Planetcat

I have a few sets of the Warne permanent attach scope rings in medium height. They are good and decently priced. With that setup, I've put a Nikon 3x9x40 and a Bushnell Trophy XLT 1.5x6x44 (30mm tube) and they've fit perfectly on my .30-06. It's worth noting that the Warne pictatiny rail for the Browning BAR fits great on the R1, too, and is much cheaper than the Benelli one.

I've had my .300 Winmag for about 6 years, 24" barrel. I've never seen accuracy decrease with the barrel getting hot. That cryo treatment on the steel really helps that - much better than other semi auto hunting rifles I've had. The rifle is not that finicky about ammo, you will probably get to narrow it down to 4 or 5 brands/weight that you will find shoot well out of it. I have found, like many .30 caliber rifles, that 165 gr. shoot best for me (also in my .30-06 R1 barrel). The ammo I shoot the best at the range (all 165 gr) are Hornady Interlock/Interbond, Fusion, Barnes TSX (not as good as the other two), bonded Core-lokt, Federal premium Nosler Partition or Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. It absolutely hates cheap Eastern Block ammo, winchester white box, and even Federal soft points. If I have to change bullet weight, I'll go to 180's which shoot Ok, but 150's don't fare well in my .300 wm. I've been taking the Fusions deer hunting lately, as the Hornady TSX's don't expand as fast on blacktail deer.

I had my R1 .300 Win Mag 24" barrel ported by Magna Port. Not their muzzle brake, which costs about double, just 4 ports on the front of the barrel. I have to say that it reduced recoil a slight amount, but didn't make the .300 significantly lighter on the shoulder. It still shot 1" groups at 100 yards, but I was hoping for it to recoil more like the -06. It still has a whallop to it, but a little less than stock. Magna Port has fast and good customer service, and their electro porting process is very clean with no machining. I'm not really a recoil shy person, but I do like my follow up shots on hogs to be fast and the .300 Win Mag had just a little too much recoil for me. I also have the .30-06 barrel, which I like just fine, but the .300 knocks them down like nobody's business. I had my 10mm Glock ported too and that's a whole different story. Noticeably less muzzle flip, no flames coming through the top, and faster target acquisition on follow up shots. Worth the $140 on this one. Thought I'd give my feedback in case anyone was thinking of doing this.

I have a Zeiss Conquest on the .300 wm that holds zero fine. I would not go lower than a Leupold VX-II on that rifle. You can't go wrong with a Leupold. I believe a typical 3-9x40 is in the $300 range. I have a Nikon Monarch on the .30-06 barrel, which I would trust with no worries on the .300 wm too.

I have a .300 win mag (24") and .30-06 (20") barrels for my R1. I like to shoot Hornady Interbond 165 gr. for both, hunting hogs, deer, and bear. Although, I have to admit, I feel like I'm lucky as both calibers for me are not finicky with ammo. I can shoot core-lokts, Hornady's, and especially shoot the Federal Fusions well for both too. It seems to not like any cheap Eastern Block ammo (Wolf, Bear, or Privi Partizan) and doesn't especially like Winchester XP3's or the Federal blue box jacketed soft points. For no-lead zones, I shoot Federal Premium with Barnes TSX in 165 gr. just fine. My default hunting ammo is the Hornady or the Fusions, and the Barnes for no-lead, all 165 gr. I have not found a 180 gr. bullet that shoots as well as the 165 gr. in both barrels. I have a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 on the .300 and a Nikon Monarch UCC 3-9x40 on the -06. Both scopes are excellent and the Nikon cost half as much as the Zeiss. As for barrel break in, I did not break in either barrel. Just shot at the range until I ran out of ammo. :-) The .300 was bought used, but the -06 was new. Shot it like I stole it.

I'm probably around 1.25" groups with both my .30-06 and .300 win mag barrels on an older, standard model R1. Seems to like Hornady Interbond 165's and Federal Fusion 165's the best, but really shoots any type of premium American made ammo fine. Absolutely hates blue box federals and any Eastern Block ammo. Both calibers shoot consistently for me out of the same rifle. Plenty accurate for the type of hunting I do (hogs and black tail deer).

Are you using the Superformance loads? I have been using the "regular" interbond's in 165 gr. with my .300 wm for a few years without any fouling problems. I belive the superformance loads are not designed for short gas port rifles. I also shoot 165 gr. fusions and power shocks at the range to sight in with. My R1 is probably over 7 years old though and the piston is like a collection box for burnt powder, but it's never caused any cycling problems. Probably the most I've gone is about 100 rounds before cleaning. I use brake cleaner or B-12 chemtool and then oil the little o-ring after I'm done.

