Wylie1
Member
As I mentioned in a previous thread I started I have been so graciously gifted a Remington 770 chambered in .308. With all of the hear say and speculated reviews on the 770 going around the Internet I thought it was high time for a real world review so here it is.
This is the real deal, I have no affiliation with any fire arm manufactures nor do I have any preference toward any manufactures. Guaranteed accuracy by some manufacturers have gained my interests although I have not fired these products or have I spent any real time with any of them as new right out of the box products. My experience with firearms is truthfully minimal considering the experience I have seen and heard coming from others. To off set my last statement I have admired and fired many rifles over my lifetime although never entering any competitions friends have proclaimed me as a dead eye shot. What I do know is an inaccurate firearm frustrates me to the point of not wanting to bother with them much at all. I have a little gun smithing experience but this was far from any form of formal training but my outcomes with my smithing experiences have been positive.
First impression of the 770 left me wondering why anybody would plastic mold sling studs into the stock of a rifle. Granted they give them a little smoother looking line but I am afraid of the durability of these studs and I have read of failures on the Internet. These have just made the list of modifications to be made. My personal opinion of the stock doesn't follow the majorities opinion as I have gathered from the Internet, I almost like it and believe it may grow on me just as my first Tacoma did. I guess I am just growing complacent with synthetic stocks as they are becoming an industry standard for even some higher end rifles. After disassembling the 770 I have found that this stock feels rock solid as I try to twist it and bend it. One disadvantage I have found to cause some inaccuracy in this particluar 770 is the bedding of the barrel in the stock, I get further into this later. I'd prefer a nice laminated wood grained stock but then this is a budget rifle so it isn't economically feasible.
Fit and finish on first examination look pretty good barring the mold seam the length of the stock, an attribute I have seen with most synthetic stocks, I don't consider this a real big deal. On further examination I noticed I could loosen the screws holding the base of the scope rings to the base plate for the scope rings with my fingers! Then a look at each side of the scope rings showed a much larger gap on one side than the other, these were loose too! Now the scope ring's base plate is a single piece and may just bring some extra rigidity to the receiver and the four screws holding it in place do have thread locker on them and are appropriately tightened down nice and snug. As for the scope itself, not the greatest of quality although real clear viewing through the lenses throughout the scopes adjustments. So I snugged everything down on the scope that was loose and called it good enough for the time being.
By way of the Internet I came across some information I have taken to heart so there are some very slight modifications and preparations listed below that have been applied to this 770 before it ever made it to the range for break in and sighting in.
1.The bolt was sanded with 600 grit wet sanding paper and brought to a near mirror finish to smooth the bolts action in the receiver. This worked but not well enough to write home about.
2.The rifle and all components of the rifle were cleaned throughly upon receipt of the rifle with Blue Wonder products as to Blue Wonder's directions. I did not use a brass brush as the directions stated to be used, I used cotton swabs and cotton cloth patches. Pictures to follow, this gun was dirty!
3.After the cleaning a bore mop was rubbed down with a very fine buffing compound and run through the bore of the rifle 20 times to remove micro burrs, after this a very extensive cleaning of the bore took place to remove and buffing compound that could have been left behind.
4.All components of the rifle were lubricated as should be with the addition of Kroil applied to the bore of the rifle then dry patched before the first round was fired. This was done in an effort to avoid copper fouling early on.
5.Scope base, scope rings and scope were removed from the rifle and all mountings had thread locker applied to the threads, then they were reinstalled. This will bar any review of bore sighting done by Remington but will insure extra security in the scope's mountings.
A new gun, this dirty!?
At the range Winchester model number Q3130 7.62 x 51, 147gr. FMJs were the only cartridges used. Being a Nato cartridge these are shorter then most production rounds and will not seat the bullet into the lands of the bore as well as longer cartridges as well the 147 grain bullet isn't favored for a 1 in 10 inch bore twist from what I have read. (<Bore twist edited, thanks NCsmitty!) A heavier bullet somewhere in the 165 grain area would be preferred for greater accuracy from what I have read but the 147s were also a gift and other then the possibility of effecting the a very short length of the lands I went ahead with the 147s.
