The ideal sporting and hunting rifle and calibre Review

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Pros
.308 caliber
This rifle is mainly used for sport shooting which require an accurate rifle. The .308 caliber is very
accurate because of its shorter, fatter case and this promotes more uniform and gentle push on the
bullet due to a higher loading density (less air space) and a more easily uniformly ignitable powder
charge. This is why the .308 is ideal for sport(target) shooting because of the accuracy required
when shooting competitions. The .308 caliber ranks among the most versatile and popular centerfire
cartridges in the world. Along with excellent factory-loaded ammo, a huge selection of bullets and
powders are widely available for the .308 caliber.
Heavy Barrel and rifle specifications
The Remington 700 VLS rifle is equipped with a heavy barrel. The reason why I prefer a rifle with
this barrel is because of its accuracy. A heavy barrel on a rifle is the same diameter from chamber to
the muzzle, whereas the regular barrel is narrowed. While the barrel of a rifle may seem very stiff
and resistant to significant vibrations, the force of an igniting cartridge, which goes from zero
pressure to about 10,000 to 60,000 lbf/in (70-400 MPa, 700-4,000
bar) or more in less than a millisecond, creates enough force to make the barrel ring like a tuning
fork at its natural frequency. It has been experimentally shown that such ringing can open groups up
several minutes of arc, especially with long, thin barrels that ring at lower frequencies and higher
amplitudes than short, thick barrels. Most target rifles have larger diameter barrels. The large
diameter barrels reduce the amplitude very significantly which make the rifle more accurate for
sport(target) shooting. The large diameter barrels also reduce the recoil of the rifle when it is fired.
The length of the barrel of the Remington 700 VLS is 26 inches.
The rifle contains a built-in top feeder magazine which can take up to 4 cartridges plus one in the
chamber. It does not have a detachable magazine. The rifle comes standard with no sights since the
rifle is mostly used for sport shooting which requires a telescope. It can therefore be used for
hunting purposes also.
Technical specifications of the involved caliber.
The .308 Winchester has 3.64 ml (56.0 grains) H2O cartridge case capacity. The exterior shape of
the case was designed to promote reliable case feeding and extraction in bolt action rifles. The true
size of this caliber is 7.62x51mm. The .308 Winchester and 7.62x51mm cartridges are not identical
and there are minor differences in their inner case dimensions, though the Sporting Arms and
Ammunition Manufacturers Institute does not list either cartridge as unsafe in a firearm designed
for use with the other. I intend to load my own ammunition since it gives me a wider choice of
bullets than commercial ammunition. The following weights of the bullets can give an indication to
what the caliber is capable of when hunting.
150gr and 165gr can reach velocities of 2820 and 2700 feet per second. Ammunition that gets
loaded with these bullets can mainly be used to hunt smaller wildlife like springbuck, impala and

blesbuck at longer distances from 250-300meter.

168gr can reach velocities of 2650 feet per second. Ammunition that gets loaded with these bullets
can also be used to hunt the same wildlife as the 150gr and 165gr but at a shorter distance. This
weight is actually more suitable for medium wildlife like worthog, gemsbuck and hartebeest at
distances from 100-200meter.
180gr can reach velocities of 2500 feet per second. Ammunition that gets loaded with these bullets
can be used to hunt bigger wildlife like kudus, gemsbuck and hartebeest but at a shorter distance
from 50-100meter.
Competitions in which the rifle will be used.
According to the Vaal Triangle shooting club and SAPSA in South Africa any caliber rifle above 5,56
mm are allowed in the competitions. The .308 would be perfect for any target type competition
because of its accuracy.
In competitions you get to shoot at different ranges (200m, 100m en 50m) from sitting, lying and
standing positions.
ConsThere isn't actually any cons to this rifle. The only thing that might qualify as a con is the fact
that it is a bit heavy because of its heavy barrel. That is not a problem when your doing target
shooting since the rifle is mostly on the ground on a bipod or something. When it comes to hunting
the rifle might get a bit heavy after a lot of walking around. If you are not planning on walking
around too much, then the heavy barrel is not a problem.
Full Review

I have always loved target practicing and

hunting. I have achieved numerous awards
in high school for target shooting and went
to the national finals for my school.
In this review I'm going to talk about the
Remington 700 VLS which is the most
economic heavy barrel rifle. I will also be
reviewing the .308 caliber.
In Closing
My involvement with shooting and hunting
I started shooting with an air-rifle and my fathers .22 under his supervision when I was still very
young and in primary school. We had a small farm on which I use to shoot cans and other targets. I
was drilled the safety precautions a lot at that time. Later on I also shot small animals on my
grandfathers farm like mongoose, squirrels and meerkat. I also did a lot of target practicing there. In
secondary school I joined the target shooting team for Secondary School Overvaal in 1996. We
participated in school competitions every Wednesday and I performed very well. In 1997 I got
rewarded the Best Junior shot award and in 1998 I got the Best Junior shot award again. In 1999 I

achieved the Best Senior shot status. I went on to shoot at Provincial level in 1998 and 1999 and got
Provincial colors and honorary colors from my school. I competed in the national SA finals in 1999.
I also did target practicing with my high school sweethearts father on his farm. Here we shot with
bigger caliber rifles like the .243 and .270. I stopped shooting for my school in 2000 since I was in
Matric(Gr 12) and needed to focus on my school studies.
In the end of 1999 I went on a hunting course in Upington where we learned about hunting laws,
animals, hunting tactics, tracking, technical aspects like bullet grouping, handling of firearms and so
on. We also did some shooting there and each student got to shoot a springbuck.
After school I went to study so I went shooting whenever I got a chance with whoever I could go
with.
My conclusion is that this rifle is ideal for sport shooting because of its heavy barrel and because it
uses the .308 caliber which is highly accurate. It can also be used for hunting if you dont have to
walk around too much :)