My previous hunting rig was an AR in 6.8mm, with an 18" heavy barrel, midlength DI gas system, 1:11" twist. The barrel was made by Ben Triplett at Bison Armory but otherwise it was a franken-gun. I would be doing him a disservice if I didn't clarify that his work is absolutely top-notch and that my selling it had nothing to do with lack of quality on his part. My decision to sell was based entirely on the limitations of the 6.8mm cartridge. It was a truly remarkable piece of machinery, absolutely lethal out to 350yds, outstanding as a hunting rifle, but it didn't fit the bill for doing everything I wanted it to do.

She went to a friend in Colorado:


Well at any rate, I wanted to have a precision rig that would also be tough enough to go into the field pull double-duty as a hunting rig. I figured good approach was that of a police sniper rifle. Lethal, hefty, lots of inertia in the barrel, but still "midweight" enough to be suitable for hucking around all over kingdom come if I need to. Did my homework, boiled it down to a Savage 10 FP-SR....


....or a Remington 700 AAC-SD.


I used to have a Remington 700 BDL in .30-06...

...so I was used to the Remington action design and considered myself a loyal Remington guy. Aftermarket options seem endless for Remingtons, too, so that was a plus. Went to the local gun shop and they said they would have to special-order it.
So I did.
They said they had no idea how long it was going to take and only made me put $50 down on it. Meanwhile, I set out to find .308 reloading dies and ammo.

Well, out with a buddy last weekend, I happened across this rifle...

...at Dick's Sporting Goods. It was less expensive than the R700 I'd already put on order, and it had better specs, and I was able to walk out of the store with it in my hands. I went home and did some homework, slept on it, and then I went back for it the next day, and cancelled my order at the other shop and got my $50 back. Time will tell if it was the wrong decision, but I doubt that it was.

There was a 2-piece rail set already on the rifle, and I had rings and a scope back home, so I brought them with me that morning and they mounted the scope for me for free. She's wearing the Millett DMS 1-4x24mm scope that used to be on my AR, in Millett rings, and also the Caldwell XLA 6-9" bipod from my AR.

Her name is Jennay. We's gon be like peas n carrots. :)