I know you don't want to spend a lot of $$$ finding the right loads, but in my .300, my R1 shoots the Hornady Interbond bullets the best, but also shoots fusions well, too. It's an older R1 and does about the same with my .30-06 carbine barrel on it.

I like either the Unlcle Mike's standard slings (about $10 or so) and I really like the cobra shaped slings with the sueded leather on the inside. I've bought both at Bass Pro and topped them off with the Uncle Mike's QD swivels. I've tried lots of different swivels, like the polymer ones that aren't supposed to squeak, but the QD's are the best. The only thing is they rust on my waterfowl gun, so I replaced them with the stainless version. No problems whatsoever with the nut loosening. I've hiked hundreds of miles in the last 6 or 7 years with the R1 without any problems.

I don't hand load, but I seem to get about 1.5" at 100 yards with both the .30-06 and .300 Win Mag using the Hornady Interbond (not the Superformance line) in 165 grains. These seem to shoot the best for me, although I've shot a lot of different ammo through both barrels and haven't really found any "bad" rounds. It looks like the interbond is only available in the Hornady factory loaded Superformance line.

I bit the bullet (no pun intended) and bought the overpriced one at Brownell's. Since it was only a spare, it wasn't worth risking a malfunction over with a hardware store version.

Here's a paste from another thread I wrote a few months back: "I have the 20" barrel in .30-06 on my walnut stock standard R1 with the Nikon Monarch UCC scope in 3-9x40. On that barrel, I use the Warne 1" medium height rings and the scope sits nice and close to the barrel. Note that it's sitting on the Warne picatiny rail for the BAR, which also fits great. On the .300 Win Mag barrel (came with the rifle), I have a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 on the factory rail and they're Leupold standard rings I think also medium height. Sits nicely on the receiver just a hair above the barrel/chamber." I had no adjustment issues at all with that setup. Mounted the scope and was sighted in with less than 10 shots and no bore sighter.

Sorry for the late reply. I posted back in Dec or Nov. last year about the Warne picatiny rail and medium rings working great on the R1. Scope is a Nikon Monarch 3-9x40. The base is the one specified for the BAR, but it fit perfectly with no shimming required like on other after market bases.

I have the 20" barrel in .30-06 on my walnut stock standard R1 with the Nikon Monarch UCC scope in 3-9x40. On that barrel, I use the Warne 1" medium height rings and the scope sits nice and close to the barrel. Note that it's sitting on the Warne picatiny rail for the BAR, which also fits great. On the .300 Win Mag barrel (came with the rifle), I have a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 on the factory rail and they're Leupold standard rings I think also medium height. Sits nicely on the receiver just a hair above the barrel/chamber. Sorry, no pics.

No prob. I read your post about that and I think like you, I would have preferred a standard one piece Leupold base with dovetail rings, but this aluminum rail (looks aside), seems to do the job. I'll have to put some more rounds through it to see how it all holds up.

I just got myself a .30-06 barrel for my R1, but it didn't come with the $135 picatiny rail from Benelli. I read almost every thread on this forum, and was worried about aftermarket rails on the beveled barrel. So today, I mounted up the Warne BAR Aluminum Base and the Maxima 1" rings (Medium height). The rail fit perfectly and the rings are Weaver style, so they matched up good, too. Mounted a new Nikon Monarch UCC 3-9x40 and it fit just right. I'd say there might be room for maybe a 42 mm objective, but not more. The Warne base was $20 at Cabela's and the rings were $30. Way cheaper than the Benelli base, even though it's aluminum. I'd of preferred a steel base, but Warne didn't make one and other options were limited. So I mounted my scope and went to the range. It hit about 7" low and 5" to the left out of the box at 50 yards. Adjusted the vertical and windage, and it shot nice tight groups at 100 yards, dead on about an inch high. I didn't check, but I don't think I'm close to maxing out the vertical adjustment either. Everything fit like a glove and I couldn't be happier on the performance of the 20" barrel .30-06. Used cheapo Federal soft points in 150 grains, and the 165 grain core-lokts worked just as good. Hopefully I get the same performance from the Fusions and the Barne TSX's. Gonna be a great hog hunting rig. On a side note, the Nikon scope has amazing clarity. Nikon had a $100 off deal in October, so I got it for $199 from Nikon directly. I would say that it's as clear, if not clearer, than my Zeiss conquest on the .300 win mag barrel. I don't care for the BDC reticle, but can live with it for that price. The promotion from Nikon is over, but I still found some under $250 on gunbroker and ebay. Just thought I'd share something positive for once about the R1 and hopefully help out anyone looking for aftermarket scope base and rings.