Every cartridge loaded into the rifle and fired was followed by a wet patch or two then followed by at least one dry patch for cleaning of the bore for the first 15 rounds. Then this same cleaning process was done after every two cartridges for the next 15 rounds which means I was shooting a wet bore the first day with every round that went through the rifle, this is known to cause greater inaccuracy.
As the day progressed the accuracy of the rifle sharpened although a poor group of about four inches was the final and best group of the day.
This is far from anything I would have expected from a new rifle and lead to me looking further into this rifle. The next day I pulled the rifle apart and began to scrutinize it's construction. In pulling the rifle apart I noticed the screws forward of the magazine only felt to have a few threads holding them in place and I made a mental note to drill out the wells these screws sit in to allow more threads to grab for some extra strength. I had read about someone stripping these screws out on the Internet and I could see why now!
The barrel is sandwiched in fairly tight by the stock and as the days shooting I had done progressed the point of impact was going to the right a little, might be something I can do here I thought.
The tang of these rifles are made of plastic! Although looking closer and thinking about it these rifles may not depend on the strength of the tang as much as older rifles do. There is a block bedded into the stock and a channel cut into the under side of the barrel that this block fits into that takes the applied force of the percussion. In seeing this I realized this is a very important link in this rifles accuracy so I grabbed the calipers to see just how well this block fit into the channel. After measuring the block's height from the base of where the barrel fits in the stock and the depth of the channel I found a difference of 0.04”!
I thought here's a start in gaining some accuracy so off I went searching through my junk for a little piece of steel to fabricate a slightly taller block from. I found a piece just slightly thicker and just to make sure it fit in the barrels channel tight I sized it up, nice and snug, perfect!
Next I checked it to the pocket in the stock the block seats in, really really tight but nothing a mallet and a block of wood couldn't persuade after a little careful carving with an exacto knife. The pocket in the stock is actually narrower then the channel on the under side of the barrel!
In what little experience gun smithing I have I learned how the Fins accurized the Russian's Mosins by shimming so I kept this in mind while building my new block and added the height of some washers I grabbed to the height of the new block.
So I finished up the block and figured the one I pulled out was blued, might as well, out came the Oxpho and the torch, just about red hot, dunk, sizzle, wipe down, tada!
A block of wood and dead blow hammer had the new block in place slick as you please.
A drill bit chucked up added some depth to the wells for the screws. Be extremely careful in doing this if you are doing the same as I have done. I had to grind and reblued the end of the screw directly next to the magazine as it contacted the bolt when I first put the bolt back into the rifle. This shows a weak point in the 770s I just became ware of.
Some careful work with a utility knife got the better part of the barrels channel in the stock cleared to float the barrel. In doing many fittings I found why the days shooting showed the point of impact leading to the right, the stock was pressuring the barrel on the left side more then the right.
Then a dowel and some 320 grit took care of the rest of the removal of plastic for the floating of the barrel.
There is one high spot I found under the barrel, a little more aggressive sanding took care of that.
Reassembling the rifle was a little tricky being I didn't glue the washers in place but will if the work I have done shows improvement of accuracy. I'll also be filling the void behind the block with Devcon Liquid Steel which might allow less movement of the block and increase accuracy. The barrel floating went well.
Although it doesn't affect the accuracy of the rifle I read a post on the Internet mentioning the rattle coming from the Magazines in the 770s. Originally I just wrapped some scotch tape around it but that looked like crap. Being I was working on the rifle today I found an oring that did the trick and in a much better fashion. Something I forgot to note when I made this post is that if pushed upward the magazine can contact the bolt, the o-ring application cured this little issue.
