really need help with rifle build off my remington 700

[Bigeclipse]

The stock on a Remington Mountain Rifle has a very slender fore end and barrel, at least the wood stock one I had did. I had a 7-08 and an '06. I would assume the B&C stock is similar. I had accuracy problems with the wood ones due to flex in the fore ends. Not sure how stiff the B&C stock is, but it is not as stiff as the premium brands. I am also assuming the OP wants to keep this stock for sentimental reasons. That being said even opening it up for a #2 sporter might be an issue. I'm pretty sure the factory contour has a muzzle dia small enough that most smiths won't put a brake on it. This or the crown may be at the heart of the accuracy issues posted earlier. I full length bedded mine in '06 and it shot great as long as I kept my hand between the fore end and whatever I was using for a rest. I'm just going to throw this out there: The gun is sentimental, '06 is a good caliber. Ever thought of adding a Mercury Bar to the stock and a limbsaver pad. Just might be a good option that will get recoil down and work on the bedding some more. Both the Mountain Rifles I had shot well after some fussing with them. This just may get you what you really want for less than a hundred bucks.

The B&C stock is very stiff...definitely no flex. It seems to have plenty of meat on it to do a sporter. FYI the mountain SS is different than the original mountain.

 

[Orange Dust]

The B&C stock is very stiff...definitely no flex. It seems to have plenty of meat on it to do a sporter. FYI the mountain SS is different than the original mountain.

Should be ok then. Mine were the old ones.

 

[Velvet]

The action screws are torque to I believe 50in pounds (it is aluminum bedding block). I have not messed with testing that too much. The Action/recoil lug is skim bedded with devcon. My procedure has been to really clean the barrel with bore tech. Once cleaned well, I will foul the barrel with 3-5 shots depending on my mood. Then ill shoot until groups get worse which is like 25 more shots. I have messed with bullet seating lengths but not a ton there. My load development is similar to berger method.

According to the specs, the rifle should group better with handloads.
Do you have some pictures of the groups? +1 moa?
I´m in the process to make a 6-06ai from an old 30-06, mainly for deer and hog hunting at 400y max. I guess it could be an option for you too, since I´ve a 243ai that performs very well with 105grainers at 3200ps or so. The recoil is almost imperceptible, and with 1:7,5 or 7 twist, it could shoot 115/120s without problems.

 

[baldhunter]

Do they do Remington 700's for that price?

EABCO, EA Brown, accuracy barrel, $259, u pick caliber. They install to your action for $30 and inlet the barrel to your stock for $65 or 70..?. Saves you from buying a head space gauge too.
6.5 might be the way to go, but, eabrown.com has a 26 inch 243 varmint barrel with a 1:8 twist that would potentially take a 115 grain 243 bullet to 800 plus yards, F class style. That could be a fun easy to reload for , cheap ammo shooting, set up. Accurize it. You obviously love the rifle. Pillar bed it? And glass bed it? Yourself?
So, barrel 259, head space it 30, inlet barrel 70, s&h ? 15? = $375 total

Or buy a new factory rifle for $400?

 

[KurtB]

Buy an 8 twist Benchmark #2 contour 7mm barrel, send it to Shaenrifles.com and have it chambered in 280 Remington. Cost you around $700 total and he can use everything you have. Easy.

 

[theosmithjr]

I have posted over the past several months on possibly rebarreling my Remington 700 and im just lost and need help and suggestions. For those that don't know, here is the deal: I have a Remington 700 mountain SS with a pencil thin barrel in 3006. it shoots 1.5MOA which is fine for the hunting I do BUT it bugs me and it recoils a bit more than I would like. The recoil is no problem at all for when I hunt but when I sight it in every year or just shoot it for fun, it does tend to start hurting and cause me to flinch after about 15 rounds. I always like to get below 1 MOA with my reloads and have been able to do so with all my other rifles. Why the change you may ask? well I have built my wife two rifles in 7mm08 and 6.5CM. I absolutely LOVE shooting her rifles. Low to no recoil and they shoot .5MOA if I do my part. This has led me to want to rebarrel my Remington. I want to try and keep costs lower on this one so id prefer to re-use the stock and not have to buy a new bolt (if possible). The stock is a B&C stock (with aluminum bedding block) on the Remington mountain SS with a drop plate (no magazine). it has some meat which can be removed for inletting of a slightly thicker barrel but not too much. It should hold a sporter contour ok but maybe not much thicker. When I checked new bolts out, they would be 200$ which just doesn't fit my budget so that means I need to pick a caliber which fits the 3006 bolt that I have. I hunt primarily whitetails, definitely no Elk or anything big. Maybe the very rare black bear but doubtful. I do not hunt prone with this rifle nor do I want a brake on it. It is primarily tree-stand hunting and shooting house hunting with absolute max ranges being 400 yards but the norm would be under 200 yards. I am pretty sure I no longer want 3006 (partly because of recoil and partly because im just bored).

