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Remington 700 accuracy

76K views 43 replies 30 participants last post by  William A. Reed 
#1 ·
I have a new remington 700 bdl .270 cal and I am trying to get as much accuracy as I can. Except for a 3x10x40 scope it is stock. I am currently shooting 3 inch groups at 100 yards with a 150gr. round from bench. Besides adjusting the trigger pull what can I do to get better accuracy? I'm looking at up to 600 yards.
 
#2 ·
The first question I'd ask is do you handload? That's the way most of us search for beginning accuracy. Trying different bullets and powders is one way.

Mechanical accuracy from a 700 can be inhanced in several ways. Glassbedding, piller bedding and free floating the barrel are some of those. You've already talked about adjusting the trigger.

Here's a good article on understanding barrel bedding that may give you some ideas.

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/gunsmithing/bedding_0304/

Here's an article on wringing out the ultimate accuracy from a Remington 700.

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/gunsmithing/RSgunsmith3/
 
#4 ·
wolfen,
Not sure what you are looking for in a rifle. But just some thoughts:
A 270 only giving me 3" groups at 100 yards, would have me concerned. No point in going any further, until that is fixed. Try different ammo or find out what is wrong. I would settle for no more than 1 1/2" from a factory stock rifle of that sort.
the idea of 600 yards with a 270 is possible, but that type of shooting is problematic. A lot can go wrong. Luck would have a lot to do with successful shots.
I shoot a 270 Weatherby mag, and while some will do 600 yards, it is out of my ability and I know it. Even with reloading and choosing the right bullets and such, the opportunity to practice and feel confident is not there.
You do have a good rifle and caliber though and with some effort, you will extablish your own limitations.
Best of luck
Bestboss
 
#25 ·
The first question is; are YOU capable of shooting better than 3" groups?
I thought that too based on an experience I had with a friend of mine with a Remington 700 VS in .223. It was brand new and he wanted to zero it so that he could use it as his new prairie dog gun. He was shooting to zero, I was shooting for groups. By the end of the afternoon, my groups were sub MOA, his were about 3". We did this from a bench with sandbags at a measured 100 yards. That's a lovely rifle and I wish it was mine!

Good luck to you - I don't really have any suggestions other than what the rest of the folks said, except to maybe take along a friend who you know is a good shot to see if it's the rifle or if maybe it's your technique.
 
#8 ·
Well, I have owned literally dozens of M700's over the years, from .222 to .35 Whelen.

Every one of them would do MOA with at least a couple of factory loads, many, especially .223/243 class chambering's, less than MOA. All could be loaded to MOA with several handloads. My CDL Whelen will often print 4 sub MOA groups on the same target.

You may have a lemon '700, but a lemon scope, loose mounts, or simply incompatable ammo is WWWAAAAAYYYYYYYYY more likely.
 
#9 ·
I have a 700 Mtn Rifle bought new two years ago and upon mounting a scope the gun grouped well under an inch and a quarter. I adjusted the trigger and floated the barrel fully this skinny barreled gun shoots around .3 to .4 with most 140gr bullets. It is a 7/08. I have owned more than a few 700's and with a little elbow grease have had wonderful results.
Not wanting to offend but I would first have someone check your scope mounting and mounts, adjust trigger to a weight safe for your experience level, check the bedding and/or float barrel. Then you should practice religiously at various ranges and positions. I can't promise you will get to the level you "dream" of but you will learn what you can and cannot do and the animal deserves that.
Remfarmer
 
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#10 ·
Wolfen, first of all congratulations on the new purchase! I myself just bought a used 700 bdl in .270 cal this past weekend and I absolutely love it. Mine already had an old Redfield (USA made) 2x7 scope on it so I took it directly to the range to see what adjustments needed to be made. To my surprise, none did as I was shooting mostly sub MOA all day.

I would suggest trying a different type of ammo first. My 721 in .30-06 for instance does not like most of the expensive Hornady ammo but rather prefers the cheap Remington Core-Lokt PSP. Actually both my .30-06 and .270 love this ammo. I would start with a change of ammunition and then make sure the sope rings and mounts are tightened correctly before doing anything drastic. Also make sure that you are allowing the barrell to cool off between groups, or shots for that matter. Also, a rifle can begin to lose a little accuracy after as little as 20 rounds so make sure you clean it before you start over. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Also, remember 3" groups are still going to leave you with one dead deer at 100 which is what most shots are going to be taken at anyway.
 
