Beginners steps to making a rifle more accurate

[LearningAsIGo]

I have read these forums for years and have learned a lot by osmosis; however, I still don't know exactly what makes some rifles more accurate than others. I know about the concepts of bedding and such, and harmonics, and understand them in principal; but not in practice. What steps can someone who is moderately handy take to improve a rifle's accuracy? I have 2 that I'd be willing to work on: a Savage 111 in 7mm Rem Mag, and a Remington 700S 5R 20". Both are as accurate as I am now, but I always like tinkering and learning. I could throw out all the terms I see on here pretending I know what they all mean, like blueprinting and truing, but... I'd be guessing at best.

Anyway, I want to order a custom rifle sometime in the future, but before doing that I want to play with some rifles and learn more what I'm looking for. Any guides/tips on accurazing a rifle would be appreciated.

 

[steve123]

The best way I know of to make a rifle more accurate is to make up a good handload!

If the stocks are wood they can be glass bedded. If they are the flexible tupperware plastic type stocks they need to sold. Otherwise you can buy a decent quality composite stock or a often over looked and stable platform is a laminate stock wood stock.

More often than not a box stock factory rifle will not shoot near as well as a custom rifle with a good aftermarket barrel which has been smithed correctly.

 

[LearningAsIGo]

The best way I know of to make a rifle more accurate is to make up a good handload!

If the stocks are wood they can be glass bedded. If they are the flexible tupperware plastic type stocks they need to sold. Otherwise you can buy a decent quality composite stock or a often over looked and stable platform is a laminate stock wood stock.

More often than not a box stock factory rifle will not shoot near as well as a custom rifle with a good aftermarket barrel which has been smithed correctly.

The savage stock is an accustock- so, pretty much tupperware. The 700 has a pretty rigid fiberglass stock.

I guess my question is along the lines of what is a "well smithed" barrel? What is done differently? and what could a layman do to improve?

 

[steve123]

There's not really anything you can do to the barrel personally unless you have a good lathe and the experience to use it correctly.

Bubba down the street who claims he can put a barrel on your rifle for $50 isn't the kind of Gunsmith I'm talking about. Ha, sadly I've been down that road, not with barrel work but dumbass socalled gunsmiths that can ruin a gun real quick with their amazing skills! Which is the opposite of "well smithed".

Go look at the Tacticalrifles.net lawsuit thread. There's a perfect example of how to ruin a perfectly good rifle.

I research and ask around which gunsmiths have a good rep and put out accurate rifles. 9 times out of 10 you'll be happy with the end product. Just be very careful to make them commit to a friggen timeline!

A well smithed barrel....

Start with a high quality aftermarket barrel. Find said reputable gunsmith. Typically this gunsmith will hold runout tolerances to .0002" or less to center of bore when chambering.

Back to the handloading part. Do you reload or not?

 

[LearningAsIGo]

There's not really anything you can do to the barrel personally unless you have a good lathe and the experience to use it correctly.

Bubba down the street who claims he can put a barrel on your rifle for $50 isn't the kind of Gunsmith I'm talking about. Ha, sadly I've been down that road, not with barrel work but dumbass socalled gunsmiths that can ruin a gun real quick with their amazing skills! Which is the opposite of "well smithed".

Go look at the Tacticalrifles.net lawsuit thread. There's a perfect example of how to ruin a perfectly good rifle.

I research and ask around which gunsmiths have a good rep and put out accurate rifles. 9 times out of 10 you'll be happy with the end product. Just be very careful to make them commit to a friggen timeline!

A well smithed barrel....

Start with a high quality aftermarket barrel. Find said reputable gunsmith. Typically this gunsmith will hold runout tolerances to .0002" or less to center of bore when chambering.

Back to the handloading part. Do you reload or not?

Actually that thread is what got me thinking about it. I realized I wouldn't know enough to distinguish b.s. from fact when picking a smith.

I do handload, yes.

 

[Cdiver0109]

What kind of accuracy are you experiencing with these rifles and what are you expecting from them?

 

[steve123]

Okay, so I'd start with glass bedding and a ladder test if you haven't done that already and work up the best load you can. If you were to get consistent .8 moa groups that's pretty good for a stock rifle.

There are things you can do to help your shooting now though.

Putting a good aftermarket trigger on with a lighter pull weight.

Putting a stock pack on to lift your eye to the scope and/or use lower rings.

Getting LOP correct.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

First, assure yourself that stock and optical mountings are securely mounted, screws will loosen up. For now, torque settings can wait, just make certain they are not loose and are somewhat less than as physically tight as you can get them with a screwdriver-type handle. Avoid being that legendary gorilla. Also, make sure any free floats have clean barrel channels; debris can unfloat a barrel.

I think you can find out something about reputable gunsmiths from fellow shooters at the range. Another source is a LGS where they don't do gunsmithing; ask them where they send their customers. Unlike shops where gunsmithing is done, they have no vested interests; and a good shop owner has good reason to have you come back smiling.

Learn what parallax is and how to adjust it.

