Basic improvements

[Lupinus]

So for a limited amount of money, say 150-200 what would be some of the basic first improvements to a rifle you would make? A Remington 700 ADL in .270win with the synthetic stock being our example since it is what I have and what I am looking to improve

Most anything with the exception of optics.

So what would you go for with a 150-200 dollar bankroll?

Trigger? Stock? Barrel? Bi Pod? Barrel de resonator? Recoil pad? What are the 200 dollars max worth of improvements you'd take care of first and foremost.

 

[BsChoy]

It going to be trigger or stock I think...timney or rifle basix for trigger or bell and carlson stock about 160.00...triggers are 70.00-175.00

 

[ID_shooting]

Trigger first, that is for sure.

Next I would bed the action and float the barrel.

After that, a reloading setup where you can tune the ammo to the gun.

 

[Legionnaire]

ID Shooting beat me to it: adjust the trigger first, then make sure all action screws are tight. You can do both of those without spending a dime. I think highly of Remington's stock trigger, but it needs to be lightened a bit from the factory. Then I'd work on the stock. Bedding the action and floating the barrel would be inexpensive. If that didn't get you where you wanted, you might replace the stock, but you'll probably not get much improvement spending only 150-200 unless you can find a second-hand HS Precision.

Maybe the best thing to do for your 150 would be to buy a bunch of different ammo and shoot for groups until you find out which ammo your gun likes best!

 

[Lupinus]

Right now I am thinking of going with this trigger- http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=563419

And a new stock, probably the stock first then the trigger.

I don't know bout the other 700's but IMO the basic ADL stock that is on mine leaves something to be desired and I would like one that has aluminum blocks in it for better stability, saw some on brownells I will be considering.

Least that is what I am thinking now but of course am open to ideas hence the thread.

Whats your opinions on barrel deresonators liek the one offered from limbsaver?

 

[Correia]

$200 worth of ammo.

 

[ChristopherG]

Please, I would hate to see anyone on any kind of a budget spend money on a replacement trigger before they have correctly adjusted the excellent Rem 700 trigger. It was engineered to be adjustable, and it's easy to do it, and you're not going to break it, and you won't believe what a difference it will make. Google it, fer cryin' out loud. Here, I'll get you started:

http://www.theoutdoorwriter.com/shooting/r700_trigger.htm

http://www.quarterbore.com/library/articles/rem700trigger.html

http://www.varminthunters.com/tech/crisp.html

Read over those, do the adjustment, and be amazed. Then, take Correia's advice; or, better yet, do the very best thing you can do to improve your rifle shooting: get set up to RELOAD

(unless you're already so set up; in which case, a stock would not be crazy)

 

[Davo]

For 200 bucks you can do alot....
detail clean your rifle,
remove scope and zero it out, possibly lap rings
trigger (perhaps done yourself...) it means alot but not everything
bed OEM stock
slick up/polish action
sling, practice its use
Foam cheekpiece, under a cabelas ammo band to get proper eye alighnment.
make a homemade snap cap and dryfire alot
than....with the remaining cash either get get some good ammo, or invest in a lee loader or lee hand press...either way the point it that you need to practice alot for the above "upgrades" to mean anything.

 

[Lupinus]

Chris-
My trigger was long ago adjusted with online instructions

But even so using those it is still a bit heavy to work saftly and reliably. Maybe its jsut the one on mine but I have been able to reduce it down about 5 1/2 to 6 pounds. Maybe mine was just really heavy I don't know. I'd like it to be down about 3 pounds or so, I like something that is light but not a hair trigger.

As for bedding the stock I could just do that but any ideas on how well it would work vs just getting a decent stock with aluminum blocks in it? I would think spending some cash on a decent stock with aluminum blocks would be better then a bedding job no?

And oh yes my friends, there will be ammo

Course I am debating between doing the upgrades to the rifle or getting into reloading, I have been debating which I would rather do.

Also does anyone have opinions on barrel deresonators?

 

[rockstar.esq]

No experience with barrel de resonaters however I've found handloading to make a HUGE difference in precision for less than the cost of new ammo! I have a Lee setup with Lee dies and I've seen groups shrink 20% compared to new match ammo. I'm not willing to purchase a de resonator until I've seen some conclusive evidence to suggest that they actually work. I guess after all the effort to free float the barrel in order to allow the barrel to move consistently, putting a honking rubber thing on the tube is likely to require a ton of fussing around to "tune" it so that it works like it should. Additionally I'd wonder if the adjustment would need to be repeated if you used a loading. The boss system that Browning puts on their rifles which is sort of like a variable compensator has the capacity to be repeatable as well as shut off.

 

[ID_shooting]

To me, ammo is the most important factor. Just look at all the mil-surp rifles that shoot under 1 inch with horrid mil-spec triggers and "one size fits all" stock inletting.

Using a good bedding compound will be more solid that a bedding block, IMO due to the compound forming to the action. A block is still "close enough for all actions" type of thing.

I never tried the resonator thing. I have yet to have a rifle I couldnt to to at least a 1 inch group @ 100 but bedding, floating and tuning ammo. The trigger is nice of you are off the bench, but not a huge factor unless you are off hand shooting.