Number 1 thing is a sub 1 MOA rifle. It just bugs me when a rifle wont shoot under 1 MOA.

Number 2 is trying to make the current stock work which means not a thick contour. Again, my guess is not too much thicker than a sporter contour barrel would work ok. if I MUST, then I could buy a new B&C stock in regular sporter contour but now the build itself is getting into the territory of just buying a new rifle such as a Tikka or Sako A7 etc.

Number 3 is lower recoil than a 3006 in a ultralight barrel. I used to shoot 300 winmags but as ive been using my wife's rifles, ive been loving lower recoil.

What I know I dont want is another 3006 or a 270win. So here is what ive been contemplating but truly not sure what to do. I could go with 280ai and load it with 140 grain bullets to help tame recoil a bit and keep the gun shooting pretty flat. This way, should I ever want a power setup (elk), I could load it with 160s at full tilt and be ok but I think 140 grain bullets with a mid range powder charge should keep recoil lower than my current 3006 shooting 165 grain bullets. 280ai also allows for some factory ammo in a pinch.

Last question is, should I go remage? Ive done switch barrels with my savage rifles so I have a action vise and barrel nut wrench so that isn't a worry...inletting the new barrel is definitely the worry on this one. I have zero experience and I think id rather have a gunsmith do that so ive thought about just sending it to a smith and having them square the action and throw the new barrel on. What kind of costs should I expect for this?

Other than this im not sure what else is possible.

Your REM in 30.06 is a Long Action. Just about anything you build on it is gonna be comparable in recoil. Have you tried just switching to a lighter 30 cal bullet? Money seems to be a concern so loading a lighter bullet may very well be your best option.

 

[baldhunter]

Changing the pad can make a HUGE difference.I have a 22" barreled Rem 700 30-06 that had a nice looking Pachmyer pad installed on it.It would leave bruises after a few rounds.Put a Rem/Limbsaver pad on it and the recoil felt like half of what it was.

 

[Wolf76]

.308 with a 120 accubond or 130 ttsx is barely a heartbeat in the scope. Both shoot like a laser. .308 is a drama free cartridge and very versatile.

 

[Weaselthis]

I USED to cuss & discuss muzzle brakes......then I shot a 7RM with one on it and that changed my mind AND got rid of my bruises from "Maggie"! I now have a muzzle brake on every rifle I own except the .22 rimfire. A 7-08 17 lb. competition custom gun, down to a 7.2 pound Tikka T3 Lite in 7-08 and up to and including my hunting rifles, Remington 700's in a stock 30-06 and a wildcat 7mm-30WM. I'll never own another gun I don't brake. They're for shooting off the bench and practice. I have threaded caps to be used when hunting and take off the brake, wear Howard Leight muffs. Life is good. Just sayin....

 

[freddogs]

I went to the range yesterday with a 30-06, a 257 Roberts AI and a 7x30 waters to decide which to take to WY as a spare. My main rifle will be my 6.5 CM that's a joy to shoot. They all got sighted in at 200yds. I decided to leave the waters home because it's a single shot. It doesn't recoil and plenty accurate but sometimes I forget to pull the hammer back. The 30-06 recoils more but I don't mind it but I've shot lots of animals with it. I think I'll leave it home. The 257 Roberts AI was just fun to shoot. My buddy and I shot up 2 boxes of ammo just having fun. I plan to load some more ammo and take it with.
If you got your rifle rebarreled to 25-06 you would have just about the same thing but with factory ammo and easily obtained components for reloading. The recoil would be much less and shoot flatter than your 30-06. I think it would be more fun. I've shot a couple animals with mine and had no problems using 100 gr bullets.

 

[freddogs]

I went to the range yesterday with a 30-06, a 257 Roberts AI and a 7x30 waters to decide which to take to WY as a spare. My main rifle will be my 6.5 CM that's a joy to shoot. They all got sighted in at 200yds. I decided to leave the waters home because it's a single shot. It doesn't recoil and plenty accurate but sometimes I forget to pull the hammer back. The 30-06 recoils more but I don't mind it but I've shot lots of animals with it. I think I'll leave it home. The 257 Roberts AI was just fun to shoot. My buddy and I shot up 2 boxes of ammo just having fun. I plan to load some more ammo and take it with.
If you got your rifle rebarreled to 25-06 you would have just about the same thing but with factory ammo and easily obtained components for reloading. The recoil would be much less and shoot flatter than your 30-06. I think it would be more fun. I've shot a couple animals with mine and had no problems using 100 gr bullets.

