Need Help Model 700 - 300 Winchester Magnum

The COAL of 3.340 that you mentioned, is usually a suggested dimension. Have you made up a dummy round to check the max usable magazine length? That should be the criteria for establishing a workable COAL.
If you cannot improve on the grouping, it might be time to try another bullet. Sometimes a certain bullet will just not shoot good groups in a particular rifle.


NCsmitty

What NCsmitty said, Plus> Try seating the bullet deeper, shorter OAL. Have the base of the bullet(full diameter if a boatail) even with the neck shoulder junction. Then try an OAL in the middle of the shortest & longest OAL. Many rifles shoot just fine with some bullet jump to the Lands. Also, you might want to try sizing your brass so that it headspaces on the shoulder and not the belt. In other words adjust your FLRS die so you don't push the shoulder back to far on sizing.

Many rifles shoot just fine with some bullet jump to the Lands.

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Like you get with factory loads.

Remington uses so much free-bore for legal reasons anymore, there is no way to load to the rifling.

What kind of groups do you get with factory loads?

rc

is there enough bullet in the case??

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If your 180gr bullets are 1.200" long, there would be 0.247" of them seated in the case. That'd be enough to hold the bullet firmly and concentric. Much more and it'd be getting iffy. You can take it to about nothing, if you want, but the cartrigdes get fragile and prone to damage.

The general rule of thumb is at least one bullet diameter should be in the case for proper neck tension to get a good burn started.

Not enough neck tension is not conductive to good groups either.

rc

rcmodel said:

The general rule of thumb is at least one bullet diameter should be in the case for proper neck tension to get a good burn started.

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But would that apply to the .300 Win Mag with a case neck only 0.264" long? In fact, my case necks (W-W Super) are much closer to .250" long, so having more than 0.25" of the bullet in the neck would achieve nothing.

PALongbow said:

My cartridge length with the 180 grain Accubond bullet is at the max OAL of 3.340 (bullet not touching lands). My question is when I used the Hornady OAL guage my overall length with bullet touching lands is showing 3.573. Not sure if this measurement will work with the magazine in my model 700 and is there enough bullet in the case??

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First off, the 3.340" isn't MAX overall length ... in fact, it's the MIN overall length. Any shorter and you might raise the pressure in the case to unsafe levels. So you measured the OAL using a Hornady OAL gauge and discovered, like many, that Remington throats are ridiculously long. Personally, I seat 208gr A-MAX bullets 0.020" off the lands in my .300 Win Mag. If you do something similar, your OAL needs to be 3.553" but you'll need to use a .300 bullet comparator to verify that. You can also verify how much of the bullet is in contact with the case neck, and if it's close to 0.250" then you're good to go. By the way, what case/powder/primer are you using?

For the record, my Remington 700 in .300 Win Mag, before I added a Krieger barrel, used to shoot under 1" at 100 yards consistently (180gr SMK HBPT, 72.0gr Reloder 22) so something is definitely wrong.

PALongbow I had a 700 in 300 win mag that did the same thing 3 inch groups no matter the load.Turned out to be the firing pin and spring combo struck hard enough to shake the rifle that much.

3.573 seems slightly long for that gun but with the 180grain bullet you should have plenty of bullet in the brass. I have mine set at 3.450 for my 700 and have no problems with the magazine. I have never used accubond bullets but I use ballistic tips. I have had accuracy problems with winchester magnum primers in the past and switched to CCI. I am currently using 77grains of RL22 over a 165grain ballistic tip, winchester brass and CCI magnum primers. With that load I can damn near 1 hole at 100 yds.

Longbow:
I don't want to give anymore loading advice since you've already gotten some good help. I would like to relate a story about my very first rifle new factory rifle purchased in 1965. This rifle was a Remington 700BDL in 30-06 with a 20" barrel and would only shoot 11/2-2" groups with factory or handloads. I too am from Pa and these groupings were satisfactory for our woods hunting and used it for many years. About 5 or 6 years ago MIdwayUSA had a close out sale on Boyds laminate stocks with aluminum bedding. Since I never liked the impressed checkering on my Remington, I bought the Boyd's stock and installed it. Upon taking it to the range and shooting off a steady rest. this rifle proceeded to fire groups between 3/8 to 3/4" with every handload I had. I'm mentioning all this, because it's possible you have a bedding problem like I had and never knew it. Good luck to you and get that "Pa 8 Pointer this Fall".

PALongbow-Bench your rifle and dry fire it carefully watching the amount of shake you get.Also if your spring doesn't lay straight and true on the firing pin you may have this crappy assembly Remington subcontracted to a company who's name I can't seem to recall.Replace the spring/pin assembly with good parts.I traded that 700 before I learned about this condition,I'm not a Remington fan.

PALongbow. Good luck and dont forget the load I was talking about above is with 165gn bullets. 77grains is over max for 180grain bullet.

Doug b said:

I'm not a Remington fan.

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Well, I've got three 700s that all shoot/shot under an 1" at 100 yards with the factory barrels so I don't have a problem with Remington accuracy ... the bolts and long throats however, well, that's another thread. Suffice it to say, Remington rifles for the most part are excellent, but with a better bolt/safety design and shorter throat, I wouldn't even bother looking at other manufacturers.

PALongbow,
There are numerous possible explanations for your accuracy issues so before you go spending money, start the with the obvious. Also, I would think that your Remington stock has an aluminum bedding block so you don't need to get the rifle glass-bedded if that's what you have.

Check the following ...

1. Scope, rings, bases.
2. Check to see if the muzzle is damaged.
3. Action screws front and back (45 to 50 in-lb for an aluminum bedding block stock).
4. Check if barrel is free-floating all the way to the recoil lug.
5. All reloading components - bullets, cases, primers, powder.

Longbow:
Yes I can...this fellow is an excellent allround gunsmith and is reasonably priced:
Mike Hane
118 Big Rd (actually Rt 73 after it splits splits from Rt 29)
Zieglerville, Pa 19492
610-287-5318
www.mhgunsmithing.com
Call him after 7:00 PM when he opens to the public and tell him that Mike recommended him. He runs a gun shop only and does not sell any gun products. There is a great small gunshop 5 min away for great prices for new and used firearms and ammo only, no components. It's called Barber's firearms and I buy all my new guns from him. Email me if you want address etc for Chuck Barber.
Mike/Loadedround

PALongbow, I don't think there's anything wrong with your load ... here's a five shot group from my .300 Win Mag before I switched the factory barrel for a Krieger. As you can see, a 180gr SMK, 72.0gr of Reloder 22 and a Federal magnum primer ... and the group was shot using a Tasco "world class" scope ... the horror!!

1858 - ahhh...the screws on the scope rings seemed to be a bit loose. I turned them 1-2 full turns per ring screw. They will not move now. Whould this cause the spread in groups???

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Good grief!!! With loose scope rings/bases, I'm surprised you could even keep your groups under 3" ... particularly with a .300 Win Mag. Anyway, torque the screws to the correct value, shoot some groups and report back.

1ST keep everything the same and try some different primers. My Remington 700 in 300 Win Mag can't stand Winchester large rifle magnum primers for what ever reason. Also have a Remington 700 in 300 WBY it also can't stand Winchester large rifle magnum primers go figure. Both do much better with CCI 250, Federal 215, 215M.

If that don't work I would try a different COL if that don't work I would try a different 180 grain bullet soon.

Also may want to check action screws.