy with a lot of connections, instead of a guy with a cheap-ass rifle.

But man, it couldn't shoot much better than it does. I keep fighting back the desire to buy a Bergara by telling myself "that won't do anything your 783 won't already do."

I mean you just can't complain about those targets.

[okie john]

Interesting - yeah, I think they're capable of shocking performance for what they are. I guess if I'd been just a tiny bit smarter I would have hit mine with camo spraypaint and just told everyone it was a full custom build from some obscure precision guy trying to make a name for himself, and then I would have seemed like a high-dollar guy with a lot of connections, instead of a guy with a cheap-ass rifle.

But man, it couldn't shoot much better than it does. I keep fighting back the desire to buy a Bergara by telling myself "that won't do anything your 783 won't already do."

I mean you just can't complain about those targets.

Yep. Same goes for Tikkas, Ruger Americans, the TC Compass, etc.


Okie John

[Maple Syrup Actual]

Yep. Same goes for Tikkas, Ruger Americans, the TC Compass, etc.


Okie John

Totally true. We're living in an age of dirt cheap precision to which our dad's rifles would never aspire; it's almost absurd. Five hundred bucks, go shoot, you're all set. Unreal.