[Paul Donahue]

I read somewhere on the web,can't remember where, that current production Remington centerfire rifles, have so much freebore that you can't seat the bullets out near the rifling.The suspected reason was protection against lawsuits.Has anybody else heard about this? I'm thinking about buying a Rem SPS varmint .223 from Dicks Sporting goods.The rifle comes with a 4-12 scope mounted, and is $539 out the door.Anybody have any experience with this gun? Thanks for any help. Paul

 

[mattsbox99]

One of the many rumors out there...

 

[jeffro]

Paul, you are right that the remington rifles have a considerable freebore, not a much as the weatherby's, but it is still considerable. With the rifles, you are usually not able to get the bullet in the lands. This should not be that concerning though because the rifles are still very accurate. If you reload, I would recommend loading some at the OAL specified. They should shoot fine.

 

[Tang]

Just not true. I have no trouble getting a 210 Berger VLD to touch the lands. But that could be a bad example ?

 

[MZ5]

I have no knowledge or info re: the length of the freebore. I simply observe that many people (including me, at one time or another) lament the lack of freebore in some rifles, because the short throats require seating long, heavy bullets deeper into the case, thus impinging upon powder space/capacity. So, longer freebore would be a benefit to people wanting to run longer/heavier bullets. Lawsuits? I don't think that's a factor at all (if the rumor is even true, which I have no idea).

 

[jeffro]

Tang I'm sure that the 210's do touch the lands. What I have heard is that there is some freebore that way the lighter and shorter bullets shoot ok and you are also able to go up to the 210's which are longer bullets and it will work even better.

The other thing that you can do is not seat your bullets as deep and you can probably get a bullet in the lands but if you are shooting a heavy recoiling caliber the bullets might start coming out.

 

[big boar]

I have a Rem700 Police in 308, the max OAL to fit the magazine is exactly .100 shorter than will touch the lands so I load it to fit the mag. Using a Leup scope set at 10x it is a consistant performer and will usually do 3/4 MOA (5 shot groups, when the nut behind the bolt does his part). Frequently I've had sub 1" groups @ 200 yds and last year, quickly put 3 into just over 1.1" @ 300 yds. I don't shoot a lot from the bench, usually from a sit/stand/prone. From a sit, with sling, it can mostly do 5 into 4" @ 200 and frequently under 3"@ 200. The best part is it can do this with any of 3 bullet brands (155's & 168's), 3 different powders and 4 different case brands, it is not fussy. This is not a bench gun, I wanted it for position shooting, the stock is good fit and I'm very pleased with it. The throat is long but I think it still shoots well in spite of it.

 

[broom_jm]

I have no knowledge or info re: the length of the freebore. I simply observe that many people (including me, at one time or another) lament the lack of freebore in some rifles, because the short throats require seating long, heavy bullets deeper into the case, thus impinging upon powder space/capacity. So, longer freebore would be a benefit to people wanting to run longer/heavier bullets. Lawsuits? I don't think that's a factor at all (if the rumor is even true, which I have no idea).

+1 I bought a Win. Model 70 in 7RM about 10 years ago. With 160gr Speer Grand Slam bullets, I had to seat them so deep that it went past the ogive and the bullet fell into the case! Had to send it to a gunsmith to get the throat reamed out before I could load hardly anything in it.

 

[Rubberduck]

I was going to buy the same rifle in 22-250 a little while back but I bought a Chevelle instead and the funds went elsewhere. All the research I did on them proved them to be tack drivers, especially with hand loads. Several members on here have the sps varmint and the dick's package is a good buy. The stock leaves a little to be desired but you can upgrade to a better stock down the road.