Help- my gun won’t group

[Stringstalker]

I'll try to be brief but I'll have to lay some back story. I love to build my own stuff. Problem 1 I understood. I bought a Remington 700 action. Had it trued. It was way off. Then the bolt wouldn't close. I had to have the bolt moved and tig welded on. Then I bought a custom McMillan stock. Game warden. Trigger tech trigger. Amazing. And I choose a remage barrel by carbon six. Chamber in 7mm rem mag. It's a sweet looking gun. I put a nightforce one it. It's a good scope.
I can't get it to group. I've tried all different powders and bullet weights. This has been going on 4 years now of trying to get the gun to shoot. I even got a new barrel from carbon six. Still doesn't shoot. Any thought or suggestions would be very appreciated. I have torqued everything to correct specs / inch pounds. There is a lot more to this story. this is the basics of it.
26" barrel.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Rich Coyle]

I did the same thing one time with Remington 700. I used 3 different gunsmiths, 4 different barrels, and 2 stocks. I finally just gave the action to a gunsmith and told him. "Never mind. I don't want to fool with it anymore."

 

[BroncBlue55]

What type of groupings are you getting out of it currently? Is feeding and extraction smooth?

 

[Stringstalker]

What type of groupings are you getting out of it currently? Is feeding and extraction smooth?

2" groups at 100 yards. Smooth feeding and extracting. I did have to put a new extractor in it after it was trued. My ruger m77 300 win mag I'm getting 3/4" groups. Same day same conditions. I have a couple of the targets I could share too.

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

Try some factory ammo and if that is 2 inches as well, then you might just have a 2 inch gun.

 

[nmbarta]

Is the scope verified good on a different rifle? Usually when I come across something that shoots that bad it optics related. In fact, it's rare that I ever find groups that bad with any loads I've worked up. Today I found one that shot 1 1/2" and that's the worst I've seen in a while.
Twist rate?
Powders, bullets, primers you've tried?
Max base to ogive?....and how much have you played with seating depth?
Did you bed the action?
Check clearances on barrel to stock?
Those are a few things I've seen cause that kind of problem....hope you figure it out.

 

[Stringstalker]

Try some factory ammo and if that is 2 inches as well, then you might just have a 2 inch gun.

I tried. No better luck. But what makes my ruger a 3/4" gun and this is all higher end stuff. Minus the action.

 

[BroncBlue55]

2" groups at 100 yards. Smooth feeding and extracting. I did have to put a new extractor in it after it was trued. My ruger m77 300 win mag I'm getting 3/4" groups. Same day same conditions. I have a couple of the targets I could share too.

You have high quality components so I understand the confusion. If it were me, I don't know if I'd have your same amount of patience--so kudos to you!

You could take a peak at the bedding and ensure that the action is properly set into the stock. Remove the stock from the action and re-torque action screws in a progressive manner; torque action screws in 10 ft-lbs increments and "set" the rifle in each increment by slightly "tapping" the entire rifle against the recoil pad against a hard surface. This ensures a proper recoil lug alignment and should allow the rifle return to the same position after each shot. Repeat until action screws are torqued to spec.

It sounds like you've already ran through ring and bases torques but I'd double check that again just to be certain. You could even hand-lap your rings to ensure proper fitment. If you wanted to throw extra money you could look to upgrade rings to a precision based ring; i've had good luck with rings made by Seekins.

Obviously Nightforce makes quality scopes but you could try swapping out the optic. Or even put your Nightforce on on a rifle that's known to be accurate. That way you can absolutely rule-out the scope as the culprit.

Lastly, it sounds like the weak-point in your build may be the action itself considering the amount of work that has been done to it so far. If you can't find a solution it may be worth it to take the plunge by purchasing a brand-new action. That way you can salvage the other parts of your build (and your sanity!).

Hopefully this gives some additional insights but there's a good chance you've already done all of this. If so, then hopefully someone else can chime in to provide some additional help!

 

[chav0_12]

Is the barrel floating? Sometimes with those bigger barrels it might not quite be. Is the action bedded? It sounds like you have some inconsistencies somewhere, that's something I'd look at. What's the scope mount situation like? Maybe the base has a little wiggle room. Can you bed the base? Lap the rings? I'm sorta just spitballing at things I'd be looking at.

 

[Bret GRAVELINE Graveline]

I've seen this a couple of times, get back to the range, try shooting a group with the rear guard screw or screws if its a ADL style, shoot a group, if the bedding is good the point of impact won't change, if point of impact does change its not properly bedded, and you may very well find that the rifle now groups better, no harm will come to the rifle with the one guard screw, just make sure its tight, im willing to bet bedding is the culprit here,

 

[nwmnbowhunter]

I tried. No better luck. But what makes my ruger a 3/4" gun and this is all higher end stuff. Minus the action.

You already replaced the barrel with no benefit so it's not that.

Stock- bedding. Can do screw trick described above or if you have another stock to try.

Swap rings and scope.

if none of these show improvement i would throw the action away.

I have many top end builds. Some are one hole wonders, some are over half moa. So when you do get a true one hole wonder, appreciate it, and cherish it because even the best components and best builders can't guarantee that.

 

[Phil Rizzo]

sounds like a pressure point somewhere possibly causing bad vibes.
Are all the screws top and bottom the correct length? In the correct hole, so extra length isn't binding against a "bottom"?
is the entire trigger mechanism clear of unwanted contact with the stock?
is the recoil lug clearance adequate on the bottom?
is the recoil lug aligned perfectly?
is the magazine in a bind? Making contact where it shouldn't?
does the trigger guard lie flat in the inlet?
is the stock molded correctly for your components? I've seen mistakes made by big name companies here.
hopefully the action is secure.

These are some things I've heard about, read about or unfortunately experienced.
hope you can find a simple fix somewhere and soon.
and definitely try another optic. I'm a NF fan but….rule it out.
let us know if you find a solution.

 

[Barehandlineman11]

Who bedded it? If you hold gun with hand on barrel and stock and loosen action screws do you feel it move at all? Check barrel for free float?

 

[Lou270]

Check and make sure nothing binding anywhere like a compressed magazine box or bolt on the stock. I had a 300 win min built on a mauser action by a well respected smith and it shot ok but not great. I noticed the cerakote on stock was chipping in the slot where bolt sits and turned out it was binding there. I gave some clearance in that area and shoots better now

Lou