 

[mmgravy]

I have posted over the past several months on possibly rebarreling my Remington 700 and im just lost and need help and suggestions. For those that don't know, here is the deal: I have a Remington 700 mountain SS with a pencil thin barrel in 3006. it shoots 1.5MOA which is fine for the hunting I do BUT it bugs me and it recoils a bit more than I would like. The recoil is no problem at all for when I hunt but when I sight it in every year or just shoot it for fun, it does tend to start hurting and cause me to flinch after about 15 rounds. I always like to get below 1 MOA with my reloads and have been able to do so with all my other rifles. Why the change you may ask? well I have built my wife two rifles in 7mm08 and 6.5CM. I absolutely LOVE shooting her rifles. Low to no recoil and they shoot .5MOA if I do my part. This has led me to want to rebarrel my Remington. I want to try and keep costs lower on this one so id prefer to re-use the stock and not have to buy a new bolt (if possible). The stock is a B&C stock (with aluminum bedding block) on the Remington mountain SS with a drop plate (no magazine). it has some meat which can be removed for inletting of a slightly thicker barrel but not too much. It should hold a sporter contour ok but maybe not much thicker. When I checked new bolts out, they would be 200$ which just doesn't fit my budget so that means I need to pick a caliber which fits the 3006 bolt that I have. I hunt primarily whitetails, definitely no Elk or anything big. Maybe the very rare black bear but doubtful. I do not hunt prone with this rifle nor do I want a brake on it. It is primarily tree-stand hunting and shooting house hunting with absolute max ranges being 400 yards but the norm would be under 200 yards. I am pretty sure I no longer want 3006 (partly because of recoil and partly because im just bored).

Number 1 thing is a sub 1 MOA rifle. It just bugs me when a rifle wont shoot under 1 MOA.

Number 2 is trying to make the current stock work which means not a thick contour. Again, my guess is not too much thicker than a sporter contour barrel would work ok. if I MUST, then I could buy a new B&C stock in regular sporter contour but now the build itself is getting into the territory of just buying a new rifle such as a Tikka or Sako A7 etc.

Number 3 is lower recoil than a 3006 in a ultralight barrel. I used to shoot 300 winmags but as ive been using my wife's rifles, ive been loving lower recoil.

What I know I dont want is another 3006 or a 270win. So here is what ive been contemplating but truly not sure what to do. I could go with 280ai and load it with 140 grain bullets to help tame recoil a bit and keep the gun shooting pretty flat. This way, should I ever want a power setup (elk), I could load it with 160s at full tilt and be ok but I think 140 grain bullets with a mid range powder charge should keep recoil lower than my current 3006 shooting 165 grain bullets. 280ai also allows for some factory ammo in a pinch.

Last question is, should I go remage? Ive done switch barrels with my savage rifles so I have a action vise and barrel nut wrench so that isn't a worry...inletting the new barrel is definitely the worry on this one. I have zero experience and I think id rather have a gunsmith do that so ive thought about just sending it to a smith and having them square the action and throw the new barrel on. What kind of costs should I expect for this?

Other than this im not sure what else is possible.

As I read through the various responses after reading your criteria using your existing stock, action, etc, and not evidently wanting to go to the logical .25-06 as many have suggested with the long 700 action, the two best cartridges to look at are the 6.5x55 Swede or the 7x57. If you want a 6.5, then the Swede would be my suggestion. If you want a .284, the 7x57 would be the one to look at. Look at these two cartridges, take your criteria and you will see why these two cartridges just might be the best choices for you.

The one thing to remember if you are going to put a new barrel on using these cartridges is to make sure you have enough twist. A 7.5 would be as slow as you should go and faster might be even better.

 

[ducky]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, why not try a muzzle brake? It'll probably be probably the most affordable way to a sub MOA rifle. Just don't have it contoured at first, that way if it doesn't work just have it installed on your new barrel and contoured to match.

If you want to use factory ammo it's very hard to beat the .30-06 or .270 as far as types and availability, if you go with a new barrel. .280 AI is a great cartridge but you'll be stuck buying most of your ammunition online, it isn't going to be found in most local stores. Plus since you don't have to rely on factory ammunition, there isn't much of a performance gap between the .270 Win and .280 AI.

 

[73driver]

Your REM in 30.06 is a Long Action. Just about anything you build on it is gonna be comparable in recoil. Have you tried just switching to a lighter 30 cal bullet? Money seems to be a concern so loading a lighter bullet may very well be your best option.

I would disagree, a 270 is much less felt recoil than an 06. Having 3 06's and 5 270's and shot them both a bunch. 06 hits you the 270 is a sweetheart in comparison. So thinking 6.5-06 gets and 25-06 even milder.