22-250 Remington 700 Re-barrel Questions

[Nick Caprinolo]

I recently purchased a new Remington SV 22-250. For me, this rifle has been a disaster. It has a 1/14 twist, which limits the bullet weight and consequently will only stabilize bullets below 60 gr. Their supposedly adjustable trigger can only be adjusted down to 3 lbs. The stock is a nightmare and has a small rise at the front of the barrel. This necessitates some grinding to get it to float. The free bore is so long that the bullets that must be used are at least .100 from the lands.

I called Remington and was told that they guarantee the rifle to shoot 1 MOA at 100 yards and that I should load to SAMMI specifications and it will do that. Not true, at least in my experience.

I replaced the trigger with a Timney, the stock with a Magpul. I am now considering a barrel replacement.

My question is what twist rate I should use and how can I be sure that I will get a barrel that will conform to my being able to place the bullet closer to the lands. I am leaning towards a Remage barrel, which will allow me to change it later to another caliber if I decide to do so.

Wish I had bought a Savage to begin with. This is a rifle I only shoot at the bench so weight is of no concern.

Nick

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

And now you know why many of us won't buy a factory rifle. Sell it and put the money towards a Kelbly Atlas, Borden Alpine, or similar action, and a good barrel blank.

 

[B23]

Which twist is best will be determined by what weight bullets you want to shoot and which bullets you choose to shoot will be determined by what you will be using your 22-250 for. Something like a 9twist barrel will cover a pretty wide range of bullets up to the 70 grainers but if you're only going to shoot bullets up to 60 grains a 12 twist will suit you well.

Pretty much any of the premium barrel companies produce excellent barrels. We all have our favorites, mine are Hart and Krieger, but I've used a lot of others and they were good too.

You can certainly go full custom but there is no need to go to that kind of expense to get a excellent shooting 22-250, unless that's what you want. Just about any good gunsmith can turn your current 22-250 into a fine shooter with a top quality custom barrel and a good chamber job. It won't hurt to have the action blueprinted as well. Not sure what stock you currently have but if it's one of those plastic POS cheapies so many come with, I wouldn't spend any amount of time or money trying to do anything with it.

Also, are you shooting factory ammo or rolling your own? Factory ammo can be all over the place. I have a Kelbly Atlas 22-250 and with factory ammo it won't do a whole lot better than 1/2 inch groups but with reloads it'll cut those groups in half.

Another option for you and this would be the cheapest option, would be to have a gunsmith set the barrel back and rechamber it with a much tighter spec reamer and you'll also be able to have the throat length cut to better match up with the bullet/s you plan to use so you can reach the lands without the bullet falling out of the case. This option is a bit more of a gamble though because if you have a bad barrel, a new chamber with shorter freebore won't help nearly as much.

 

[pacificman]

Not too long ago I bought a reamer from PTG and a heavy Remage barrel from Pac-Nor in 22-250. I wanted 12 twist but as said
a 1 in 9 will cover some of the heavier bullets if that's what your wanting to shoot. My reamer specs are for zero free bore
and 252 neck if I remember correctly. I put all this together to be able to shoot the 53 grain v-max with some speed in mind.
It has been a real good shooter and I am very happy with the way it all turned out. If you buy a reamer designed to your spec's
then you will have it for future barrels too.

 

[Ggmac]

I recently purchased a new Remington SV 22-250. For me, this rifle has been a disaster. It has a 1/14 twist, which limits the bullet weight and consequently will only stabilize bullets below 60 gr. Their supposedly adjustable trigger can only be adjusted down to 3 lbs. The stock is a nightmare and has a small rise at the front of the barrel. This necessitates some grinding to get it to float. The free bore is so long that the bullets that must be used are at least .100 from the lands.

I called Remington and was told that they guarantee the rifle to shoot 1 MOA at 100 yards and that I should load to SAMMI specifications and it will do that. Not true, at least in my experience.

I replaced the trigger with a Timney, the stock with a Magpul. I am now considering a barrel replacement.

My question is what twist rate I should use and how can I be sure that I will get a barrel that will conform to my being able to place the bullet closer to the lands. I am leaning towards a Remage barrel, which will allow me to change it later to another caliber if I decide to do so.

Wish I had bought a Savage to begin with. This is a rifle I only shoot at the bench so weight is of no concern.

Nick

I no longer like the 700 ,in Remington's line I prefer the 783 . It does have button rifled barrels and are a few steps above the 700 . Since it's a carbon copy of Marlins Xsl-7 series .
Your rifle should be given a chance . Use h-380 powder and 52-53 gr match bullets . Your only shooting paper from a bench and it's good to 300 + yds
If that load combo doesn't shoot than change the whole rifle .

