Rem. 700

[jalewi]

I have been having problems with a Rem 700 30-06. It has about a 6 inch group at 100 yards sand-bagged. I have a bushnell legend scope on it and have been using remington factory 150 grain ammo. The scope mounts are tight and secure; the inner barrel looks good with a bore light. Should I send the scope back to the company to have it checked out? How can I further check the barrel out on the gun(especially near the distal end)? Anything else I should do? I recollect I shot the gun with 125 gr. low recoil rem. ammo last year and it had much better groups.
thanks for your help
jalewi

[Rapier]

There is no reason a Rem 700 in 30-06 should not shoot MOA or better. I would suspect that the problem lies with the scope, the cleaning of the bore, loose action screws or a loose trigger nut.

Next time you head to the range, get someone else (that shoots well) to shoot the gun for groups. If they have a problem then start digging.

If you know a reloader, get them to load two dummy rounds for you, without primer or powder. Mix the two dummies with two or three loaded rounds. Load them all in the magazine and shoot for group. This is a sure check for a loose trigger nut.:D
Ed

[jalewi]

I have already let some really good marksmen shoot the gun for groups. I am not a bad shot myself and shot it on sand bags with this horrific grouping. People keep telling me the barrel is "burn up", but the gun does not seem to have been shot that much as the action is tight and the bluing is still intact on the end of the barrel. I have heard of this in varmint rifles, but wouldn't it take a LOT of quick, successive shooting to "burn up" an .06 barrel?

[Gotcha!]

I would suspect loose action screws and/or barrel contact with wood. I guess this is sporter 700.

[Rapier]

jalewi,
Try the cheap stuff to do first. This is a used rifle that you bought. Go get a bottle of Shooter's Choice. Get a chamber plug or wood dowel to fit the barrel/chamber junction. Remove bolt, tap the dowel in place to seal the chamber and pour the bore full of Shooter's Choice set the gun in the corner to soak for 1 week. After a week, pour the liquid out, back into the bottle using a funnel, remove the plug. Now, scrub the bore with a bronze brush. You should get chunks of copper and the bore should be slick and back to bare steel. If not, repeat the process until the bore is clean.

I have returned many used 700s to great shooters using this prochedure. 98% or better of the folks who own a centerfire rifle haven't a clue how to clean the bore.

Before going back to the range try the dollar bill trick to make sure the barrel is free floated. If it is not free floated cut a credit card into narrow strips and put three strips into the recoil lug slot in the stock, tighten the screws for the action. Check the barrel again for clerance. If clear, go shoot the rifle. You can glass bed the action later.

If you still have problems, switch out the scope with another scope. The Bushnell line was a decent scope 40 years ago but now they are not so good.

Best of luck. Oh, I have a 1941 Win Mdl 70, 06 that would not shoot for beans, it had a "burned out barrel" also. I did the Shooters Choice soak to it. It shoots .30 inch groups with 150 Remington's now. It had 50 years of copper in the bore.
Ed

[jalewi]

Thanks!!

[Dom]

Rapier covered this very well, I'll only second the recommendation of a good scrubbing and then place another scope on it and run a few downrange. This should eliminate the question on whether it is scope or rifle, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[PJgunner]

I agree with rapier on giving the gun a good cleaning. However, I'd just first give it a scrubbing with whatever solvent you have on hand, then go to work with some JB Bore Paste. Put some on a tight patch and scrub with 25 strokes. Change patches and do it again. Twenty-five strokes. Go through this until the gun has had 100 stroke with four different patches. Then clean the JB residue from the bore with your solvent and dry with a couple of patches. using a good light, I use a pen light, inspect trhe condition of the bore at the muzzle. Most of the copper fouling should be gone and the minor amount left shouldn't be a problem.
I would also suspect the scope. I have a Winchester M70 Featherweight that fouls badly and I have to use the JB paste after every range session. However, accuracy was lousy. I had a trigger job done and the gun professionly glass bedded to no avail. I was ready to take a heavy hammer and smash that gun to pieces. On a hunch, I changes scopes as a last resort to taking it to a gun show and getting rid of it. The first group was under an inch and subsequent groups have ranged from .375" to one inch with the exception of one load using Winchester 150 gr. Power Point bulk bullets. FWIW, they do not shoot well in any .284" bore rifle I own. After the cleaning, if you have another scope handy, even if you have to spend $29.95 for a Wallyworld el cheapo just to check things out, do try another scope.
Paul B.

[Dan Morris]

Outers also sells a electronic cleaning kit...I did this to a 338 a few years ago and was amazed at the soup that cooked out of a 'clean' barrel! Performed like new.
Dan

[scalerman]

I had a similar problem with a .270 and a 6 MM. I used the "copper out" on both of the guns and they were back to shooting sub MOA groups again. Try this procedure and see if it helps.

[jalewi]

I've sent my order to shooter's choice this evening. I am going to try letting the stuff work in the barrel for several days like Rapier mentioned then give it a good cleaning. I free floated the rifle today as well.
If that does not work, I'll change out the scope and give that a try. The bushnell 3-9x50 legend looks to be a fair scope and have seen good reviews on it. However if it seems to be the scope causing the problem, I'll send it back.

[Pre-64]

Jalewi,
I know that this is an old thred but how did you make out? I had very similar problems with a out of the box 700 classic in 300 win mag about 15 years ago and would love to hear what happened with yours.

[TKO]

I am curious too to hear how this turned out, I have 50 cents that says it was the scope...

[buckhunter]

My money is on the scope. I had the same problem with a Ruger 77. Sold the gun cause it wouldn't shoot. The guy who bought it is still laughing. If you even give it a half cleaning and the scope is good it should be a shooter.

[jalewi]

I know this is a really, really old reply. Nearly a year. Sorry! I ended up moving back to TN and kind of forgot about the post during the move. But here is what I did...
I used the shooter's choice just like Rapier suggested, word for word. I went ahead and did a glass bedding job and floated it. I kept the same scope on it. The gun now shoots sub-MOA. I now use nothing but shooter's choice products. Thanks for all of your all's help!

[Catfish]

Glad to hear it`s a shooter after all. If you have problems again run some copper soulvent through it. I usually use Sweets 7.62, but anything with ammonia in it will work. You might run some through to see if it is fouling. Keep running them through untill you get no more blue.

[jalewi]

Catfish,
That is what I did. I gently tapped a wood dowel in the chamber to seal it and filled the barrel with shooter's choice copper out and let it work for about a week. Then I gave the barrel a good scrubbing with a bronze brush and kept repeating the scrubbing until the blue color came clean. It worked like a charm. It is about the best shooter I have now.