Invest in a reliable action .22LR repeater as a trainer, preferably a bolt rifle. I like the Savage MKII and Stevens 300 models. This trainer doesn't need to be super accurate, it just need to be consistent. Ammo is an issue right now but be persistent, you can find it if you look hard enough.

BTW, the Accu-Stock is plastic, yes; but it's not Tupperware. There's a sturdy forearm-action block in there.

Handloading is a good skill, but handloading for larger bore cartridges can still be excessively costly. Seriously consider getting hold of/use of a reliable .223 bolt gun. Used is good, and always check the crowns for evidence of damage where the muzzle face and rifling lands/grooves join. Recrowning isn't that costly, and most professional gunsmiths can be counted on to do it well. I've no interest in trying such myself.

Do good research on the action bedding process, get a resin bedding kit, and do some dry runs to reduce 'fumble time' before you do the actual deed. Also. the recommended resin mixing time is critical, don't skimp on it.

Greg

 

[LearningAsIGo]

First, assure yourself that stock and optical mountings are securely mounted, screws will loosen up. For now, torque settings can wait, just make certain they are not loose and are somewhat less than as physically tight as you can get them with a screwdriver-type handle. Avoid being that legendary gorilla. Also, make sure any free floats have clean barrel channels; debris can unfloat a barrel.

I think you can find out something about reputable gunsmiths from fellow shooters at the range. Another source is a LGS where they don't do gunsmithing; ask them where they send their customers. Unlike shops where gunsmithing is done, they have no vested interests; and a good shop owner has good reason to have you come back smiling.

Learn what parallax is and how to adjust it.

Invest in a reliable action .22LR repeater as a trainer, preferably a bolt rifle. I like the Savage MKII and Stevens 300 models. This trainer doesn't need to be super accurate, it just need to be consistent. Ammo is an issue right now but be persistent, you can find it if you look hard enough.

BTW, the Accu-Stock is plastic, yes; but it's not Tupperware. There's a sturdy forearm-action block in there.

Handloading is a good skill, but handloading for larger bore cartridges can still be excessively costly. Seriously consider getting hold of/use of a reliable .223 bolt gun. Used is good, and always check the crowns for evidence of damage where the muzzle face and rifling lands/grooves join. Recrowning isn't that costly, and most professional gunsmiths can be counted on to do it well. I've no interest in trying such myself.

Do good research on the action bedding process, get a resin bedding kit, and do some dry runs to reduce 'fumble time' before you do the actual deed. Also. the recommended resin mixing time is critical, don't skimp on it.

Greg

Thank you very much! After my last range trip I did check the torque on all my screws and corrected the few that were under or overtorqued. I do have a .22 I practice with (a plain jane 10/22 that I'm about to rebarrel and stock). My groups are not horrible, my best with it so far was smaller than a dime at 100 yards (just 3 shots) with the weather showing 15 mile an hour winds with gusts to 25. It wasn't repeatable, but I was still very happy with it (and myself). I am continuing to work on my shooting as often as possible (work and school) as my groups fall apart at 200 yards. My main reason for asking was that I also like to tinker with things and figured any upgrades I can do myself would help me learn gunsmithing, and learn more about rifles and how accuracy and mechanics work together.

I also found that the stock on my 700 is an HS precision, and the trigger is actually amazingly crisp and breaks at about 2-2.5# (it was a demo gun with about 75 rounds through it when I bought it).

 

[Greg Langelius *]

You remind me strongly of myself back when this site was starting out. I decided to find out for myself just how much of the 'common wisdom' actually had a positive value.

Let me save you some valuable time, effort, and cash.

First, simpler is better.

Next, all of the extra handloading steps have value; but in my case, those values can become outweighed by the extra time, effort, and cash.

It pays to adjust one's expectation away from ultimate accuracy, and embrace adequate, practical accuracy. If you do the basic reloading steps with keen attention to consistency, you accomplish the grand majority of what's needed to attain the latter.

I consider 1MOA at 100yd, and 2MOA beyond 300yd to be acceptable performance, and stop the load development there. Remember, accuracy at the cost of bore life is counterproductive. It seems to me that a lot of the message traffic here comes from folks who just aren't willing to accept reasonable limitations.

I did a whole series of articles here over a decade back, based on finding the potential of the factory rifle. I learned bedding, handloading, and a bit about optics. Marksmanship skills became the critical factor, not equipment. Accuracy approached 1/2MOA and the cost was largely paid in sweat equity. I did not learn gunsmithing, home gunsmithing yields limited benefits, and actual professional gunsmithing requires education and resources that are not cost effective outside the professional shop. Still, home gunsmithing can meet or exceed the goals I consider acceptable.

Long Range marksmanship is a specialized activity. You can hit targets out there with a massaged factory rifle, but being truly competitive requires the smithing skills of a seasoned professional. My very best homebrewed efforts placed me squarely in the middle of the 1000yd F Open pack; good, but more challenging than satisfying. I can live with that; but others feel a more driving need to win than I do.

Greg