advice for an ill-shooting remington xcr tactical l/r

[skeeterboud]

i'm only looking for good advice/suggestions or a remedy. i am not here to bash remington, 1/2 of all the rifles i own are remington, and i could not be happier with the performance/value every single one of them.

background: bought a new/unfired remington 700 tactical long range in a 300 win mag a year ago. paired it w/a nightforce 5.5-22/tps rings/talley pic. rail. the 1st ever shot(factory ammo) resulted in a case stuck in the chamber. the bolt handle lifted w/just a little more than normal effort, but i could not bring it back to extract the case. remington had it repaired(burs in the chamber which prevented shell extraction). i can't seem to get a group better than 1 1/2" at 100yds, most groups are 2 1/4-3". i've tried hornady custom 165btsp, 180btsp, 180sst superformance; remington 180 core lokt, 180 accutip; winchester 180 psp. i have two other 300 win mags(senderos) that shoot most of the hornady and winchester stuff well below moa at 100, sometimes grouping 180sst's at .75" at 200yds.

what do i do with this rifle? i called remington today and the guy i talked to said if it groups 1 1/2 to 2 1/2" at 100 yds they wont touch it because they have no accuracy guarantee. i know i'm going to spend some money, i just don't know how/where. after talking w/the remington guy, he said i could send it back and they will check the crown, and maybe lap the barrel.

so, my starting options are...
1) send back to remington to have checked
2) send to krieger to have it re-barreled
3) send to hill country rifles to have their accurizing package(re-crown, glass bed, inspect barrel, tune trigger) HCR has a sub-moa guarantee w/factory ammo

please give me some experienced ideas, and if you know of a great gunsmith, let me know. i have already taken the scope off, checked everything for alignment/tightness/etc and re-mounted the scope with the same results. i have not tried a new scope..... the scope was purchased at the same time, brand new. i don't want to sell it just yet..

 

[MMERSS]

advice for an ill-shooting remington xcr tactical l/r

When all else fails, Gunbroker.

This may not be what you wanted to hear but sometimes you have to cut your losses. As long as you have tried everything from custom reloading, multiple bullets and powders, to loosing your mind. Cut your loss and start over or custom.

 

[roninflag]

Number 1 would be my first step especially since you have other rifles. Number two is the fail safe way . no experience with number 3.

 

[Mike 338]

Send it back to Remington. If it doesn't exceed your expectations upon return, move onto other options and remember.

 

[westcliffe01]

So besides shooting different ammo, what have you checked ?
Did you check the trigger pull weight ? Did you check the barrel for free floating and the action for proper bedding ? Did you take the rifle somewhere and borescope the barrel and chamber ?

You could have a cast made of the chamber and throat, it can be very revealing. See here for examples of what one can find Bellm TCs - More Chamber Misalignment
The examples are of factory TC barrels, but the truth is that similar sins are committed by all gun makers including Savage and Remington. Its just a numbers game after all, and "minute of pipe plate" is good enough for a great many buyers.

Unfortunately, when it comes to re-barreling a Remington, it gets expensive since one often cannot reap the benefit of a match barrel without addressing other inaccuracies of the mass produced receivers and bolts.

Lead times at barrel makers is very long, especially now. 16-20 weeks is the current norm and add any receiver work on top of that figure.

I suggest to check the easy items in the first part of the list. if nothing there gets you where you want to be, sell and buy a custom action like a Stiller or a Shilen (often you can get a unit from stock with no waiting list) then add a prefit match barrel (since the custom receiver needs no "trueing" and the barrel tennon can be a standard size. Then add whatever trigger and stock you want since it will fit anything that is Remington compatible.

Or if you can stand it, buy a Savage, screw on a $350 prefit, adjust the trigger and go shooting....

As you can imagine I have mainly Savage rifles and just got rid of my last Remington, but I certainly do covet a nice stiller action with a Shilen or Timney trigger which I can never have with my Savages.

 

[skeeterboud]

the rem gunsmith at LSG, who removed the chamber burs, said the barrel looked pretty good. the trigger is nice, to me anyway... it's at 2.25 lbs. i have NOT handloaded for this, yet. i guess i've been lucky that all my weatherbys and remingtons have responded well to at least one certain factory load, and handloading has only made them blossom.

in no hurry, so i guess i can send it back to remington, i'll only be out of shipping/ammo at this point. when it returns, regarless of what they do/don't do, i'm going to mount another one of my scopes on it, try it again.

is it normal to 'cut your losses and sell it'? i've always been apprehensive of buying used rifles.

ok, i'll send it back to remmy and go from there.. thanks to all

 

[tinkerer]

After you have checked all the action screws, etc,

1. Let someone else try and see if its the gun or you.

2. Try some high end match ammo.

3. Cut and recrown barrel.

4. Move on.

These are the easy, cheap fixes. After that, your spending serious money and everyone gets a lemon occasionally.

