wOULD APPRECIATE REMINGTON 700 30-06 ACCURACY TIPS

[Seabreeze133]

I have a new to me Remington 700 30-06 that appears to have been a truck gun but not shot much. Bore is bright but have not slugged. Serial # E6643xxx and have no idea what model it is or when mfg. Light rifle and recoil is fairly significant w/NM load of 47 gr 4064, 173 gr mil match, WLR primers. 2.5 # crisp trigger. Weaver 3-9 scope. Reasonably accurate but would like to improve.

Plan so far is to relieve stock clearance around barrel, install a good recoil pad and glass bed. I can perform these mods. Any other tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

seabreeze

 

[GSPV]

"Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?"

Accuracy is a relative thing. It costs time and money. It is also a diminishing return. The last 20% is far, far more expensive than the first 80%.

So, what are you getting now in terms of 3 shot groups and what are you willing to spend your time and treasure to get?

 

[Lapua40X]

IMO you've selected a good starting point. In your place I'd go ahead with that plan and let the results dictate what, if anything, needs to be added.
Is this a hunting rifle?
One word of advice on the "shiney" bore. Nothing shines brighter in the bore than carbon deposits. Before you convince yourself that the bore is sweet and clean, take a bore scope peek.

 

[GSPV]

Here are some tips from a pretty fair 30-06 guy, German Salazar.

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/index.php?topic=3788423.0

http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/2012/05/cartridges-accuracy-secrets-of-30-06.html

 

[LW Moore]

try one of the 4350 powders according to a good current reloading manual.

 

[Seabreeze133]

Thanks for the replies.

I intend to keep the existing barrel for awhile unless it refuses to improve.

Game is to use it as a hunting rifle and I enjoy accurate rifles, so am willing to experiment. Would like to try it at a local 700 yard range. Have been a Savage shooter for awhile and this is my 1st Remington, except for the match prepped 03A3 Remington. )

The loads I have tried are those mentioned which are 22 years old from my hipower days.

Anyone have thoughts on barrel up pressure at the forend? If so, any suggestions on amt of up pressure.

Will study Mr. Salazar's articles.

seabreeze

 

[GerryM]

Barrel up works sometimes But so does floating.
You have to try both to find out what your barrel likes.
Here's something you can try to see what it likes. Put some hard shims under the action to float the barrel.
If that works then floating is what your barrel likes if it gets worse then up pressure may be what it likes
It only takes a few minutes to see whats happening. you can shim the barrel at different points to see what it likes .

 

[Lapua40X]

It only takes a few minutes to see whats happening. You can shim the barrel at different points to see what it likes .

I favor free floating but I must admit that I had a Remington 700 in .223 that shot fairly well until I made attempts to improve it's accuracy by free floating the barrel. Something I hadn't expected. Lesson learned. :'(
Regarding the recoil you spoke of. A Limbsavor recoil pad does wonders to take the sting out of that and you have the option of mounting it permanently or using a slip on style.
Your set-up is familiar. Brings to mind my introduction to deer hunting, circa 1960. Most of my shooting prior to that was limited to target plinking and some competition pistol shooting. Remington 700 rifles were very popular and Weaver 3-9 variable was the first choice of lots of the guys I hunted with.

 

[snert]

My ADL (old one) improved most with simple relief of the wood tab in the forearm, and good loading practices (weight sort, primer pocket uniform, AND playing with seat depth. 168 gr MK, match primers and 4350...went to a 1/2 inch 3 shot gun despite being a sporter

 

[bheadboy]

Seabreeze,
I have shot a lot of Rem action rifles, 600'700, 40x --many purchased used (when 3 kids in college) then cleaned up -not one gave bad accuracy , usually 1/2-5/8" in hunting setup after the following

however, all improved with the few steps you propose as first try.

free float the barrel, clean the bbl, carbon, chamber throat maybe have recrowned.
in glass bedding, always bed from the tang to about 1/1/2 inch in front of the recoil lug under the chamber, be sure the recoil lug is enclosed and the side rails of the action are in good contact.keep trigger and mag well trimmed clean and not contact. also drill out the action screw holes so they are free of bedding.

adjust the trigger to a max of 3" and go reloading.

Bob

 

[BoydAllen]

I would float the barrel by a goodly amount, and pillar bed the action. The advice to try some version of 4350 is good, and I would pay a lot of attention to seating depth in my workups. Since your scope probably does not have a parallax adjustment, when you are testing loads at the range, pull your eye back till you see some black around the image, and position you eye so that the black is even all around for each shot. That should minimize the effect of parallax on your groups. Also, pay some attention to the wind by putting out some sticks with surveyors tape tied to their tops and hanging down to the ground. Try to shoot all of the shots in a group with the tape looking close to the same. Sort your brass by headstamp so that you do not mix it within groups, and understand that major differences in case weight affect case volume, pressure, and consistency of velocity and load tune. Try to work with uniform cases. When shooting at the bench, your trigger pull should increase gradually in such a way that you do not know the exact instant when the rifle will fire. Also, try to be consistent with how you hold the rifle, and do not be afraid to hang on to it and pull it into your shoulder. A lot of shooters try to improve by trying harder. Instead, I suggest that after you have thoroughly tested something, if you want different results, try something different. Don't be afraid to experiment with how you shoot the rifle.

