Help With Remington 700 Accuracy

[CGWVU]

Good afternoon all,
So I've recently been developing a long range setup from a stock Remington 700 LR chambered in a 300 win mag. I bought the gun last December and recently put a Vortex Viper HST scope with a 20 moa rail and Leupold Pro Rings. The gun was stock from the factory and we threw the scope, rail and rings on the gun and started shooting federal premium factory loads. It shot extremely well holding a 1/2" moa at 100 yards. Well I took the gun to a gun smith to have the trigger lightened to slightly above 2.5 lbs (hunting rifle), ensure the scope was leveled and the rings were aligned and overall just to see the setup. In the process the barrel was taken off the scope and the rings were changed from highs to mediums as there was a significant amount of space between the scope and barrel. Well the gun was put back together with the action screws being hand tightened by the gun smith and I do not have a torque wrench to check the lbs. I recently reshot the gun and it will not hold a group for factory loads or hand loads. It literally only has 20 shots through it. We tried Berger 190 hand loads and federal premiums and cannot get it to hold a group under 3" now. What should I do?

 

[CGWVU]

Also, I'm a college student an don't want to sink a ton of additional money into a custom barrel etc as I already have $1600+ sunk into the gun. I'm also not currently home where I have space to shoot the rifle again. Should I clean the barrel? Should I check the action screws and scope? I'm also pretty new to long range shooting so any advice will help.
Thanks

 

[CGWVU]

I will be able to shoot the rifle next weekend as I will be off on break and for our rifle deer season. Hoping I can solve the issue quickly so I can use the gun for that.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Good afternoon all,
So I've recently been developing a long range setup from a stock Remington 700 LR chambered in a 300 win mag. I bought the gun last December and recently put a Vortex Viper HST scope with a 20 moa rail and Leupold Pro Rings. The gun was stock from the factory and we threw the scope, rail and rings on the gun and started shooting federal premium factory loads. It shot extremely well holding a 1/2" moa at 100 yards. Well I took the gun to a gun smith to have the trigger lightened to slightly above 2.5 lbs (hunting rifle), ensure the scope was leveled and the rings were aligned and overall just to see the setup. In the process the barrel was taken off the scope and the rings were changed from highs to mediums as there was a significant amount of space between the scope and barrel. Well the gun was put back together with the action screws being hand tightened by the gun smith and I do not have a torque wrench to check the lbs. I recently reshot the gun and it will not hold a group for factory loads or hand loads. It literally only has 20 shots through it. We tried Berger 190 hand loads and federal premiums and cannot get it to hold a group under 3" now. What should I do?

Why was the barrel taken off?!?! Do you mean he took the barreled action out of the stock to check things and then re-installed it? To go from 1/2inch to 3 inches at 100 yards is a significant change in my opinion. Did the crown get hurt? Are the Action screws torqued properly? Is the barrel still freefloated? Are the scope rings torqued properly? Was the scope hurt and is no longer holding zero?

 

[CGWVU]

Why was the barrel taken off?!?! Do you mean he took the barreled action out of the stock to check things and then re-installed it? To go from 1/2inch to 3 inches at 100 yards is a significant change in my opinion. Did the crown get hurt? Are the Action screws torqued properly? Is the barrel still freefloated? Are the scope rings torqued properly? Was the scope hurt and is no longer holding zero?

Sorry, yes I meant he loosened the screws and took the barreled action out of the stock and then reinstalled it. For some reason the action screws were hand tightened and I do not have a way of checking the torque as I don't have a torque wrench. The barrel is still free floating

 

[SilverbulletMAG]

Are you able to take it back to the smith that did the work to your rifle? They should be able to get it sorted out. The smith should also ensure everything is properly torqued before giving the rifle back to you.

 

[Tangent]

You should definitely round-up a torque wrench to make sure action screws, base screws, and ring screws are properly torqued. That said, whenever I remove a barreled action action from a stock, it will take 5 -15 rounds (ish) to settle-in. Honestly, 20 rounds is not nearly enough to know how you/the gun/the scope/ etc. shoot.

If it were me (at a minimum), I'd check torque on every screw, then shoot 10 or so until it settles in. Then shoot two or three 5 round groups at 100 to get the scope zero'd and get your baseline. Assuming no problems, then start shooting to distance to dope out the gun.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Sorry, yes I meant he loosened the screws and took the barreled action out of the stock and then reinstalled it. For some reason the action screws were hand tightened and I do not have a way of checking the torque as I don't have a torque wrench. The barrel is still free floating

Hand tightened action screws is not the right way to do it and I would not trust that gun smith. Action screw tightness can certainly play a part.

 

[Bigeclipse]

You should definitely round-up a torque wrench to make sure action screws, base screws, and ring screws are properly torqued. That said, whenever I remove a barreled action action from a stock, it will take 5 -15 rounds (ish) to settle-in. Honestly, 20 rounds is not nearly enough to know how you/the gun/the scope/ etc. shoot.

If it were me (at a minimum), I'd check torque on every screw, then shoot 10 or so until it settles in. Then shoot two or three 5 round groups at 100 to get the scope zero'd and get your baseline. Assuming no problems, then start shooting to distance to dope out the gun.

I agree that 20 rounds does not tell the whole story but to get a couple groups which were close to half an inch at 100 and then have gunsmith work on your rifle and then it shoots 3inch groups with the same ammo...I think something is going on.

 

[CGWVU]

I agree that 20 rounds isn't enough but I'm just extremely concerned as it is no longer holding groups. I'm young and new to long range shooting and have no idea how to fix it. I know it could be a couple things but I am wondering where to start. Here's the whole thing how it went down. I had the gun and loved the way it was shooting. I simply wanted the trigger tuned up and lightened and I knew a guy that does really nice work on triggers. He did an amazing job on the trigger but he decided to check the whole setup somewhat against my will. I bit my tongue as he is my girlfriends father and claimed he knew everything about 700s. Unfortunately I do not have a reputable gun smith within a couple hours of me or I would've taken it to them. Now I'm stuck with a gun that isn't shooting the way it was and I don't know what to do to fix it. Should I break down and buy a torque wrench. Again I'm a college student but I'll pay it if I have to and it will likely fix my problem.
Thanks again guys

 

[djfriesen]

How consistent is your cheek weld? You mentioned changing ring height. Is it possible you are addressing the rifle differently, and that's contributing to the groups opening up?

I think screw torque is a much likelier culprit, but just throwing ideas out.

 

[CGWVU]

Well I thought it could be my shooting so I had my father shoot it and he had the exact same results as I did

 

[Tangent]

I completely understand being a broke college student, but a $50 wheeler torque wrench is 100% worth it.

By "hand tightening" the action screws, I'm assuming you mean he just had a standard screw driver and tightened by feel? Were the rings & bases just tightened by 'feel' as well?

Were you shooting 3 or 5 or ?? shot groups before and/or after. How many rounds total before and after the 'trigger work"?

 

[CGWVU]

Before was probably 20 and after was probably 25-30. 15 with hand loads and 15 with factory. I know the dangers of torquing a scope but yes he tightened them by hand. Again I'm willing to pay the $50 I just didn't know how significantly that would help