Rem 700 barrel recommendations

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DixonFive0 said:
Thanks for the replies. I have shot it from sandbags and the best I could average is around 2 MOA @ 100 yrds. I decided to move to the sled to take most of the human error out, and that brought it to 1.5 MOA. Call me crazy, but I believe with gun should be capable of better accuracy especially with the Timney trigger, and AG stock (which is pillar bedded). Shoot, my bone stock Browning AB3 .270 Win ($499 new) groups better.

I know its primarily a hunting rifle, but I plan to taking this gun out west on a couple hunts. The opportunity to take a 400 yrd shot may present it self.

I may have misspoke on the "blueprinting the action". I meant just having the receiver squared and trued if I'm going to do a barrel. I figure I could leave it the way it is and try some different ammo, but I know it would bother me. Guess its just my personality! My goal is to have it ready by the end of November. Does anyone have anymore recommendations for places with reasonable lead times?

Thanks for the input!
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You want this done by November and a load worked up to hunt?

Yeah dude, not going to happen unless you have an action that can take pre-fit barrels (which you don’t) and someone has a contoured blank in stock ready to chamber and ship (which they might). Even lead times on an in stock contoured barrel to get it chambered from a place like Straitjacket Armory or Altus is going to be a month or more, and that is for a pre-fit you could install yourself if your action is good enough (hint.... it’s not).

Run what you have, plan on improving it for next season.
 
DixonFive0 said:
Greetings,

I purchased a used Remington 700 BDL 7mm Rem mag on Gunbroker several months ago. I'm making this one of my primary hunting rifles, and I've modified it a little. I have no idea how many rounds the previous owner had through it, but it was fairly clean upon arrival.

I replaced the worn Bell & Carlson it came with, and installed an AG Composites Carbon All Terrain stock. I also replaced the factory trigger with a Timney Hunter Elite set @ 2.8lbs. I've tried various factory offerings from Accubonds, Sciroccos, Federal trophy bonded tip, and Federal Terminal Ascent. From a lead sled the best I can average is around 1.5" moa @ 100yrds.

It still has the Remington factory 24" magnum sporter contour barrel. I'm thinking of just going all the way with blueprinting the action, and replacing the barrel. This will mostly be a tree stand hunting rifle with occasional bench shooting for fun. What recommendations can you give on barrels? What company is known for a good value barrel that won't cost a fortune? Also any recommendations on twist rate?

Sorry for the lengthy post! Thanks.
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Is the rifle stock pillar-bedded or at least shim-bedded with epoxy and the barrel free-floated? If not, that's where I'd start. Blueprinting the action is probably not going to get you where you want to go. It's really difficult to get a 7mm magnum to group 1 MOA, due to the amount of powder, and the recoil level.

Good luck with your project.

Picher
 
Picher said:
Is the rifle stock pillar-bedded or at least shim-bedded with epoxy and the barrel free-floated? If not, that's where I'd start. Blueprinting the action is probably not going to get you where you want to go. It's really difficult to get a 7mm magnum to group 1 MOA, due to the amount of powder, and the recoil level.

Good luck with your project.

Picher
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I'd agree from a hunting gun the 7mm loaded to full potential is probably right on the edge of many peoples "comfort" zone recoil wise. I've had little issue getting them (and the one larger 7mm I had) to shoot well tho, sale from a heavier gun.
 
The stock is pillar bedded and the barrel is already free floated.

Ok so I decided to just go with a new Remington factory take off for time, and money sake, for this hunting rifle. Ill let a local smith true the action, and install the new barrel with correct head spacing. If that doesnt tighten groups up, I'll call it good enough.

One question though...

I can purchase either a new 7mm mag or a 300 win mag take off for around $100. The issue is the rifle is currently a 7mm mag, and I already have atleast 10 boxes of 7mm mag ammo. I was looking for a decent 300 win mag when I purchased this gun. So converting to a 300 does appeal to me. My original plan for this rifle was to make it my deer/elk/ black bear rifle. I know either caliber will take all 3 animals. Do you think 300 win is too much for whiletail? I know guys that use it, but I was always under the impression 7mm mag was about the upper limit for whitetail.