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

I no longer like the 700 ,in Remington's line I prefer the 783 . It does have button rifled barrels and are a few steps above the 700 . Since it's a carbon copy of Marlins Xsl-7 series .
Your rifle should be given a chance . Use h-380 powder and 52-53 gr match bullets . Your only shooting paper from a bench and it's good to 300 + yds
If that load combo doesn't shoot than change the whole rifle .

H380 is the only powder I have used, along with 53 and 55 gr Berger target bullets.

 

[Ggmac]

H380 is the only powder I have used, along with 53 and 55 gr Berger target bullets.

Ouch ! It's time to Borescope and see how bad your chamber or barrel are , just to see if Remington will replace the barrel .

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

I just came to my gun room and remeasured things. Using a 52 gr Berger target bullet, the seating depth inside the cas is .1085 inches. while a 55 gr V-Max is .2665. I am out of the 55 gr Bergers so I can't measure them. Ideally with a 1/14 twist rate, it is my belief that a 45 gr bullet would stabilize better in this rifle. The prof is in the pudding, I have yet to shoot a sub minute of angle at 100 yards. A properly built 22-250 rifle should be a tack burner right out of the box even with factory ammunition. I do know that the older Remington's can shoot the eye out of a gnat at that distance.

 

[Ggmac]

I just came to my gun room and remeasured things. Using a 52 gr Berger target bullet, the seating depth inside the cas is .1085 inches. while a 55 gr V-Max is .2665. I am out of the 55 gr Bergers so I can't measure them. Ideally with a 1/14 twist rate, it is my belief that a 45 gr bullet would stabilize better in this rifle. The prof is in the pudding, I have yet to shoot a sub minute of angle at 100 yards. A properly built 22-250 rifle should be a tack burner right out of the box even with factory ammunition. I do know that the older Remington's can shoot the eye out of a gnat at that distance.

You aren't using boatails are you ? Use flat base match . I've had plenty of Rem 700+Rem 788s in 22-250 all shot up to 55 gr bullets . Don't use monolithic ( copper bullets , they're longer ) so are boatails. It's not the weight that limits the use it's the length .

 

[Clancy]

My father in law just got his Beanland 22/250. 10” twist and a Brux 5, .035 freebore and no turn.

Ran a quick seating depth test, found 69 gr SMK shot great .010 off, and proceeded to test a few charges spread over 2.0 grains of 4350. Literally the largest group I got it to shoot was .305”. Low .2s were spread across the charge weights.... I found 3 groups that lined up perfectly on the horizontal plane and sent him home with 100 rounds of the middle one.

P.S. skip the barrel nut.

 

[K22]

Remington's are noted for their long free bore, nothing new here. My Rem 22 250 shot under 1/2 moa with this long free bore. This shouldn't be an issue to get the rifle to shoot.

My varmint model stock did not have the press points at the end of the stock forearm. Mine had the high end stock with the bedding block. However the first thing I use to do when I bought a Remington sporter model with those pressure points is remove them to free float the barrel. They all shot better without the pressure points, even the thin barrel model 7's. There is a reason that Tikka, Browning, etc. free float their barrels.

The current Rem X-Pro triggers are junk in my opinion. Replacing it was a good move and should help.

With the 14" twist, the 50 grain bullets shot the best in my 22 250. Before you rebarrel I would try the 50 grain Nosler BT with IMR 4064, Varget or IMR / H 4895. H380 is also known for being a very accurate powder for the 22 250 but it's a ball powder which I don't like because of temperature surges I've experienced in the field. But you could try it if you have some.

The problem with the 22 250 is that it doesn't lend itself to extensive load development. By the time I figured it all out I had consumed over half of the barrel life. My barrel went south after about 2,000 rounds however in the interim it was one fine long range varmint rifle. I didn't rebarrel mine, I sold it since the 223 Rem handles 95% of my varmint hunting needs.

Personally I would opt for a 12" twist if I was rebarreling because I would want to shoot 55 or 60 grain bullets.

 

[Idaho-45]

Nick, I've owned one of the Remington 700 VS, 22-250 for years. They are a nice rifle... But, as most guys know... The 1-14 twist rate REALY limits the bullets you can use, accurately! If it were me, I'd take it to a reputable gunsmith, have him true the action, & have him put a good quality aftermarket barrel in at least a 1-9, preferably a 1-8" twist, & proceed to go have some fun with your "new" rifle. I'm fairly certain that the 1-8 will shoot the Hornady 53 gr V-Max just fine, & they are a pretty darned good varmint bullet! But, with a faster twist, you can take advantage of higher BC target style bullets for some "Long Range Fun"! Also, I don't have any experience with the Magpul Stocks, but, I'd reccomend an HS Precision, McMillan, or such, to squeeze the most out of your new Rifle.... Whatever stock you end-up with, the barred action should be bedded into it! Sorry for the Long Rant, it's just my $0.02 worth...... Good Luck! Idaho-45

 

[284winner]

I recently purchased a new Remington SV 22-250. For me, this rifle has been a disaster. It has a 1/14 twist, which limits the bullet weight and consequently will only stabilize bullets below 60 gr. Their supposedly adjustable trigger can only be adjusted down to 3 lbs. The stock is a nightmare and has a small rise at the front of the barrel. This necessitates some grinding to get it to float. The free bore is so long that the bullets that must be used are at least .100 from the lands.