#11 ·
Wolf,

Lots of good advice here-make a list and it will be easier.
I would start with:
1. Check base screws
2. Check ring screws
3. Check action screws
4. Front and rear bench rests- are they solid?
5. Different ammo(several)
6. When you clean, try a patch wrapped around a brush
7. Let the barrel cool between shots

THEN worry about sanding wood and slinging accraglass.

HG
 
#12 ·
Hey wolfen, I have owned many 700s over the years and right now I have 2 Remingtons in the 270 one is a BDL and the other is a CDL. It is to bad you do not reload as I have a number of loads that are really accurate. As far as the trigger we have a guy on the forum that does triggers and if you like I will give you his name.
I would try the Federal Fusion they are expensive but from what I have been told they are exetremly accurate. I personally would also change the grain of the bullet as 130 gr has been known as the pet bullet for the 270 for many years ( your welcome Jack). This is just a suggestion, but play with it as you have my personal favourite in caliber and in rifle make.
 
#13 ·
Couple of thoughts come to my mind. First how is your trigger set? A trigger from the factory is generally pretty hard 5-7 lbs. Plus it could have some creep or travel that needs to be taken out.
Secondly, I've seen a lot of guys shoot and wonder why they can't get a decent group only to find their scope rings or bases were not tightened properly.
Personally, Remington sells some fine, accurate, dependable guns. I would tend to think the problem was with some other component. Scope mounting,ammo used, trigger adjustment or even your scope itself.
Good luck.
 
#14 · (Edited)
I don't shoot a 270, but do shoot a 280 Mountain rifle along with several other Remingtons and have to say a three inch group would not be acceptable to me. On the other hand I've spent lots of years as a gunsmith fixing rifles that wern't broken to begin with.

I've made a good bit of money accurizing rifles that really didn't need it. Most of the problems were, and no offense meant, with the shooter. From not using good bench rest equipment to the aforementioned loose screws to a simple warped stock that was pressing to hard against a barrel to a bad scope to folks whom simply didn't know how to shoot accurately enough to make decent groups off a bench setup.

Rarely did I get a gun with a barrel problem or stock problem that was causing inaccuracy. So rarely in fact that over the course of working on guns for over 30 years I can almost remember every single one. I had a brand new Ruger 77 tang safety 7 by 57 that had a chamber bored slightly off line from the bore that took me a while to figure out, Ruger replaced it without a whimper once they checked it.

Of all the Remington's I've had or worked on over the years usually a good trigger job cures most that ails them, and you can do that yourself by going to the sticky on how to at the top of our gunsmith section.

Here's some of the Remingtons I shoot and all are inch or under guns. The first one is a Rem model 7 carbine in 308 and it shoots three shot inch groups. Because of the light whippy barrel I don't try for five shot groups with this gun.



Here's a 280 Remington 700 Mountain rifle that does nice five shot one inch groups.



Here's an old 700 BDL in 8mm Rem mag and it can put five in less than an inch. It's been floated and glass bedded, though the 700 Classic in the same caliber I shoot hasn't had anything done to it and it groups the same.



Here's a 700 VLS heavy barrel 243 and it's stock from the factory and shoots groups much smaller than the inch the rest of the Remingtons shoot.



One thing all these guns have in common is everyone new or old I aquire is torn down, oiled and the the trigger adjusted before they are ever fired. All the scope bases have a little clear fingernail polish put on the threads and are on tight. All the action screws are checked for proper tightness and the finger nail polish thing done to them also. There are also some Rugers and CZ's and Savages in the safe and there is not one rifle in there that will group over an inch at a hundred off a good bench rest. It wouldn't be there long if it did not group well.

All these guns are shot from a heavy rifle holding fixture off a portable bench rest and careful attention is paid to proper shooting technique. I shot lots of years of competition and knowing how to shoot is sometimes as important as what your shooting.
 
#15 ·
Well said faucettb. I've got a Ruger M77 in 270 caliber. I hunted with this gun for many years without fail. About 7 years ago I shot a whitetail doe and hit about 6 inches right of my intended aim. After trying everything I could to get that gun to shoot, a friend saw that the end of the muzzle was deformed. I believe this happened from carrying the muzzle down resting on the floorboard of my pickup. I still have the gun and maybe if I can find a good gunsmith I will fix it.
My point I guess is I tried everything to see why that gun would not group any longer. Different ammo, different scope, cleaned it extensively checked all screws etc. trying to find the problem. The problem was caused by me and I miss shooting that gun. A new gun that won't group probably has something wrong with a scope,it's mount, the ammo used, or the shooter , no offense intended.
 