Thanks
 
troy fairweather said:
I'd take the 7rm 9 times out of 10 over the 300wm
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+1

I find the 7mag as effective (with less recoil) as .300wm. I
We're it MY choice I'd stay with the 7mm, and use up the ammo.

BUT I already have both a 7mm and a .300, if I didn't and had originally been LOOKING for a .300......I might switch.


I shoot/shot stuff as small as 40lbs upto around 1200, with both the 7mm and 300win. Choose your bullets correctly, and neither will blow up small stuff, or bounce off big stuff. Even my .375 Ruger works fine on sheep, and axis deer, with the correct bullet selection.
 
My love affair with the 7 RM has largely ended. It’s been 6 or 7 years ago, but I finally decided between the 7RM and the 300wm, and realized how much I favor the 300. If I’m burning that much powder, I want a 200+ grain bullet in front of it.

Both are grossly overpowered for whitetails. Any time I find myself thinking about anything more than ~40 grains of powder and 110 grains of bullet to kill a deer, I remind myself that if I’m not doing it out of silly whimsy, then it’s just silly. So really, considering either, neither is “better” for whitetails than the other.
 
I’m not sure I would go through all that effort for a Remington take off barrel but hey it may work out just fine.
Please report back and thanks for posting.
J
 
I once bought a beat up Win model 670 .30-06 with a barrel bulge for super cheap. I went to Gunbroker & bought a take-off .270 win barrel for $35 + $15 shipping. I installed the barrel & it aligned & headspaced perfectly. I repaired, refinished, glass bed, pillar bedded & channel-floated the stock. Loaded up a some 130gr bullets with a medium charge of 4350. First group was 3/4". A little more load tuning it now shoots even better!

YMMV but not much on the down side trying a T.O. barrel...
 
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So I spoke to a local gunsmith who specializes in precision rifles. I told him my plan to use a new Remington factory take off. He stated that he wouldn't recommend using a factory take off because he couldn't guarantee that the headspacing would be correct, and he may have to set the shoulder back. At that point the cost wouldn't make sense. Also he said he couldn't guarantee the lettering on the barrel would be where its supposed to be.

As far as truing the receiver goes he stated he wouldn't bother doing anything to a factory 700 after the letter "D" serial number. He said all 700 receivers after "D" are cast and not forged. My serial # starts with "R". So I'm assuming its cast.

He recommend keeping the current barrel on it and fully bed the action. So that's the plan now. However, I always assumed all 700 actions were forged and that's one of the reasons so many people use them to build off of. How much truth is in what this gunsmith is telling me?

Thanks
 
I don't want to **** talk your gunsmith, and I may be WAYYYY off base so take this for what it's worth.
Couple things that throw flags for me
Setting the barrel back would allow the smith to put the lettering anywhere he wanted. I've had 700s screw in and be pretty close in headspace, to dead on, but never had one line up the lettering. I've never worried about it, but there's a machine shop who will set barrels back for me, and I've had them do that so I could clean up a chamber, and align the lettering on a friend's gun.
In THAT process you may change the relation ship between the breach and bolt nose that you need to deepen the recess and face off the excess, also not a hard job for a decent machine shop.

As has been stated it's probably not worth the cost to blueprint of true up a 700 action (unless you already have it, which you do) when you can buy a better action for not much more than the work costs.
BUT I've never heard anyone say they won't do it because the receivers were forged, or cast, specially since as far as I know they are turned from bar stock.

Again I'm not a gunsmith, just a rifle nut that likes to tinker, so I could well be way off base.
 
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The local gunsmith may be a fine fellow, but he misspoke about 700 actions. The newer ones are still made the same as the older ones (not cast) and now they are turned by CNC machines that hold the tolerances very close.

