And everyone says 700s are junk...

kyotekiller25

kyotekiller25

Well-known member
Went against my better thinking and purchased a new Rem 700 ADL stainless/synthetic in 243 win. Actually, this is why I"m still a Rem guy...

Got it home and slapped my vx3 LR 6.5-20 on top.

Loaded up 6 test loads with AA4350 and 70g NBT's, in Win cases and lit by Fed 210s, OAL @ 2.710". Borrowed a few shells from my moms 243 which are loaded with 47g IMR4350 and 70g NBT to get it on paper and what not so I woudln't have to waste my test loads.

Well I was impatient and just wanted to get out and shoot the rifle, get it on paper, just pretty much get outta the house since it had been raining all week, however the wind was blowing 20-25 mph. I wasn't expecting much really...

I got to the range set up my cardboard target, drew a big black circle for my reference point to bore sight it. Sat the 243 down on the leadsled, took the bolt out and put the hole in the barrel in the black circle at 100 yards, crosshairs were way low and right, even after boresighting with a leupold boresighter, yah those boresighters are crap...So I adjust my crosshairs to the black and shoot my first shot, its just a few inches away from the black circle, tad low and right. Make a few adjustment and shoot 3 shells that I stole from my moms 243, load was 47g IMR4350/70g NBT. These 3 made a .377" group! Thought it must be a fluke since the wind was ripping, very hard to keep a dead hold even on a bench in 20-25 mph winds...

I had no intention from the get go to break this barrel in. This is unusual for me as I have broke in barrels on new factory rifles for the last few years. However, I've also had some used rifles that I have no idea if they were broke in, cleaned or whatever, and they still shot lights out. This barrel wont last long anyways, probly be shot out in a couple years.

So I put up 6 little target dot stickers and proceed to shoot my 6 loads with AA4350 (powder I had laying around that needed used up) and 70g NBT's (bullet I plan to put a lot of dogs to rest with.) I started at 44.5g and went to 47g in .5g increments, 3 shots each group.

I was a bit surprised at the results myself. Considering the 20mph wind first off, trying to break your shot off when your crosshairs were on that dot in that wind was no easy task, the xmark trigger isn't bad from the factory, I haven't messed with it, but I guess it to be about 3-3.5# as is, which isn't bad. I prefer 2, but like I said, just wanted to get it out and get it on paper and see if it would even shoot MOA really in the conditions and first time out. All my Rems have shot great over the years, cant say I've ever had one that wouldn't shoot MOA or under at 100 yards with reloads from a bench, most would do much better with its preferred loads.

Didn't cronograph, but from the 24" bbl, I should see around 3450-3500fps in the acuracy node range, which is fairly wide.

Anyways, Out of the 7 loads fired in 20 MPH winds, all 7 went under 1 MOA, while 4 of the 7 were under .5".

AA4350/70g NBT/win case/Fed 210/2.710"

47g .97"
46.5g .97"
46g .48"
45.5g .58"
45g .22"
44.5g .49"

IMR4350/70g NBT/Rem case/Fed 210/.2.710"

47g .37"

23mr28x.jpg


344avr4.jpg


Think I'll stick with the 45g load that gave a 1/4" group. If its shooting like this in 20-25 mph winds, cant imagine it shooting to much worse on a nice calm day, what say you guys??

Not to bad for a box stock 700 ADL first trip out?

And everyone says Rems are junk...Please...
 
I've never said they are junk......

My .243 XHR likes about everything I've tried in it. I'm currently shooting a 75gr accutip-v and a 95gr nosler BT in it. Both shoot around a .5 group and the 75s print about 1/4-1/2" higher than the 95s so no resighting. I love my 700.
 
I've never had a Model 700 that wouldn't shoot good, nor have I know anyone who has. I suspect that all those horror stories we read about "junk" Remingtons that weren't accurate because the barrel was crooked and the rifling was rough, or the stock was bad and it wasn't properly bedded, are nothing but a bunch of B.S. put out by the compitition....in the hopes of cutting into the sales of America's best selling bolt action rifle. If the 700 was as bad as it's detractors say, then it most certainly would not be the most popular bolt action hunting rifle ever made.
 
I've owned several Rem 700's and wouldn't call any of them bad. Problem is most require stock work to get them to shoot decently. What I don't like with Remington is after all these years they haven't realized that a rifle barrel should be free floating.

Many of the 700's I've owned were not accurate out of the box. Spend some time with them and they can be made to shoot with the best.