#16 ·
Most smiths can re crown that for very little money and it sure should cure it. Messing up a crown is one of the few things that will do in any accurate rifle quickly. You can also get piloted recrowning tools from Brownell's or Midway and do it yourself for probably the cost of what it would cost taking it to a Smith. Then you've got the tools if any of your other rifles or handguns need it.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Thanks guys. I think it may be the ammo I'm using. Its factory winchester cpx2 130 gr. when I checked some of the cartridges one of them was deformed. But, this is a new rifle for me. The scope is a Simmons Aetec 2.8-10x44 with medium height rings. With my last one, set up the same, I was doing 1 inch groups at 100 yards standing. But I will try different ammo and maybe get an actual bench. Right now I'm just resting the stock on a home made rest covered with leather.
 
#19 ·
I'm shooting a 280 Rem 700 mountain rifle with an AETEC 2.8 to 10 and just love it. It likes about any bullet between 139 grains and 150 grains. I handload so it's pretty easy to taylor my load to gain best accuracy. This little light rifle is a joy to carry and to shoot and the little AETEC scope fits it perfectly.
 
#22 ·
Just to give you an idea what Yellowhouse is talking about shimming, what he means is if you put an old credit card just ahead of the action in front of the recoil lug it will hold the barrel up out of the barrel channel and act just like you had the gun free floated. You can check this by sliding a dollar bill down between the barrel and forend. You should be able to slide it all the way down to the card you placed between the barrel and the stock. Do this with the action screws tight. Shoot the gun this way and see if accuracy improves.

If this increases accuracy and you want to make it permanent just take a socket that will fit in the barrel channel, wrap it with sandpaper and sand it out so you can slide that dollar bill down between the barrel from the front to the action. This is called free floating and it sometimes works wonders. If you do sand the barrel channel down be sure to put something like Tru Oil on to finish the barrel channel so it won't soak up moisture and warp the forend.

Start your dollar bill here to slide down the barrel.



Here it is about halfway down the barrel.



The barrel on this CZ Varmint is free floated all the way to the recoil lug.



This is a hundred yard five shot group off my sitdown bipod. This is from a 204 Ruger, but all my guns shoot good groups and all are free floated. This is something that can be done by most gun owners and tends to cure some accuracy problems. I also suggest you either have your trigger adjusted or do it yourself.

 
#33 ·
Just to give you an idea what Yellowhouse is talking about shimming, what he means is if you put an old credit card just ahead of the action in front of the recoil lug it will hold the barrel up out of the barrel channel and act just like you had the gun free floated.
In the old days, they used to do it with Linseed soaked Match box cardboard, and called it matchbox bedding. You'll actually find this on older 03A4s and early Mark I M1s.

What kind of scope?
 
#23 ·
Pillar bed it, free float the bbl, send it out for cryo treatment, have the bbls crown recut at 11degrees. Last but not least, get into reloading. My brother used to use his 270 rem deer rifle to shoot chicken eggs at 200yds at our local club. 150gn Nosler, with a bunch of IMR4350
 
#26 ·
I bought a Remington 700 AS about 30 years ago, mounted a Leopold 3.5x10x50 scope on it and loaded it with 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets pushed by 52.5 grains of IMR 4350. I lightened the trigger, free floated the barrel and glass bedded the action and it shoots .5 inch groups at 200 yds off a bench. It is zeroed at 50yds, hits +1.5 inches at 100 yds, and -2 inches at 200 yds. Close to line of sight trajectory. I compared a lot of calibers and chose this one because of velocity, flight characteristics of the 7mm and availability of cases laying on the ground that I can convert to my use. My eyesight sucks now so my son has inherited the rifle and it is still putting meat on the table. Everyone has their opinion on the best caliber but I would not go back and change my choice.
 
#27 ·
It's a different caliber, but when a Friend brought a friends son up to the range with a new Model 700 in .308. He was having problems with factory ammo so I handed him some of my handloads and his groups dropped to about 1 MOA. Basically a 1 inch group. Basically working up a handload is easy and one of the best ways to get accuracy when you develop that sweet load for your rifle
 
#32 ·
Good idea!

BTW when you put a picture on Photobucket, look to the right of the picture. You'll see 4 rectangles with the bottom one being IMG. Click on that one till it goes yellow and says "Copied". than come to the text and below it do a control V... it'll cut out the link and embed the picture.
 
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