For a hunting rifle it probably is not worth the cost to most fellows to true ("blueprint") their 700 actions. Well executed bedding, trigger adjustment or replacement, and proper handloads are all that is usually needed to show measurable improvement.
 
I've never heard of 700 actions being cast, but I could be wrong. I'm thinking of taking to gun to him and having him run a bore scope down the barrel to to check the throat, then go from there. No need to get into truing the action, and risk a new factory take off not working correctly without additional work if its not needed. If he says the current barrel is fine then I'll just have him bed it for $150 like he quoted.

Thanks for the input
 
If my memory isn’t gone, the 700 is machined from barstock, like the pre ‘64 Winchester 70’s and after that the Winchester ‘70’s were forged receivers but the Ruger’s are cast. I don’t recall any cast 700’s.

Obviously they all require machining to complete and all work.
 
Hate to bust your bubble, but why didn't try the old stock before switching to the composite? Remington 700s are not true free floating barrels. They usually have an extra post a couple of inches behind the nose cap. May be too the old owner didn't realize that either. Many 700 owners will place and old baseball card strip about 4 inches back from the nose cap and tighten it down so a dollar bill won't pass through. I hear a Mickie Mantle rookie card works best. lol
 
Chunk the lead sledge.

Buy a proper rear bag, front bag and adjustable front rest: Shoot the rifle from the shoulder. Unless you're hunting elk or moose you don't need 175 grain bullets, 140 grain and 150 grain bullets are adequate for deer.
 
Thomasss said:
Hate to bust your bubble, but why didn't try the old stock before switching to the composite? Remington 700s are not true free floating barrels. They usually have an extra post a couple of inches behind the nose cap. May be too the old owner didn't realize that either. Many 700 owners will place and old baseball card strip about 4 inches back from the nose cap and tighten it down so a dollar bill won't pass through. I hear a Mickie Mantle rookie card works best. lol
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For Remington 700 hunting rifles, free-floating the barrel, except for within 1 1/2" inches of the receiver works best for me. Pillar-Bed and cradle the receiver in epoxy, but make spacing in front (muzzle-side) and under the recoil plate with temporary carding, while epoxy sets up.

An inch or so of bedding, just in front of the recoil plate, adds extra stability/footprint to the action. But considerably free-floating (at least 1/16") the rest of the forend provides perfect barrel stability, regardless of temperature, type of rest, or sling pressure.

Remember: Hunting rifles are best when they maintain their zero, regardless of temperature, humidity, various rests/holds. That's best achieved with free-floated barrels. Unfortunately, free-floating does make them subject to variations in POI with different handloads or types/weights of factory ammo, so pick the ammo you want to use before final sighting-in, and stick with it through hunting season.
 
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Unless you really want to mess with a new barrel I would take a good look at the stock and bedding- then I would start hand loading- I had a 7mm mag that shot three inch groups at 100 yrds with various factory ammo- I worked up a stout IMR 4831 load with 162 gr boat tails and it shoots dime sized groups at 100 yards- after break in.

I also cleaned up a pressure point in the stock - not a real bedding job- sometimes you just need to mess with them and shoot em-

....and sometimes you screw another barrel on too!
 
pert near said:
I recommend that you do a little more research before you spend a lot of money on a re-barrel. Find someone who can use a bore-scope to determine the existing barrel's condition. I've used JB bore paste to restore a rifle or two. If you still have the original stock that came with it try it again & see if it improves or accuracy the same. As mentioned, reloading normally can improve your accuracy.
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I agree with this. After a good cleaning my 700 mm Mag went from 1.5 to .75 MOA. No other changes.
 
Just finished bedding my .223 Rem 700 ADL barreled action into the new HS Precision plastic stock. It fit the stock well and was shooting pretty well, but should be even better now. At least it shouldn't be worse. I used some JB Weld we had on-hand.

Even if it doesn't shoot any better, I'll know that it's doing its best to please me.
 
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