I called Remington and was told that they guarantee the rifle to shoot 1 MOA at 100 yards and that I should load to SAMMI specifications and it will do that. Not true, at least in my experience.

I replaced the trigger with a Timney, the stock with a Magpul. I am now considering a barrel replacement.

My question is what twist rate I should use and how can I be sure that I will get a barrel that will conform to my being able to place the bullet closer to the lands. I am leaning towards a Remage barrel, which will allow me to change it later to another caliber if I decide to do so.

Wish I had bought a Savage to begin with. This is a rifle I only shoot at the bench so weight is of no concern.

Nick

If your satisfied with a factory Remington action, simply use it with a new barrel, stock and trigger. You'll be glad you did.

 

[drover]

Or you could just sell the 700 and buy a Tikka T-3. Seriously that would save you money and get you into an accurate rifle for less money that you are thinking of spending to attempt to make the 700 shoot. A Pac-Nor Supermatch barrel and action job runs right at $650.00, a Timney trigger is around $110, a replacement stock will be a couple of hundred or more depending on brand. You can sell the 700 for about 2/3 or retail purchase a Tikka T-3 for around $750 - all you have to do is back out the weight of pull screw to adjust the trigger, put a scope on it and go shoot small groups.
I am not anti-700 but the Tikka T-3's have been a revelation to me as to just how good an out of the box rifle can shoot with no drama.

JUst do the math and you will see where I am coming from.

drover

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

All good advice. The Magpul stock seems to fit me perfectly. It has an aluminum insert in it and Magpul recommends 65 in pds of torque, which is where it is set at this time. Tinkering around with it tonight I found that I can load 55 gr V-Max to the lands and still have a reasonable amount of the bse in the case. Going to the range tomorrow and try some different loads. If this doesn't improve the groups, a new barrel is the next step.

Thanks al of you for your import.

Nick

 

[stacy]

COULD BE THE CROWN TRY SOME FLAT BASE BULLETS 53GR AND SEE IF IT DOES THE SAME THING WITH THE H-380

 

[joed49]

Nick, you haven't said what you want to use the rifle for and that is important. I believe in matching the bullet to the intended use. I had one rifle I sold, a Savage .223 with 1:9 twist that I sold because it would shoot the 69 gr into tiny little holes but wouldn't do the same with a 50 gr. My intended use was groundhog hunting in a populated area.

I have a 700 VS SS that I bought a few years ago to replace the Savage. Yes it has a long throat. I learned very quickly to use the SAAMI length as I was getting 2.5" groups. When I went back to the SAAMI length groups dropped to .5". Go figure. But it works fine with the long throat.

The best bullet I've found is the Sierra 52 gr. I've tried others but they don't shoot as well as this one. I use this rifle for hunting groundhogs where I live and it is good to 400 yds. For powders I use Varget and have been very pleased with performance.

 

[BleedsBlue]

700s are heartbreakers. The small block Chevy of guns with unlimited parts availability but poor performance out of the box.

Pretty much everything will out shoot one in stock format including a cheap Thompson Center Compass.
Yet after a thousand bucks a 700 will shoot as good as a stock ruger, TC, savage, tikka .....ouch!

 

[thekriebles]

Hello Nick.

Hope you had a fun time at the range by the time you read this. I'd be in shock if the Hornady 55gr. V-Max performed well in your rifle. A 1:14 twist will typically NOT stabilize these longer bullets. As others have stated, I believe you need to replace this slow twist barrel with a quality faster-twist one to enjoy some consistent accuracy and satisfaction. And now that you have that 6PPC, your minimum standards & expectations may be raised as well.

 

[Ggmac]

All good advice. The Magpul stock seems to fit me perfectly. It has an aluminum insert in it and Magpul recommends 65 in pds of torque, which is where it is set at this time. Tinkering around with it tonight I found that I can load 55 gr V-Max to the lands and still have a reasonable amount of the bse in the case. Going to the range tomorrow and try some different loads. If this doesn't improve the groups, a new barrel is the next step.

Thanks al of you for your import.

Nick

Good luck and please keep us posted