I recently had a sale, sold off 3 older rifles and some other expensive junk that had an inch of dust on it. My plan was to buy a good Rem 700, an XLR Evolution stock and a night vision scope. I did just that. I bought a stock Remington 700 ACC-SD first and before it even got delivered I stumbled across Redhawk Custom Rifles. So two days later I bought this rifle complete just as I wanted it. It came with everything but the scope and bipod. That leaves me with the extra 700 ACC-SD but that’s ok I have a plan for that one too. Anyway let’s go over the Red Hawk Rifle.

So, the master plan was originally to pair this rifle with a Pulsar N750 Digital night vision scope, suppressed with subsonic loads. After firing the Red Hawk Custom rig I have decided I’m wasting this rifle with short range subsonic loads and I moved the NV scope over to the second Remington SPS threaded rifle. I have decided this Red Hawk will be my new long range target rifle. I retired my older 700 308 which is in a Bell Carlson stock and topped with a Weaver Tactical scope.

The new Red Hawk Custom: First thing that drew me in was the price. $1495 base price. For that kind of money I was surprised you get everything you do. That price includes a brand new XLR Evolution Tactical Stock, a brand new Remington 700 ACC-SD 308 rifle with the threaded 20 inch heavy barrel. You also get a detachable magazine kit and one 5 rd mag. You get a trigger job and lapped bolt lugs for  improved accuracy. You get 1 rail for mounting an accessory to your stock’s forearm. I added a Badger oversized bolt handle which Les kindly gave me a small break on. So that was an additional $70. (usually $85) I also added a Talley scope base (20MOA) for I think it was $65. Bringing my total to $1630.

Now if you start shopping to buy all that stuff separately and price out the trigger job and bolt work I really don’t know how they sell that rig complete like that for that kind of money. I really don’t. This rifle is exactly what I had planned in my mind and I was already pricing all the stuff to build this on that first rifle I had bought. I wasn’t coming close to this rifles $1630 price tag. So this Red Hawk Custom seems to me to be the best priced semi-custom rifle build I could find anywhere. Let’s discuss some of the parts.

XLR Evolution Stock: This stock rocks and has been reviewed on TGR once before. So I won’t reiterate. Here’s the link, check it out. https://tacticalgunreview.com/blog/2012/07/consumer-review-xlr-evolution-chassis/  I will say I love the stock, it is fully adjustable to whatever you want, totally rock solid and damn good looking. Enough said from me, check out the excellent review.

Trigger Job: Red Hawk Custom reworks the factory 40X trigger to break around 2 3/4 lbs. Having 2 other 40X triggers to compare it too side by side it is clear the Red Hawk trigger was far superior. They did a nice job on it. Timney trigger nice?? Well…close. I still think this rifle will get a Timney somewhere down the road but it is definitely the best Remington factory trigger I have ever had out of 6-7 of them and 3 right now. Overall the trigger is great.

Scope Base: It is a Talley, that should be enough said. 20 MOA and solid as a rock. Talley products have been reviewed and highly recommended on TGR before. In the past I have usually ordered from EGW. Nothing wrong with that but I get the idea that Talley is a step up. I like it.

So we know Remington builds great rifles, we know we have some custom work added to it included in the price. We know we have a kick-ass stock, solid scope mounts, Harris bipod (I already had one) and a detachable mag kit. Which also is awesome by the way. First detachable mag I have had on a bolt gun and I love the thing. These things by themselves are well over $200, again super-cool it was included as part of the base package at $1495.

Now we have all the ingredients for a superb precision rifle. You can get them for quite a bit less money than I thought. The bottom line though is does it shoot?? That’s all that really matters. None of us will have saved a dime if it doesn’t shoot. I’d rather spend $3000 plus right off the bat and have it shoot than it be a disappointment at $1630 I paid for this rig. Now with a Nikon 5-20x BDC Monarch scope (first time with this scope) mounted and leveled we will find out.

Shooting: I usually shoot 10 kinds of ammo through a rifle like this but considering today’s current supply problems I took only what I have the most of. I have many cases of Federal AE308D 150 grain ball and as many cases of 175 grain BTHP Federal Gold Medal. I took 2 boxes of each.

I got on the paper with the 150 ball and then fine tuned with the Match 175’s. I have pictured my best, worst and average groups. This rifle will shoot. My best group, center to center, with 175 Federal at 100 yards was 1/4 inch! That’s pretty damn good for me, .25moa is nothing to scoff at.

My worst group was right at 1 inch outside to outside. Center to center it was 3/4 inch. So when I did my worst it was 1moa. I don’t consider that bad anyway. I know some people do but if I could make a deal with the shooting gods to just shoot 1 moa all the time, no better or worse…I’d make that deal. I was happy with my worst group.

On average they were .5 MOA. Good stuff as far as I’m concerned. I think the only thing stopping it from shooting those .25 groups all the time is me and a handload. I am totally pleased with this rifle and its accuracy.

Summary: You get a WHOLE LOT of rifle and goodies for a great price from Red Hawk Custom Rifles. This baby definitely will shoot. If/when the day comes I can get some 168 grain Hornady or Federal Match for less than $99.95 a round I am looking forward to seeing how she eats up 168’s. Like I said the good price doesn’t mean crap if it doesn’t perform…This Red Hawk delivered as far as I’m concerned.

Les and Michelle at Red Hawk Custom were great to deal with. I had several conversations with them and they were great people and “johnny on the spot” when it comes to getting things done, done right and delivered to you. They are doing a nice job over there. I do see myself returning to them for any future precision rifle purchases. Please visit them at http://www.redhawkrifles.com/   or give them a call with your needs at 970-242-6166. I can’t see them disappointing you in anyway.

I guess that’s it. The rifle is great…it is great at an unbeatable price and backed by good people who built it. Watch in the near future where I will go over the Nikon Monarch BDC scope I used for the testing. So for now thanks for reading and train often.

 

By: Cary Kieffer

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Cary Kieffer

USMC Infantry/Combat Veteran/MUESOC/Sniper School - Med Retired LEO w/ 8yrs on job before Iraq wounds caught up with me.

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