Glassed the lug

[BretN]

I had been meaning to at least glass the recoil lug on two rifles for some time now. Recent work by truck driver and Wyo7200 inspired me to give this small job a shot on my Remington 783 and push feed Model 70 with a Bell and Carlson Medalist stock. Both guns already shoot well and have loads they will shoot under 1/2" at 100 yards.

Started with the 783, using JB Weld, blue painter's tape on three sides of the lug, and turtle wax as a release agent. The lug channel in the plastic stock is small, but there's still quite a bit of slop when the screws are loose. I roughed up the non bearing side with a dremel tool and drilled 4 small holes in the plastic there too. It came apart, but with effort. The tape stayed in the channel and took a bit of picking to get it all out. Turtle wax was not the best release agent, but the gun and cheap stock now fit together like two machined parts.



The model 70 was a bit more stressful, funny how working on your first gun does that. I got the BC stock because the original featherweight pushed up and to the right. The BC stock helped get this gun back to MOA or better. I just cleaned the stock and gun, used neutral shoe polish, and blue tape. This time it came apart easily, clean up was easier, but the blue tape was still in the channel. It came out with little effort though. The model 70 lug is substantial. The gun and stock fit together like a vault door now. Looking forward to getting to the range. Will need to decide if I want to finish glassing the first couple inches of the barrel.



Thanks again to those who offered encouragement and help. Bret

 

[FOTIS]

. Both guns already shoot well and have loads they will shoot under 1/2" at 100 yards.

Bret

You are braver than I

 

[SJB358]

. Both guns already shoot well and have loads they will shoot under 1/2" at 100 yards.

Bret

You are braver than I

I was thinking the same. Too chicken to say anything.

 

[BretN]

The model 70 is a .280 that has been a long journey to get it to where one Sierra load easily shoots under an inch, and one 140 AB load has shot under 1/2". Will just doing the lug make it worse? I suppose it could change things enough that I'd need to rework the load? That 280 seems a bit pressure sensitive and both accurate loads are milder ones.

 

[truck driver]

Looks good Bret,and your welcome, next time put the wax on the tap also and it shouldn't stick.

 

[6mm Remington]

The model 70 is a .280 that has been a long journey to get it to where one Sierra load easily shoots under an inch, and one 140 AB load has shot under 1/2". Will just doing the lug make it worse? I suppose it could change things enough that I'd need to rework the load? That 280 seems a bit pressure sensitive and both accurate loads are milder ones.

Bret it looks like you did a fine job on both rifles. Man it's nice to see another Model 70 in .280 Remington. What a cartridge! I think they will both shoot very well for you and I can't wait to see what the results look like. You may have to tweak the loads a little, but I imagine you can get them shooting like they were before bedding, and they should prove to be more consistent in holding POI from month to month.

David

 

[Wyo7200]

No kidding my hands were shaking a little when I was doing the laminate bedding job. All I could think about was hoping I did everything I was supposed to.

They look good- I'm really interested to see how they shoot. I've been saving up for a B&C stock for my mod 70 7mm rem mag shadow or super shadow hunter. Just wish they'd sell blind mag stocks.

How's the weight on those stocks?

Pretty cool and good work!

 

[BretN]

I really like my BC medalist stock. It fits me well, absorbs recoil well, and is a lot more stable and consistent than the M70 featherweight stock it replaced. It's not quite the looker that the walnut stock is though. I still like it. I debated quite a bit between the green or tan stock. I don't know the weight but it's lighter than the walnut stock.

 

[JD338]

Looks like you did a great job.
Looking forward to how they shot.

JD338

 

[BretN]

I was able to shoot my 280 with the B&C stock this past weekend. I retested a 140 gr AB load that shot under 1/2" at 100 yds before. I was on public land shooting prone, but had forgotten a rear sandbag. Best three shot group was .66". The load was a half grain under the previous most accurate load. But given the conditions, I was still pretty happy with it.

Need to retest at the club. I'm currently seating these AB's .050 off the lands. Maybe I should try seating deeper. What increments would you try to .100 off the lands? Was thinking retest with .050" off, .075 off, and .100 off. Thanks for your input. BN

 

[truck driver]

Maybe you need to try the original powder charge before you change the seating depth since it shot good before you changed the powder charge. Still not bad and it could have been from the lack of a rock solid rest.

 

[BretN]

When I took it out on Sat I had loads in .5 grain increments, above and below what I had previously determined to be most accurate (including that load too). I'm still slowly working with this load and nothing was really set in stone, but the previous result under half inch sure got my attention. I do think my lack of a sandbag impacted my results. But I was happy with a .66" group I do need to work on the trigger of this gun too. Right now it's got the worst trigger of all my rifles. It needs a lighter spring, cheap fix from one of the online smiths that supplies those.

But I think I'm headed in the right direction. Maybe one more work up to confirm what powder charge is best, and then another one to play with seating depth will hopefully do it.

 

[truck driver]

If it's the old style M70 trigger it can be stoned to get a great trigger with out changing the spring but you really need some experience to do it. You can pick up a timney from Red Hawk for around $100 and change. If I were close I would do it for you but a good Smith should be able to make it sweet.
Work on the velocity first and then the seating depth. That will be easier than trying to do both at the same time.

 

[SJB358]

Bret if that load repeated like that I'd be inclined to shorten it just a little. With a group like that your only a couple thousandths away from AWESOME!

 

[BretN]

Thanks for the info guys. Yes, it's an old style M70 trigger, from an early 90's push feed. I've adjusted it as light as I can, but I bet it's still over 4#. It's not terrible, but my newer guns with easily adjustable triggers really spoil a guy. I really like the triggers on my Tikkas and Remington 783. They make a big difference on how small those groups get. It's probably a push cost wise to get a new trigger and install it myself or have a smith work on the one I have. Will finish the load work up and then decide. Really like the RL19 with these 140 AB bullets though.

 

[SJB358]

Ernies the Gunsmith has springs for the trigger Bret. Worth the 6.00 to do that final lightening of the trigger.

No reason to replace it. It'll tune up just as nice as any other trigger and be twice as reliable when you get it there.