Larry
Tinkerer

 

[Trickymissfit]

here's where I'd start, and it'll cost you less than five dollars to get all the stuff in hand.

* put a strip of masking tape on the barrel, and mark a good stiff cleaning rod (like a Proshot) in one inch increments. Then run a very tight patch thru the barrel. Mark every place you find a tight spot, and the same with very loose spots (you may want to actually do this three or four times). If the barrel is looser(as in bigger bore) at the muzzle you will never shoot it well. Very tight places often deform the bullet in travel, but a loose muzzle will literally throw bullets like a shotgun.

* Next thing I'd do is to check a half dozen or so of once fired cases that are unsized. Look for case run out and out of square shoulders and necks first. Next check the base for rim deformation. This can also be caused by the extractor

* lastly; pull the barreled action from the stock and have a good look at the bedding under a strong light

One poster suggested sending it back to Remington. That's a good start. Krieger doesn't do chamber jobs unless they just started. But Pacnor does. Pacnor even does a barrel nut conversion for Remingtons!
gary

 

[benchracer]

Krieger does chamber jobs and a whole lot more and has done so for quite some time. I had a Ruger re-barreled by Krieger several years back. Because of volume, they don't do Rugers anymore. However, Remington 700's are still on the list of actions accepted for fitting. Krieger would certainly be an option.

However, the backlog at Krieger is pretty long. There are other good barrel makers out there. Some of them may be able to get a high quality barrel to you in a much shorter time frame. Don't be afraid to shop around.

 

[skeeterboud]

thanks, to all. longrangehunting is such a cool place!

you have given me a great starting point

1)use the tape and patch trick for i.d.
2) check spent cases 1-2 just for my own knowledge, as i couldn't fix anyway

3)i'm going to order some nosler/barne's/etc higher quality ammo
4)send it back to remington, regardless of the outcomes of steps 1-3.

thanks, everyone! have something to work on this long weekend.

a great 4th of July to all

 

[MudRunner2005]

Number 1 would be my first step especially since you have other rifles. Number two is the fail safe way . no experience with number 3.

I agree with this!

You could always go with Door #1.....But behind door #2 lies a much more fullfilling endeavor.

I would go with #2 and have smith install an aftermarket high-qualitybarrel, bed action, float tht barrel, and accurize everything. You will enjoy your rifle much more, and get ALOT more accuracy and alot more years of accurate usage, as well. In other words, the money will be well spent.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Krieger does chamber jobs and a whole lot more and has done so for quite some time. I had a Ruger re-barreled by Krieger several years back. Because of volume, they don't do Rugers anymore. However, Remington 700's are still on the list of actions accepted for fitting. Krieger would certainly be an option.

However, the backlog at Krieger is pretty long. There are other good barrel makers out there. Some of them may be able to get a high quality barrel to you in a much shorter time frame. Don't be afraid to shop around.

that's news to me! I knew they were thinking about doing Savage prefits awhile back, but heard no more about it, so I figured they just opted out of the idea. Pacnor has been doing chamber jobs for years. They also offer the barrel nut as an option, should one desire it. The average person has little need for the barrel that Krieger sells, and also has the premium to pay for it.

We the OP's issues, I wait to see what the barrel and bedding looks like before going further. Then as a last resort, I would have a chamber cast done to see what it looks like. There may be little wrong with the rifle, and just a few small tweeks to make it a shooter.
gary

 

[rharfo]

Have a good gunsmith glass bed the barrel. Last year I loaded for a friends older Rem 700 in 300 Weatherby. He put a HS precision stock on it and my loads were shooting 3 inch groups. He put the original wood stock back on and it shot 1 inch groups. He had my smith bed the barrel with the HS and its shoots 1/2 inch groups with the same load. Cost him about 100 bucks for the bedding job.

 

[dmax1800]

I bought a new Winchester model 70 extreme weather in 300 win mag based on the recommendation of 2 Scheels associates. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER EXPENSIVE FACTORY RIFLE AGAIN!!! This rifle would only shoot 2 1/4 to 4 inch groups with 6 different factory ammos. I have since found a good gunsmith and had him put on a match grade barrel, bedded the stock, put on a Timney trigger and lap the lugs. I'm working on a hand load to get me between 3/8 and 3/4 inch groups. I think the only way to go is to buy a cheap rifle for the action and have a smith put on a new barrel, trigger and stock. I've heard too many stories of guys getting poor shooting rifles from the factory and the gun companies won't do anything to fix them. Its a really big roll of the dice to get a factory gun that will shoot well. Some will say that Savage or Tikka are accurate right out of the box. I couldn't get a Savage in a 110 FCP HS Precision and didn't want a 6.75 pound Tikka in a 300 win mag.

Just my $.02 worth.