I was going to wait until I could make a few more trips to the range and see how the barrel settled in but decided to post up the work I've done so far for some feed back and opinions as to how I might go about accurizing this rifle further. Sling studs and Devcon are on the way.
This is the real deal, I have no affiliation with any fire arm manufactures nor do I have any preference toward any manufactures. Guaranteed accuracy by some manufacturers have gained my interests although I have not fired these products or have I spent any real time with any of them as new right out of the box products. My experience with firearms is truthfully minimal considering the experience I have seen and heard coming from others. To off set my last statement I have admired and fired many rifles over my lifetime although never entering any competitions friends have proclaimed me as a dead eye shot. What I do know is an inaccurate firearm frustrates me to the point of not wanting to bother with them much at all. I have a little gun smithing experience but this was far from any form of formal training but my outcomes with my smithing experiences have been positive.
First impression of the 770 left me wondering why anybody would plastic mold sling studs into the stock of a rifle. Granted they give them a little smoother looking line but I am afraid of the durability of these studs and I have read of failures on the Internet. These have just made the list of modifications to be made. My personal opinion of the stock doesn't follow the majorities opinion as I have gathered from the Internet, I almost like it and believe it may grow on me just as my first Tacoma did. I guess I am just growing complacent with synthetic stocks as they are becoming an industry standard for even some higher end rifles. After disassembling the 770 I have found that this stock feels rock solid as I try to twist it and bend it. One disadvantage I have found to cause some inaccuracy in this particluar 770 is the bedding of the barrel in the stock, I get further into this later. I'd prefer a nice laminated wood grained stock but then this is a budget rifle so it isn't economically feasible.
Fit and finish on first examination look pretty good barring the mold seam the length of the stock, an attribute I have seen with most synthetic stocks, I don't consider this a real big deal. On further examination I noticed I could loosen the screws holding the base of the scope rings to the base plate for the scope rings with my fingers! Then a look at each side of the scope rings showed a much larger gap on one side than the other, these were loose too! Now the scope ring's base plate is a single piece and may just bring some extra rigidity to the receiver and the four screws holding it in place do have thread locker on them and are appropriately tightened down nice and snug. As for the scope itself, not the greatest of quality although real clear viewing through the lenses throughout the scopes adjustments. So I snugged everything down on the scope that was loose and called it good enough for the time being.
By way of the Internet I came across some information I have taken to heart so there are some very slight modifications and preparations listed below that have been applied to this 770 before it ever made it to the range for break in and sighting in.
1.The bolt was sanded with 600 grit wet sanding paper and brought to a near mirror finish to smooth the bolts action in the receiver. This worked but not well enough to write home about.
2.The rifle and all components of the rifle were cleaned throughly upon receipt of the rifle with Blue Wonder products as to Blue Wonder's directions. I did not use a brass brush as the directions stated to be used, I used cotton swabs and cotton cloth patches. Pictures to follow, this gun was dirty!
3.After the cleaning a bore mop was rubbed down with a very fine buffing compound and run through the bore of the rifle 20 times to remove micro burrs, after this a very extensive cleaning of the bore took place to remove and buffing compound that could have been left behind.
4.All components of the rifle were lubricated as should be with the addition of Kroil applied to the bore of the rifle then dry patched before the first round was fired. This was done in an effort to avoid copper fouling early on.
5.Scope base, scope rings and scope were removed from the rifle and all mountings had thread locker applied to the threads, then they were reinstalled. This will bar any review of bore sighting done by Remington but will insure extra security in the scope's mountings.
A new gun, this dirty!?
At the range Winchester model number Q3130 7.62 x 51, 147gr. FMJs were the only cartridges used. Being a Nato cartridge these are shorter then most production rounds and will not seat the bullet into the lands of the bore as well as longer cartridges as well the 147 grain bullet isn't favored for a 1 in 10 inch bore twist from what I have read. (<Bore twist edited, thanks NCsmitty!) A heavier bullet somewhere in the 165 grain area would be preferred for greater accuracy from what I have read but the 147s were also a gift and other then the possibility of effecting the a very short length of the lands I went ahead with the 147s.
