First upgrade??

[D.ID]

Originally Posted by ICANHITHIMMAN

Replace the stock first and Foremost. Then trigger

A good bedded stock that fits you would be my first, then trigger work followed by glass. By the time you do all that you will know weather your barrel is up to the challenge.

[J3FF FITZGERALD]

Thanks guys!

[1SevenZero]

I would recommend start reloading and develop some loads for the rifle. This made a huge difference for my rifles. You can get into reloading for cheap, and if all you do is follow the book recipes you will still see improvement. It's easy and cheaper in the long run. Which equals more trigger time, and more money for the upgrades.

After that I would follow WildRose's recommendations.

Originally Posted by WildRose

Start simple and work up.

Free float the bbl. Quick and easy to do yourself, and free if you have sandpaper.

Install steel or aluminum pillars and have a good bedding job done. If you are mechanically inclined you can do all this yourself for cheap.

Buy the best glass you can afford. Look at Vortex scopes if you never have. Incredible value, and several of them have lifetime no fault warranties . A couple other companies may have similar warranty, but don't know who.

Have someone do you a good trigger job or replace it. The new factory remington triggers suck.

That right there will get you off to a pretty good start unless you bought a dud.

Welcome to the addiction.

[HellsCanyonArmory]

I'm right there with WildRose on the upgrades. Your 700 ADL is a great platform to build off of!

If you plan on reloading and don't yet have equipment, save up and buy it now. You can shoot factory ammo with solid results, but its expensive and being able to shoot better ammo for cheaper will lead you to more practice.

Follow that up with a good pillar-bedding job or upgraded stock and a trigger job should have your rifle shooting as good as its going to with the current barrel/action setup.

Definitely get glass that has a good reputation for tracking (best you can afford). Nothing worse than not being sure of your actual click value or unsure of your rifles ability to return to zero. You'll start second guessing your dope when you miss instead of focusing on you and your shooting techniques. The thing I strive for in any rifle combo is to give the shooter nothing to blame but themselves for a miss! Best of luck to you!

Mike

[JonM]

I am in the same boat. I started with a 700 ADL in 308. I started with reloading. That made a big difference, both in group size and cost. With Federal Gold Metal Match my best group was 5/8" with my average being 7/8" at $23 a box. With hand loads I haven't shot as much yet, but it is looking very promising. So far I am averaging better than 1/2" @ 100 at $10 a box. After decent glass on top I felt that the plastic stock was the weakest link in my set-up. My Bell & Carlson A2 Tactical Medalist should be here tommorow. Hopefully that is money well spent.

Have you made any changes yet? What kind of results are you getting?