Rem VSSF

[GriMo]

chris thomas,
Why don't you email them regarding the review? If there reviews drop into the 'pleasing the supplier' category then they will drop from being a premier magazine to just another expensive quarterly catalogue.

On the plus side ... it outshot the Sako also tested.

I doubt the magazine would give a shit, because their advertising revenue will be worth more than one miffed customer. That's why I gave up on the shooting (and 4WD and pretty much everything else) press a long time ago. Far too much sucking up to the advertisers and no real honesty to the reviews...either that, or reviewers have very different standards to me.

For the most part i will agree with you. But G&G is a mag i hold in much higher esteem then most others. Given they are also not packaged(that im aware of anyway) with a SSAA membership etc they are reliant on people buying them to keep the readership levels up. If people stop buying it, advertising revenue goes down, they lose money, publishing company pulls it.

In saying that the SSAA mags cop a bit of a flogging online, but since taking up shooting i have actually learned quite a bit from them. I think you need to read between the lines on some of the articles/reviews, but overall they pass the time in the crapper nicely.


It is a shame about the VSSF, for a looong time i was looking at getting one of the "Originals" but went with a ruger instead as it fit the budget a bit better. I can only hope people enough people out there are aware they can get an sps, Sell the crap off it and end up with a semi custom that will be much nicer for similar money.

IE new Stainless SPS are about 1300 now i think
sell the barrel and stock say 200 recovered (prob more but these are just rough figures)
end up with it costing $1100


Have Shane fit a fit a new Lilja barrel $900 roughly
That gives 600 odd for a new stock and action true.
Someone can correct me as im sure im wrong but i think one of Geoff Slee's "roo specials" is about 270 odd?
finish it yourself and for the same price as the VSSF you end up with something a bit more special, and no doubt more accurate

[chris.tyne]

GriMo that is the sensible thing to do but some just cant work it out,take for example at our local SSAA monthly shoot blokes turn up with sako's and Remmo's that they paid top dollar for with the intention of shooting small groups and also to use for varminting and time and time again they are disapointed.
When asked what would I do I say get a decent 2nd hand rifle,get a smith to do how ever much work you want and wear a grin from ear to ear,but..............its just to much mucking around for average joe as they still get the rifle of the rack at the LGS and so it goes on.




Regards Chris.

[Con]

I'm fascinated that this one outshot a Sako though - just a fluke based on either the Remington having a great barrel, the Sako being a rare example of one that doesn't shoot out of the box, or a result of the ammo choice I guess.....

Ammo choice no doubt as the Sako gave moments of brilliance but required the projectiles be seated closer to the lands ... which negated feeding through the magazine box! Overall ... I'd not be forking out close to $3k (RRP) after the review. What's a custom action and Lilja/Maddco/Shilen barrel worth?

The Rem review, the Sako review and especially the FX Monsoon review all seemed underdone and I'll be contacting them about it as I believe they are the only magazine that does respond to criticism. The article on backpack hunting was also very condescending ... though I suspect the author didn't mean to make it so.
Cheers...
Con

[jeffk]

Ammo choice no doubt as the Sako gave moments of brilliance but required the projectiles be seated closer to the lands ... which negated feeding through the magazine box! Overall ... I'd not be forking out close to $3k (RRP) after the review. What's a custom action and Lilja/Maddco/Shilen barrel worth?

It doesn't help that Sako's are way overpriced here either...when I bought my 75 Hunter it was £800 in the UK, whereas both a Tikka T3 and a Rem 700 of similar spec weren't enough less at the time to make them even worth thinking about IMHO.

The only Rem 700 in my cabinet was bought as a bare s/h action and given straight to Shane - and that's the only way I'd consider owning one.

I think a custom action and barrel these days puts you well beyond Sako pricing and the like, but with 3k to spend I'd be going the s/h shot-out Rem or Sako route, getting a barrel and trigger and maybe a stock if it needed it or I got lucky and found a bare action, and then having a decent smith build me something that would outshoot any factory gun. I can understand some people not wanting the wait or the hassle though, especially if all they need is something to drop a deer or pig at 100m.

The Rem review, the Sako review and especially the FX Monsoon review all seemed underdone and I'll be contacting them about it as I believe they are the only magazine that does respond to criticism. The article on backpack hunting was also very condescending ... though I suspect the author didn't mean to make it so.

I think you've hit upon the crux of the problem there - the quality of journalism just isn't high enough regardless of the good intentions or how objective a review is. It's probably to do with not having enough of a circulation to pay for professional writers, but that still doesn't mean I'm going to rush out and buy a mediocre mag when the US ones are far better written - and even they get tiresome after a time, as there just isn't enough new info that I can't get online for free, and faster.

[chris thomas]

Also what about in the whats new section. They mention 36 FP then go on to say it's good for 600 shots at full power ???????????. Yes at the UK full power of 12 FP it might do 600 shots but not at 36 FP. People who know no better will think it wil do 600 at 36 fP. It just shits me to tears that people just dont pass on correct information

Regards

Chris

[ogre6br]

Also what about in the whats new section. They mention 36 FP then go on to say it's good for 600 shots at full power ???????????. Yes at the UK full power of 12 FP it might do 600 shots but not at 36 FP. People who know no better will think it wil do 600 at 36 fP. It just shits me to tears that people just dont pass on correct information

Regards

Chris

but wouldn't it be the holy grail if it could do 600 shots at 36 FPE

even 100 @ 36 FPE would be a fair effort

P

[stinkitup]

After seeing how well the rem and the sako shot Makes the bro's savage vlp 22-250 look fantastic. I didn't see anything targets as good as that savage has shot like under .5 inch at 200m

Even a Stiller predator custom from shane would have to go close for not much more than the sako for a lot better setup.