My latest rifle is a VS SPS stainless in .22-250 that shot 1.5" groups new, not great for a heavy barreled varmint rifle. I've since changed the stock to a B&C and added a Timney trigger. This rifle now shoots great.
 
kyotekiller25,
Not bad at all considering the conditions. And it is good enough for hunting. But it strikes me that if you want to give that Remy the credit that it is due and in that caliber (which I think is terrific). Re-run your tests again when there are hardly any winds and shoot five shot groups, as has been suggested. I'm by no means knocking your test, but I think your rifle may very well a better shooting one than your test shows. And that comes from someone who is not a huge Remington fan.
 
Yep. Rifle probably has even more potential. Most factory tubes don't start shooting their best until a good 100 rounds through them IMO. Some take more like 150. If you have one that is a tackdriver right from the start, it will usually improve a slight bit more.

Never seen a 243 that didn't like 4350. Nice shooting.
 
Originally Posted By: MartyCAThree shot groups will show what the rifle/load can do - five shot groups will show what the shooter can do.

Do you let your bbl cool down between shots? When you are hunting your first shot comes from a cold bore and your first shot is the most important. 3 shot groups take me about 5 min to do cuz I let my bore cool down. A 5 shot group may quite take a bit longer cuz the bbl will be hot, not warm, and may change your POI. JMO. So, not to hijack this thread. 700s are not junk. The QC may need some improving but I have two 700s and they both were sub moa out of the box and like TMG said, they just got better with time. I am glad you are happy with your new rifle and that is some darn good shooting. I have to shoot in the wind all the time and to hold those groups, you are doing your part. Nice job.
 
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Thanks guys.

I've never really gotten into 5 shot groups. Just seems like you always get flyers and that is very irritating to me. I"ve done it a few times here and there, but I figure 3 shot groups are good enough for what I do, and thats mostly hunting with a little bit of LR shooting thrown in. I usually never shoot more then 3-4 in a string, whether it be at a coyote or a 1K steel gong, so I just dont see the need for 5 shot groups. If you say 3 shows what the rifle/load can do and 5 shows what the shooter can do, then I really only need to do 3 most of the time because if the rifle and load will do its part, I know I can do mine more times then not as well. I usually let my barrel cool for about a minute inbetween each shot, I dont like letting it get hot when I'm trying to work up loads. Only time my barrels get hot are when I'm shooting at running coyotes lol

2MG yes that is most definately an old Canucks Bure Jersey and an autographed card that I got signed by him as well. Canucks and Bure were actually my 2nd team/ fav player. I am actually a die hard Red Wings fan, back when they had Fedorov (my fav player) yzerman, shanahan, kozlov, ciccarelli, lidstrom, osgood, etc...

Looks like its a decent day to do some shooting, I'll be back with another report, this time gonna take her out to 600 yards and see how she fares.
 
Bure was awesome on the breakaway and on penalty shots.

I've been a die hard Wings fan my whole life. Wings vs. Blackhawks is coming on at 2pm EST......
 
I've got and have had a number of 700's. All were/are great rifles....after getting floated and bedded. I just bought a CDL in 25/06. Shot OK out of the box, but groups nearly cut in half after the forend pressure was relieved and the action was bedded. It's an awesome rife, with a wonderful piece of wood on it. But there is still something that chaps my rear, to have to take $900 rifle out of the box and directly to the smith to get "fixed". I've also had a number of ADL's in the crap plastic stock. The stock flexed so much that POI was almost impossible to maintain. Again, ALL were fixed with bedding and floating and turned out to be awesome shooters. You hear a lot of people asking the question of savage vs. Rem. The fact is, while the Rem feels better, looks better and is not so crude in design. I simply haven't had to do a single thing to any of my savages to get acceptable accuracy and reliability. All that at much less cost!
 
Originally Posted By: joedI've owned several Rem 700's and wouldn't call any of them bad. Problem is most require stock work to get them to shoot decently. What I don't like with Remington is after all these years they haven't realized that a rifle barrel should be free floating.


Not True.

In spite of what individual shooters think, Remington DOES INDEED know what they are doing.
Some of their spaghetti barrels shoot better with ONE point "touching".

Look guys, Remington, helll, in FACT, ALL rifle manufactures have more research done to see what it takes for a rifle to shoot.

ALL manufactures make some dam good products for what we pay for them.
 
There is no doubt in my mind that the pencil barreled Remmys shoot better with forend tip pressure. Or fully bedded........
 
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