New Old Rem 700 VLS .223

[vtmarmot]

Just picked up a Remington 700 VLS in .223 at a gun show. It wears a nice Nikon Monarch 6.5-20 scope in Leupold rings on a one-piece base. The guy said he bought it quite a while ago and put it in the safe and forgot about it. The pristine bore (as shown by my Hawkeye) and lack of wear on the bolt lugs and body lead me to believe him when he says it's unfired. The leade is sort of average but the rest of the barrel is surprisingly nice. The stock is perfect. The price was way under what the rig would go for new today.

I'm wondering what sort of accuracy other folks are getting from this model. I believe it was made about 10 years ago and it has a 1 in 12 twist heavy barrel that's 26 inches long. I'm sure it will like lighter bullets better. I plan to lighten the trigger (or replace it) and put Burris Signature rings on it. Also I'll pillar bed it. Anyone got some stories to share about a similar rig or what loads it might like?

 

[jonbearman]

I do,I have a 1990's era .223 vs(varmint synthetic/HS Precision) with the same barrel and a tuned trigger.I have repeatedly shot flys at a hundred.It will average at 3/8th's at 100 and at 200 about a half inch if I do my part.I shoot the 52 grain hornady bthp match with h322 in lake city brass. The gun will amaze you how well it should shoot.

 

[ballistic64]

Years ago, the 223 VLS was the gun I learned my lesson with about loading near max in the cool spring and then going to blast prairie dogs on a blazing hot day. Was running H335, Don't remember the exact charge, but one blew the primer then I galled the lugs knocking the bolt open. I knew better and was getting heavy bolt lift before the one case blew the primer, but some lessons just have to be learned first hand, especially when your in some good dog shooting. ;D

 

[SS427]

Not exactly the same rifle...VSSF II, but quite similar. These groups are a little better than average but pretty indicitive of the rifle. Group locations are a little odd, but I went from SBK bullets to match bullets and POI is a little different. You can see I was slowly working them back to the right. This is with a very heavy X-Mark trigger.

If I recall, this was after a powder charge and seating depth test with N133, so after I found the best test combo, this was the first full blown test with the selected load.

 

[tclaunch]

I shot W748 and H335 with 50 grain Ballistic Tips right at the lands. My best group was a 5 shot .200" something but .350" was a fair average @ 100 yds. Mine wore a 8.5x25 LRT Leupold. Great rifles for sure.

 

[NateHaler]

Just picked up a Remington 700 VLS in .223 at a gun show. It wears a nice Nikon Monarch 6.5-20 scope in Leupold rings on a one-piece base. I plan to lighten the trigger (or replace it) and put Burris Signature rings on it. Also I'll pillar bed it. Anyone got some stories to share about a similar rig or what loads it might like?

Don't replace the trigger. You can easily and safely get it to 2lbs by adjusting only the spring weight screw (bottom front screw in the trigger as the rifle would be pointed downrange). Scrape off the protective goop, unscrew the screw a turn, work the bolt of the unloaded rifle, and try the trigger. Repeat until you get it where you like -- which hopefully is before the rifle won't stay cocked (i.e. firing pin is released) because the trigger is too light. Secure it with nail polish. I like clear, because it's manlier. :-[

Figure the scope is worth $300 easy.

Congrats on the score.

 

[searcher]

I acquired that model with a HS Precision aluminum v-block stock in a match. Truthfully, I had almost no expectations of this "factory" rifle being able to impress me much. Was I wrong!!! I did skim bed the action and installed a Jewell trigger and put a Nightforce scope on it with a 20 m.o.a. rail just to make shooting metal at the range interesting and to be able to reach out to 700 yards (with the 52's). I seriously underestimated this gun and it loves Berger 52's with IMR 8208XBR powder, 50 grain Zmaxes (Vmaxes) with Reloader 7 powder, 40 grain VMaxes with Accurate LT-32 powder as well as a good assortment of lead-free. it will shoot any of these loads under 1/2 M.O.A. - with the 40 Zmaxes and the 52 Bergers being the best at under 1/4 m.o.a.. I long ago bought a replacement "good barrel" for it. I can only hope the replacement will shoot as good as the stock barrel. You will likely find that shooting anything over 69 grains is questionable - and the gun may not even shoot the 69's well - as mine won't. Also, while the rifle is accurate, the bore would load up with copper and fouling (probably just typical of a factory barrel). I bought one of David Tubb's bore smothing kits and loaded up the bullets and fired them through the bore. As I already had my new barrel, I wasn't too worried about ruining the stock one. As it turned out, the Tubb's kit did smooth out the barrel considerably and it cleans up quite acceptably now - and with no loss of accuracy - though I did have to do a minor 3/10 grain load adjustment (increase) to make it shoot just as it had previously.
After getting the bedding and trigger squared away - and a good load found - that gun has become my 'fun gun'.

 

[NateHaler]

I acquired that model with a HS Precision aluminum v-block stock in a match. Truthfully, I had almost no expectations of this "factory" rifle being able to impress me much. Was I wrong!!! I did skim bed the action and installed a Jewell trigger and put a Nightforce scope on it with a 20 m.o.a. rail just to make shooting metal at the range interesting and to be able to reach out to 700 yards (with the 52's).

700 yards with a 52 grain .223 bullet? And it stayed supersonic? I always sort of figured that 52 grain and the like were toast past 300y or so.

 

[xdeano]

Ive had two of the 700 VS in 22-250 over the years and they were good shooters for a factory gun. The vs and vls were basically the same except the stock and coating.
Xdeano