Every cartridge loaded into the rifle and fired was followed by a wet patch or two then followed by at least one dry patch for cleaning of the bore for the first 15 rounds. Then this same cleaning process was done after every two cartridges for the next 15 rounds which means I was shooting a wet bore the first day with every round that went through the rifle, this is known to cause greater inaccuracy.
As the day progressed the accuracy of the rifle sharpened although a poor group of about four inches was the final and best group of the day.
This is far from anything I would have expected from a new rifle and lead to me looking further into this rifle. The next day I pulled the rifle apart and began to scrutinize it's construction. In pulling the rifle apart I noticed the screws forward of the magazine only felt to have a few threads holding them in place and I made a mental note to drill out the wells these screws sit in to allow more threads to grab for some extra strength. I had read about someone stripping these screws out on the Internet and I could see why now!
The barrel is sandwiched in fairly tight by the stock and as the days shooting I had done progressed the point of impact was going to the right a little, might be something I can do here I thought.
The tang of these rifles are made of plastic! Although looking closer and thinking about it these rifles may not depend on the strength of the tang as much as older rifles do. There is a block bedded into the stock and a channel cut into the under side of the barrel that this block fits into that takes the applied force of the percussion. In seeing this I realized this is a very important link in this rifles accuracy so I grabbed the calipers to see just how well this block fit into the channel. After measuring the block's height from the base of where the barrel fits in the stock and the depth of the channel I found a difference of 0.04”!
I thought here's a start in gaining some accuracy so off I went searching through my junk for a little piece of steel to fabricate a slightly taller block from. I found a piece just slightly thicker and just to make sure it fit in the barrels channel tight I sized it up, nice and snug, perfect!
Next I checked it to the pocket in the stock the block seats in, really really tight but nothing a mallet and a block of wood couldn't persuade after a little careful carving with an exacto knife. The pocket in the stock is actually narrower then the channel on the under side of the barrel!In what little experience gun smithing I have I learned how the Fins accurized the Russian's Mosins by shimming so I kept this in mind while building my new block and added the height of some washers I grabbed to the height of the new block.
So I finished up the block and figured the one I pulled out was blued, might as well, out came the Oxpho and the torch, just about red hot, dunk, sizzle, wipe down, tada!
A block of wood and dead blow hammer had the new block in place slick as you please.
A drill bit chucked up added some depth to the wells for the screws. Be extremely careful in doing this if you are doing the same as I have done. I had to grind and reblued the end of the screw directly next to the magazine as it contacted the bolt when I first put the bolt back into the rifle. This shows a weak point in the 770s I just became ware of.
Some careful work with a utility knife got the better part of the barrels channel in the stock cleared to float the barrel. In doing many fittings I found why the days shooting showed the point of impact leading to the right, the stock was pressuring the barrel on the left side more then the right.
Then a dowel and some 320 grit took care of the rest of the removal of plastic for the floating of the barrel.
There is one high spot I found under the barrel, a little more aggressive sanding took care of that.
Reassembling the rifle was a little tricky being I didn't glue the washers in place but will if the work I have done shows improvement of accuracy. I'll also be filling the void behind the block with Devcon Liquid Steel which might allow less movement of the block and increase accuracy. The barrel floating went well.
Although it doesn't affect the accuracy of the rifle I read a post on the Internet mentioning the rattle coming from the Magazines in the 770s. Originally I just wrapped some scotch tape around it but that looked like crap. Being I was working on the rifle today I found an oring that did the trick and in a much better fashion.
Something I forgot to note when I made this post is that if pushed upward the magazine can contact the bolt, the o-ring application cured this little issue.
I was going to wait until I could make a few more trips to the range and see how the barrel settled in but decided to post up the work I've done so far for some feed back and opinions as to how I might go about accurizing this rifle further. Sling studs and Devcon are on the way.
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