Remington 700 BDL 243. Patterns all over the place

N

Nutfarmer

Registered
Registered
Joined
Aug 2, 2019
Messages
1,528
I have an older 700 BDL that I have never been able to keep in a diner plate pattern at a hundred yards. Things that I have checked:
1 barrel and chamber are clean and look good.
2 scope and mounts look solid and aren’t moving.
3 trigger is a jewel and seams crisp.
4 have tried several brand and hand loads to no avail.
What do I check next? I purchased the gun used in 1972 and have never been able to keep a pattern under 10 inches at a hundred yards. It should be under two inches at a hundred yards. Any suggestions on what to check next. I have a couple of other 700 s and they shoot fine. I am missing something hear. Not a gunsmith, just a shooter. Any suggestions would be appreciated before I give up and sell it.
 
Have you checked your bore diameter.? Tried different weight bullets.? Do you reload or just tried others reloads?
 
Check for cracks in the stock or action screws that are too long... allowing the action to move in the stock every shot...

Also, try a different scope... they can be faulty internally, allowing the recoil to move the crosshairs...

I've personally ran into both issues.

-Bear
 
Frustrating for sure. Nothing drives me to pickin boogers faster than a gun that won’t group. When trying different cartridges did any show great improvement? Guessing you aren’t wanting to Invest much into it trying to sort it out. Here is what I would check first
  1. is the crown damaged? Any deformation at the muzzle can cause the projectile to leave the barrel unpredictably.

  2. Are all three stock screws properly torqued? Especially the forward most screw in front of the floor plate and rear trigger screw.

  3. Pull the barrel and action out of the stock and look for shiny metal on the barrel and dull spots on the wood. Indications that there is uneven pressure on the barrel. Most, but not all, guns shoot better without random pressure spots. While the barrel is out of the stock check the front sling screw if present. Yours wouldn’t be the first 700 that the sling screw came threw the stock and was touching the barrel If it is.

  4. Can you swap the scope out with a known good scope? This could help rule out a bad site problem.
  5. Finally, how does the bolt feel when closing on a cartridge? Same as your other bolt guns? Smooth and non binding? No galling on bolt lugs? Be sure there is a tiny amount of grease on the bolt lugs. Not much, just enough to insure smooth operation.
The older 700’s typically shoot pretty well.

edited to remove question has it ever shot to your liking.
 
Do the shots spread completely randomly, like shotgun scatter, or does it have a direction (e.g. up and down)? Typically issues with the barreled action moving in the stock cause vertical stringing, or a vertical bi-modal group. Scope problems are usually bi-modal (two mostly separate 'groups').

With the rifle together can you slide a piece of paper under the barrel and bring the paper all the way back to the action without it getting pinched? (Testing barrel for floating). The barrel rubbing on part of the stock (especially if it's "just barely" rubbing), or a damaged crown will group (pattern) nearly at random.

There's not a lot going on with a bolt gun until you start worrying about tiny refinements. If you can verify that the action is solidly mounted and the barrel is floating (and the scope is good), it's time for a new barrel. If you can do the work yourself it might be worth setting the existing barrel back to see if that helps. If you need to hire it done, I'd just get a different barrel.

GsT
 
I have a national match springfield arms M1A that does that with any factory ammo I've tried, even Black Hills. All over the paper at 100yds. However, handloads group at 3/4" at the same distance. Go figure.
 
682bear said:
Check for cracks in the stock or action screws that are too long... allowing the action to move in the stock every shot...

Also, try a different scope... they can be faulty internally, allowing the recoil to move the crosshairs...

I've personally ran into both issues.

-Bear
Click to expand...
Based on your description and assuming you know what you're lookin for, I would have to agree with these steps first. 8-10" at a hundred yards is horrible, and I would think that narrowing it down to these two problems and eliminating those would be the cheapest and easiest steps to diagnose first. The only other suggestion I usually make would be to have someone else try shooting it, but since you mentioned you have other rifles that shoot fine we can rule out shooter error. Just my two cents.
 
I had one do that, only Ruger Mark ll. Scope was bad, blew up 2 more, barrel swell, got barrel cut and recrowned (twice). Tried glass bedding, no. Tried reloading, but with 140 grain bullets. Each step got it down from 7 inch groups. Different stock, 160 to 175 grain reloads, got it around 1 inch. Only took 20 years. Friends said trade it, could not. Those are usually accurate with everything, especially 243. Scope and stock would be my best guess.
 
Most likely it is going to be a combination of several small things: barrel to stock fit a little off, crown not perfect, too long a throat, and so on. As said above, I would check for rubbing on the barrel and free float it as needed, check the crown for nicks, also check the chamber length and so on.

Basically, take it down to blueprint level specs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top