 

[cmillard]

get yourself some lapua brass--or match prepped Winchester, skim the necks to uniform diameter, and I too would give some 4350 a try. in my 1903-a4 sniper, my load that shoots lights out is the following--prepped Winchester brass, tula large rifle primers, 190 sierra and 52.8 grains of h4350 (no pressure signs in MY rifle). shoots lights out. I think these bullets are just kissing the lands in the throat.

 

[GSPV]

Someone mentioned it, but the majority of "truck rifles" that I've seen needed to be recrowned. It's quick and cheap.

As long as you want a hunting rig, you're on the right track.

 

[Seabreeze133]

Thank you gentlemen. Methinks I can accomplish all the constructive advice and will report back when I can finish up, but it may be awhile as the new to us house needs honey do's.

)

seabreeze

 

[hogan]

Here is the deal....

Gonna shoot 173gr for nostalgia sake? Try some contemporary accuracy acclaimed bullets if your goal is "precision". Go with a slower powder too, 4831 or 4350 are good starting points. lots of guys like RL-17 in 06 case...

You got a beater rifle. Don't matter about "the bore". Remington 700 barrels are about $3 worth of factory production and metal. What is this "slugging the bore" stuff? Gonna shoot cast boolits? Good idea, but otherwise trust big green to have gotten you a decent diameter to work with.

Want to drop some coin making your sow's ear into a purse? Seems like you are headed that way, with determination. Cut your losses. Get a new barrel and have the chamber headspaced about .0005 to .001" over GO Gauge. Want to play the velocity game and shoot heavy bullets? Then you get your new chambering done Ackley Improved or to be a real rebel, go .30 Gibbs.

Remington action is a good building base. The safety isn't really ever safe and the removable recoil lug is a pita, but with a short-oal chamber and tuned trigger, most guns will shoot very fine.

You got a deal on your truck gun/beater; cool. Find a quality take-off barrel or order one. Pac-Nor does a fine job on pre-fit barrels if you can mic the distance from receiver shoulder to boltface and boltnose.

Shoot whatever loads you like, but if you want precision, look at the Sierra book, 3, 4, or 5 and use their bullet and start with their accuracy load.

If you're really intent on pushing the velo envelope, consider a magnum. Not too much money to buy a new bolt body from Pacific. The ol' .30-338 or .300win mag still have a lot to offer, or try a short mag.

Best of luck.

 

[Seabreeze133]

I realize I have a "Beater" and I am just playing a game. Can I make this thing shoot without spending the mortgage $$? As stated earlier, this is my first Remington 700 and the intent is not for a precision match rifle, but to see what I can do without gunsmith help.

The 173 military match 30-06 loads were for a DCM M1 from a long time ago and shoot well. I have actually gotten better 100 yd groups with the 173's than the 175 SMK in a particularly accurate Savage 308 with 26" barrel, a 10x Super Sniper scope, custom stock and a bipod. Match prepped WW brass and 210M primers. Will not discuss the powder and load.

Recently bought a custom 1917 Enfield that would shoot less than one minute 10 shot groups. Played with it and passed it on to my son in law.

Thanks again for the constructive advice from all responders.

seabreeze )

 

[ShootDots]

Trying to keep as much money in your pocket as possible, I would spend some money to make it better.
1.) Square and true the bolt / action; 2.) Either replace (better option) or "fix" the Remington trigger. AND 3.) Bed it properly if it is not properly bedded..The total of these costs would be $350-450.. If you just properly adjust the trigger you would save about $150.. If it does not need bedding that is an additional $125-150... BUT in any case, you need to Square and true the action and fix the trigger >> at a minimum...

 

[BoydAllen]

For any factory hunting rifle, I would do the trigger and bedding first. For me, a good deal of the fun, and satisfaction has been learning how to do things for my self. It sounds like you are the same way. For both of these, I suggest that you do some reading on erniethegunsmith.com He sells tools and materials for pillar bedding, and has quite a bit of good information. He also sells trigger springs that I have used to good advantage on Remington triggers.

 

[CatShooter]

I realize I have a "Beater" and I am just playing a game. Can I make this thing shoot without spending the mortgage $$? As stated earlier, this is my first Remington 700 and the intent is not for a precision match rifle, but to see what I can do without gunsmith help.

The 173 military match 30-06 loads were for a DCM M1 from a long time ago and shoot well. I have actually gotten better 100 yd groups with the 173's than the 175 SMK in a particularly accurate Savage 308 with 26" barrel, a 10x Super Sniper scope, custom stock and a bipod. Match prepped WW brass and 210M primers. Will not discuss the powder and load.

Recently bought a custom 1917 Enfield that would shoot less than one minute 10 shot groups. Played with it and passed it on to my son in law.

Thanks again for the constructive advice from all responders.

seabreeze )

Unless you want to dump a bunch of money down an endless rat hole, forget truing actions and the rest of it. You are tweaking a truck rifle, not building a benchrest rifle. Truing an action ($450, Kachung) and putting a $25 factory barrel back on it would be plain silliness, or worse.

You can do all the work you need, by yourself.

You need to bed the action, float the barrel, and adjust the trigger... nothing else, because the next step would be replacing the barrel, and you are getting in deep at that stage.

You can do all of that for less than $50 and have money left over to raid McDonalds for lunch (and treat a friend)!

Articles on bedding are available all over the net, plus YouTube has them in living colour... and here's a page on adjusting the Remington trigger.

http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/RemingtonTriggers.asp

 

[butchlambert]

CatShooter is pretty much correct.