[Dr G]

I just saw this post as I was taking my lunchbreak and went for a walk down the street to grab my copy. Having just read the remington article I have to say I dont have a problem with the way Andy Montgomery wrote it other than I think he was (or the editors...) a bit soft on the stock issue. Writing for a magazine you have to be constructive in your criticism and, with the exception of the stock, been so. One plus here is that he has answered on of my long held questions about the cratering in the primer. I had noticed the recess on the boltface and had always hoped it was by design. Now I know

As for the VSSF I think this is a real shame. These were always one of the rifles I aspired to own. Infact I nearly did about two years ago but I bought a stiller action instead. Aside from the jewling on the bolt and a slightly better finish on the action and barrel what is the real difference between this and the SPS Stainless Varmint. My SPS gets the same brass leftovers as the test one which I have always just put up with but this should be sorted on a VSSF. As for accuracy it is about the same as what I get from my SPS sporter .223 right down to the preference for Highland SX factories. This is nothing like the VSSF's of old.

The question that you have all raised is why have Remington moved away from the H&S Stock especially as it seems they have gone to the soft injection moulded sps type stock which requires pressure bedding. As Andy M reports i his article this is probably why the accuracy go's to shit on the fifth shot.

I guess it is all economics but I fear that Remington could go the way of Winchester if they keep trying top cut costs especially on there flagship models.

I have a secondhand original VSSF II stock that I bought from Bushchook. The sps now sits in it (little sporter barrel sitting in a Varmint profiled channel ). The change in the stock has shown a definate improvement in accuracy which may be inverse to the decline in accuracy of out of the box VSSF.

On another point that was raised in an earlier post I actually think the standard of articles has steadily improved over the past few years in the SSAA mag. I particularly like the fact that Brendan Aitkinsen (aka Jimbo) has been showing more targets in his reviews. As he is arguably one of the best shots at 100 and 200BR in this country you can take a lot of reassurance as to the consistency and credability of these tests.


Dr G

[Con]

Dr G,
Good to get another view-point.

I find it interesting that Remington has gone the way of the chicken 'cheap cheap', whilst Savage is now rolling out the AccuStock with alloy chassis ... and chasing the Tactical market quite heavily in both civilian and Govt markets.

A Savage Palma rifle will undercut a Rem VSSF by a fair bit too.
Cheers...
Con

[Dr G]

Thanks Con

Savage do seem to be positioning themselves well in the market place.

Sad thing is you can by a Stainless Synthetic SPS an aftermarket H&S Stock for about $700 less than the current VSSF.

Having shane fit a match barrel to it including an action true will only cost $200 more than the factory. If you can get this back on the barrel and stock you have a superior rifle for the same dollars as Rem's flagship varminter. No wonder he has a backlog of jobs.

Dr G

[Con]

Dr G,
I found a shot-out Rem700 VS with McMillan or H&S (cant remember what Rem used at the time) stock with bedding block for $600, added a stainless barrel for another $800 and I'm laughing all the way to the bank!

I feel dirty saying it ... but at the crazy prices being charged for Rem varmint rifles like the VSSF ... I'd rather save longer and fork out for a ... Blaser R93. But on the bright side ... the VSSF looks like great value compared to the new Marlin 1895SBL where they've added a picatinny rail, large lever loop and will charge you just under $2k locally.
Cheers...
Con

[wifecallsmegrumpy]

I bought a Rem 700 LVSF which is similar to the VSSF in that it is one of the top end models with nice stock (B&C I think) jeweled bolt etc.
Sure I could get it to shoot inch groups at best but it wasn't great. Handloads didn't do much for it either.

Sent it to Shane, got it trued, bedded, larger bolt knob and a magazine plate fitted. It's better but still a bit of a donkey, the extractor strips a bit of brass of the edge of the cartridge everytime you chamber, the mag won't feed if you put more than 2 in it the list goes on.
Accuracy has improved with further handload development (.5 moa) but to be honest this bloody rifle has cost a bomb and the spendings not over.

It's going of to Dave Kerr in WA to get a sako extractor fitted and the feeding sorted. If I ever buy another rem700 it will be for parts before going to the smith.

I think I will have spent close to $3k when finished.

It has killed a bunch of varmints though!

[Gunsmoke Bathurst]

just a quick note to say that the article in the current guns & game about the VSSF, the rifle is not a VSSF but it is the new Varmint SF,i know this because i have both models on the self at Gunsmoke Bathurst and the price is only $1700.00 not $2600.00

[stinkitup]

hmmm just makes my old swede look even better Can't say I have ever even looked at remington rifles other than just an action to be worked over at the smiths.

[Con]

just a quick note to say that the article in the current guns & game about the VSSF, the rifle is not a VSSF but it is the new Varmint SF,i know this because i have both models on the self at Gunsmoke Bathurst and the price is only $1700.00 not $2600.00

Oh great! The Rem VSF is spec'd with a HS Precision stock with bedding block, 26" fluted barrel, dual front swivel points. The Varmint SF has the cheap stock ... and near identical specs. So they charge you $1000 for the HS Precision stock?

Varmint SF, VS SFII, VLS ... I swear Remington has definately got Savage in their sights ... now they're copying Savage's stupid nomenclature codes.
Cheers...
Con
PS: Good pick up ... it is indeed the new Varmint SF.