Thoughts on a 700 VLS?

[Mulegunner]

Ok so Ive been around the firearm community to include the H&R stuff.  Right now Im kicking around turning in some "Trade Stuff" on a 700 Rem.  Im looking for something to use on eastern bear, whitetails primarily and the occassional coyote hunt.  Im more of less decided on the .308win.  I had this caliber in a rem 788 years ago,  now Im kinda looking to get back to basics.  Now Im looking at the 06 Remington catalog and the 700 VLS has my eye.  The question I have or rather the input from 700 shooters....Is the heavy bbl really worth the extra $$ or skip it go for one of the SPS 700's.  The additional weight really dosent bother me all that much...Im looking for other pros and cons.  

Thanks in advance for any advice or input on this matter.

[Graybeard]

There is no good reason I can think of to lug around all that extra weight of the heavy barrel. It will or at least should be no more accurate than a standard barrel. It likely will group more shots into a small diameter circle than will a standard barrel but how many shots will you be firing at a time? I use the R700 LSS Mtn. Rifles and for five shots they will shoot as well as a heavy barrel gun of same caliber. Beyond that the barrel gets too dang hot to hold and I don't know what they will do as I don't shoot guns with barrels that hot. I'm just not one to carry around extra weight I don't have to.

[sniperVLS]

If the weight doesnt bother you, get it. But if youre going to be doing a lot of walking, Greybeard has a point.

Personally, the weight doesnt bother me either and I love the VLS. Greybeard has another point when it comes 2 accuracy in most cases....

I had a 700 Mountain Rifle in .30-06 from about '90 till '96 and it was VERY accurate for such a tiny barrel. I could hit 2 liter bottles at 400 yards shot after shot. It had a good trigger out of the box too, now Im starting to miss it

The problem...I do a lot of bench shooting and mostly at very long ranges and the recoil from the bugger was unforgiving when you put a LOT of rounds down range. My VLS hardly nudges me and that goes a long way as far as mind games and flinching. I caught a case of the flinches thanks to that Mountain Rifle and it took a while to get rid of.

With that being said, Ive been wanting one of the new Stainless ones, sooooo sexy  :-)

If weight doesnt bother you, again, go for it. But dont come whining when you go on a decent trek and the weight became a factor  :-D

All my rifles have thick varmint barrels on them, its something Ive become accustomed 2. Heck, Im trying to get all 3 different models of Senderos into my safe  

[Mulegunner]

GB and Sniper,

Thanks for your advice.  The performance was my primary concern.  If the sporting weight bbls do the job,  that makes up my mind.   I spend some time at a bench every year, but primarily this would be for hunting purposes. :grin: Im not looking for bench competition firing rounds all day long.

[nomosendero]

I want to make sure I understand, you say that the weight doesn't bother you that much. You must be sure about this before you decide, since this is the main "con" of the bull barrel. What is your own strenght & endurance level? I can tell you that most of my hunting rifles have heavy barrels & it is not a problem for me. I go out West & carry them all day, but everything is relative, for one thing I am a pretty good sized feller, I grew up on a farm & played ball & had lifted weights  for twenty years or so & this would help. So what is heavy for one person is not for another, you gotta love these gun writers who tell us EXACTLY what a gun should weigh whether your Goldie Haun or Hulk Hogan. You should borrow a  bull barreled gun from a friend or a gun shop & on your day off carry it around / go walking for a long time & see. If you can't find anyone to help you with this, you may need to move to an area that has serious shooters.
Another thing that I have done is I have bought a sling that drapes over my shoulder much like you would carry a M60 & the rifle hangs in front of you. It is made out of stretch rubber with a cloth cover. I can throw up the rifle quickly for an up close offhand shot or go prone quick to use my bi-pod. This makes the gun very little different than carrying a light rifle
with a conventional sling, how bout them apples? As I have told Killdeer
in another thread, as soon as I can find the company that makes this sling,
I will post it.

If you determine that the weight is not an issue, as others have allready said, buy it!!!

Alot of what has been said in previous posts is correct but some things were overlooked. Shooting a group from a bench is not the issue at all, as
I rarely get to take a bench on an Elk hunt. Try holding a light rifle steady in a hard wind (like out West, for example) versus a heavy barrel & the heavy kicks butt. When you shoot from a pack, bi pod, you name it the heavy is much more steady & that means the difference between hit & miss. At the bench, you can use the right kind of rest & bags to make a light or heavy rifle steady, but in field conditions you will be much more accurate with a heavy barrel.

I use light rifles when I am in the thick stuff sometimes or sometimes when I am sitting about 30' up in one of my climbers, but when I know the shots could be tough, I know what I will have.

I see you live in the mountains of PA. I know there are shooters in that part of the Country that will let you test a heavy a little.

[257 roberts]

I have a Rem. 700VLS in 308 Win. its a shooter BUT its not a walking gun.

[nomosendero]

My heavy barrel Rems.  aren't walking guns either, but quite often I take
them walking!