Model 700 Mountain Rifle problem

[rodaman]

I'm having problems getting my Remington 700 BDL mountain rifle to group 180 grain bullets. The rifle does a nice job grouping the 150's. I've floated the barrel and pillared and bedded the action without the desired result. I've re-torqued my scope mounts and they seem to be tight. I've tried several different loads also without any luck. Seems to be very inconsistent, it might be the first one that is the flyer or the third one next time. I'm shooting off of a lead sled...so the platform is secure. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[DPO]

What caliber are u shooting? I had some of that happening when i was jamming bullets .What twist is your barrel?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Some rifles simply don't like certain bullet weights, period. My father has a ruger hawkeye 300 win that shoots 150 grain pills well, but by 180 is grouping pretty poorly.
With the mountain rifle you have a rather thin and whippy tube. Any pill you can get under moa with should be seriously considered, even if it is a bit light for longer range.
My longest kill at present is over 700 yards out with a 140 grain 7mm sierra flatbase; hardly a heavyweight but the shot came up with a good rifle in hand and the critter went down well.

 

[rodaman]

Thanks for the replies. My rifle is in 30-06. Seems to love the 150g but not the 180's. I'm planning an elk hunt for this Oct and would prefer to use the 180's. Any help would be great. Has anyone tried those limb saver things for their barrrel? Do I need to un-float the barrel?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Thanks for the replies. My rifle is in 30-06. Seems to love the 150g but not the 180's. I'm planning an elk hunt for this Oct and would prefer to use the 180's. Any help would be great. Has anyone tried those limb saver things for their barrrel? Do I need to un-float the barrel?

What make are your 150's??? some would be just fine but I'd want to be shooting a monolithic if I were you.
90% of accuracy is the bullet and bbl. getting along. You can band-aid things into working but it's a heck of a lot simpler when you can use ammo that fits the rifle and you don't have to dance a jig first to get it to shoot.

 

[DPO]

Im loading 165 sierra for my friends 06 mountain rifle it touches holes all day. We tried the 180s it would not do any better than 1.25" at 100. I also own one in 280 it gets a little tempermental with the heavy bullets. In my opinion everything you have done to your rifle is good. If u want to shoot the 180s keep experimenting with it. They r great rifles

 

[rodaman]

My buddy has worked up 6 different loads of 180's. We haven't gone thru all of them yet but so far we haven't been encouraged by what we have seen. The barrel is a 1:10... I guess we'll try pushing them faster then slower. I hate to go buy a new rifle just to get rid of my problem!

 

[DPO]

I would definately experiment with where u r seating your bullet. It can make a huge differance in how it will shoot. I wouldnt be afraid at all to hunt elk with 150s. In fact if i was shooting a 06 thats what i would be using. I dont like recoil.

 

[roninflag]

i shoot 165's and 168's out of my 30-06 mtn. i use varget. usually 210m. 030 off.

 

[rodaman]

For you guys shooting your Mtn Rifles...are you seeing MOA groups beyond 200yrds?

 

[roninflag]

roda- you do not say where you are or where you are hunting elk. bull or cow? my bdl mtn and my ti mtn shoot great groups at one hundred yards. .5 and .7 respectively. as good as my .222 and 22-250 better than the .243. they both have a 2.5x8 vx3 scope. i am not sure why the 200 yard groups are so big. they are more than one moa. 2.5 to 4 inches. i would have to put a 36x on and do more testing. they are great carry guns. the last two elk i shot were 11 and 26 yards. they are more than up to that.

 

[roninflag]

i use 50.5 varget with the 165 -168. lapua brass. i have tried h-4831 59 gr with 200 partition. with the light rifles and no brake it kicked a lot. also, i have some factory federal HE 180 partitons they shoot equal to any of my handloads, less than an inch. 2880 fps amazing .

 

[rodaman]

The Mtn rifle only has two action screws. As I've said, the action has been pillared and glassed. We plan to vary the torques on the two screws to possibly change some harmonics. Hopefully we can get those 180's to group. We still have 6 hand loads and one factory to try/retry. I'll let you guys know how it goes!

 

[BrentM]

IMR 4350 at 54.5 and 56.5 grains with 180 accubonds works in my 3006. I zeroed at 300 and it shoots 1.25 to 1.75 groups with 54.5/56.5. At 100 it shoots .35 and .65 54.5/56.5 respectively. I just shot for accuracy and didn't worry to much about velocity at the time. I actually prefered the 165's for recoil but the high BC of the 180 seemed better so I loaded it up. I never planned to shoot beyond 300 - 400 so I don't know if the BC is that important now. I think 165's were 450ish and the 180's are 507.