.270 Poor Accuracy Help Needed

[Jm32526]

You have gotten a lot of good info so there probably isn't much more I can add. I will say I shared your same problem 2 years ago. I have a Rem 700 that was chambered in .270. I was not getting the results I wanted (I should be honest here and say I didn't try really hard). So I took the barrel and wood stock off and started reading. I eventually posted a request on this website and got amazing advice! In the end I chose to go with a Krieger barrel chambered in .260 REM along with a different stock and a trigger job. The bottom metal is still stock and I had a trigger job done. I would suspect you can go with a different contour for a barrel and lighten it up and still get the same results. After getting some loading advice (again from this website) I ended up with a great load and no guess work was needed. I consistently can shoot under MOA at at least 300 yards. I am a decent shooter, but I have to give the credit to the rifle and the load data I got from people smarter then me. I attached the photo of my best target for that day with the load data.

In the end you are better off with putting a match grade barrel on it. I would also recommend going with .260 or 7mm-08. I suspect if you keep tyring different loads you may find something that may get you under MOA, but then again you might not. Take the plunge and buy a match barrel and change calibers, you will not be disappointed, and it will be money well spent.

Mcmillan A5 stock
Rem 700 Long Action chambered in .260rem
Krieger 8.5" twist 5r 26" stainless remington varmint
Trigger job, trued action.

 

[hogpatrol]

Just read the entire thread. Waaay too much time wasted chasing your tail on a bad barrel. I've gotten in to building my own after a couple of bum Remington factory 700s.
If they don't shoot the first trip to the range with generally proven loads, it's on to something else, either re-barrel or sell the gun.

 

[BoydAllen]

A couple (figure of speech) of things:
Just because you have a particular powder and/or bullet, and it would be convenient if it or they worked does not have any functional significance. The rifle does not care. Years ago, I wrote a piece that ended up in Precision Shooting asking why some barrels do not like BT bullets, something that I had observed working with a FN .270 using bullets of good quality of the same weight. Sometimes the powder that should work does not. You need to try another. In this case, 4350 comes to mind. On seating depth, I have always found it easier to find an accurate load with bullets seated .006 to .010 into the rifling. Of course this would require dropping the load back and doing a new work up, if you have been seating off the lands. Another error that I see all the time is resting rifles that are built on sporter stocks too far forward on their forends. By actual test, more than once, I have seen a significant improvment by moving the front bag nearer to the action. Having the back of the bag about 3" from the action is usually better. What really gets me is seeing someone use a benchrest style forend stop with a sporter stock, thinking that it is really trick. In that situation, they put the rifle in exactly the wrong place. Other issues are more difficult for most shooters, because they do not do different well. Loading at the range, will let you cover a lot more ground in one range session, with fewer shots.

 

[wapiti25]

First, I bought a "one deer hunting trip" 700 ADL 270 from a guy, It was like new. The rifle was the wood stock model. It had a lot of the same problems you are having, after several hundred rounds and lots of bullets and powder it would not shoot three shots in 1" at 100 yds. I bedded the action with no improvment. I put a "take off barrel" (Remington) and instantly it turned in to a 3/4 moa rifle with several loads that I had tried before. I also had a friend that could not get his Remington 700 30-06 to shoot so I found a Shilen pre-fit 270 Win. and installed it now he has a 1/2 moa hunting rifle and is very happy. He also has a high dollar custom Long Range hunting rifle that does shoot better but he keeps going back to the 700 for about half of his hunts. I have looked at a lot of factory barrels with a borescope and it is a wonder they shoot as good as they do. Good Luck

 

[mattri]

An aftermarket barrel will probably help your accuracy- but it really sounds like some more load development might be worth your while.

Like Mr. Allen said just because a certain bullet/powder "should" work has absolutely nothing to do with whether your gun will shoot it.

I have had a number of rifles that didn't shoot "go-to" loads, but were amazingly accurate with other bullet weights/types/manufacturers and/or different powders.

That your rifle doesn't like one bullet weight or power is not necessarily indicative of a problem with the rifle. It may shoot another weight of bullet, another style of bullet, another manufacturer very very well.

Its your rifle, if you want to re-barrel by all means do so but it may shoot better than you expected with a different combination.

Best of luck, Matt.

 

[Strawboss]

Sounds like your barrel is trying to group. I have found some Rem factory barrels need to have the muzzle crown lapped. I had a 280 with similar problems which grouped inside 1/2" after lapping a burr off the muzzle. Have you chronographed your loads? If so, I would try different seating depths with a load that gives good consistent velocities, low standard deviation and extreme spread. Do a ladder test with loads -0.010, -0.020, -0.030, etc, and you will notice a sweet spot that will allow you to fine tune your load even further. Good luck, some guns take more work to group than others.

 

[m500]

If you haven't put a borescope through your barrel you need to. Pay attention to where the freebore meets the bore. Make sure it is concentric. I ordered a new Remington takeoff barrel in 270 from CDNN last month. It was so eccentric I could see it just by looking down it. Clean freebore on one side and rifling on the other, with a crescent moon shaped ring where the freebore stopped. Had to be a really loose pilot to do that. I couldn't imagine it shooting good, so I sent it back. CDNN handled it good with no problems. They couldn't have known about it. Shame on Remington for sending it out the door. This may not be your problem, but it is some thing you should check. Anyway, good luck and happy new year.