My only Remington 700BDL that's been a bummer.

C

cal sibley

Beginner
Nov 17, 2005
78
0
I purchased a new Remington 700BDL in .25-06 last year. I've had it glass bedded, the barrel floated and trigger lightened all to no avail. I'm an experienced bench shooter and hand loader, and nothing seems to work. Even my Nosler Bal. Tips which usually perform very well won't cut it in this rifle. (1.275" to 1.375"/5 at 100yds.). I use both Redding NS bushing dies and Wilson Knock out dies as well. It just doesn't seem to matter. I've had many good Remingtons over the years, but this is not one of them. I'm ready to swear off Remington for all time if I can't correct this pathetic situation. Anyone have any suggestions out there? Remington says this is acceptable accuracy. I say nonsense. Can it be that our firearm products have slipped to this degree. Sorry to rant. I'm really irritated at this one. I'd appreciated any suggestions. Thanks and best wishes.

Cal - Montreal
 
Four things I would check after all the screws, of course. 1. Crown. 2. Contact of bolt handle on the stock when the bolt is closed. 3. Contact of the mag box. 4. Contact of the front of the trigger housing with the wood inside of the stock. I have run into those and while none seem like a major problem, they can have an effect on your groups.Rick.
 
Wow... I bought a new 700 CDL in .25-06 last year too... It shoot great! In fact earlier today it put three 100 grain Sierra SPBT Gamekings into a half an inch in one group. Mostly though it shoots roughly 3/4" groups at 100 yards.

Bone stock. Haven't done a thing to it. Except shoot it and clean it.

Ummm... Sometimes a sporter barrel rifle will shoot better w/o being free floated. Remington uses a pressure point close to the end of the stock on their sporter weight 700's. Getting rid of this by free-floating can sometimes cause problems.

Actually though - I'd say that groups of about an inch, or a little over, are not particularly bad for a sporter weight rifle. In a varmint gun they'd be unacceptable, but in a sporter... Not great, but acceptable.

I'd take a look at that pressure point. Guy
 
Cal,

I Ihave several M700's and they all shoot well under MOA. You might try playing with your seating depth. If you can't get the BT's to shoot, I would rebarrel with a Hart barrel and have the action blueprinted.
Then it will shoot for sure.

JD338
 
Cal , I have messed alot with 700's . Yea , Rem told me 2 1/2" @ 100 yards out of a 25-06 mountain rifle was " Acceptable accuracy". A couple things I've noticed on them . On the Syn stocks the slot for the recoil lug is molded way to wide that allows the action to rock or roll side to side this has been a big problem on mine I have yet to have one shoot good without bedding the recoil lug. Yours being a BDL with a wood stock and assuming the glass bedding job is right and the action can't rock side to side that shouldn't be an issue . I have also found that some shoot better with pressure on the barrel . I put accuglass on the end of the forearm and then place a .02 " shim under the action right behind the recoil lug and tighten the action down . When the accuglass is cured I remove the shim and it seems to give me just about the right amount of pressure . Also for some reason mine shoot better if I don't horse the action screws to tight. you didn't mention if you had tried a different scope with a know history. You mentioned you are a experienced handloader/benchrest shooter so I will assume you have checked your handloads for run out that makes a big difference in my rifles. Good luck KH
 
Try a really slow powder like Retumbo or IMR 7828 with 100 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets and a magnum primer.
 
Also you will want to check for clearance in the screw holes between the action and stock. The screws should fall freely into the stock and not bind.Rick.
 
Only had one rem centerfire rifle a 788 in 243 which would print a cloverleaf with my handloads never bedded or worked on.The best group I fired was 3/8 inch at 100yds from my Sako Finnbear( bisonite bedded and tuned by a now deceased master gunsmith) in 30-06 5 165gr Nosler Solid Base Bullet handloads.
 
Ok, it's been over a month now, and I finally got it solved. I was using Wilson knockout dies which I really like. The shorter top part of the sizing die screws onto the longer body part of the die. Apparently the screws worked loose, rose up and created quite a wobble in my sized cases. Now my groups are down to around .75". I think it'll decrease a ways yet as I get further into my load development. Man, this was driving me whacky for awhile. All the cursing of Remingtoin, and it wasn't their fault after all; a thousand pardons to Remington. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal :oops:
 
Ah! Yup, I've fed my rifles handloads that weren't too well built... One of the reasons I like using some quality factory ammo in them from time to time, particularly in a rifle new to me. Good factory ammo can often help set a standard for me to reach for w/my handloading.

Twenty years ago I'd have said there was no way factory ammo would shoot with my handloads - but there is some remarkable factory ammo avail now which will shoot very, very well.

Glad your rifle is back on track! Regards, Guy
 
Hello guy,

I agree with you. Todays factory ammo seems much better than that of 20 years ago or so. My handloads are still more accurate and print smaller groups, but the difference is nowhere near as far apart as it used to be. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal
 
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