Gunsmithing Remington 700 308 16.25in

[HeartLand Hunter]

I need some help. I recently bought a Remington 700 tactical with a 20” non threaded barrel. This gun was manufactured in 2013 per Remington.
The barrel is 1:12 twist. I had barrel cut and threaded and re-crowned by class 3 machining in Dallas it looks great.
When I bought this used gun I shot some 168 Federal gold metal match. Gun shot decent 3 shot group right a inch at 100yrds I sent to get cut at 16.25 After it got back I cleaned the barrel with a brass brush and hopps solvent. “Maybe I shouldn’t have”
Now I can’t get this gun to group at all 2.5-3.0in group all it will do.

Factory Ammo I’ve tired
Hornady 168amax
Hornady 178 eldx
Federal gold metal match 168
Remington corelock 150
Winchester PowerPoint 150
Gun specs-
Remington 700 tactical
1:12 twist
Timely trigger
Magpul Hunter stock
TPS base
Warne rings
Vortex viper 2-10 pst
Omega 30
I’ve shot 44 rounds all different ammo can’t get under a 2in group...
Do you think the 1:12 twist is messing me up I know the Remington 700 SPS tactical factory 16.5 in a 1:10 twist. Any help trying to diagnose my problem would be very much appreciated Thanks

 

[vinniedelpino]

You've ruled out the torque on the scope rings/mount and action screws, correct? And that the barrel isn't touching the stock anywhere?

Did you change anything else when you had the work done?

 

[HeartLand Hunter]

Yes I will confirm again this evening. Barrel isn't toughing anywhere. All I did was clean the barrel with a brass brush and hopps cleaner.

 

[vinniedelpino]

Yes I will confirm again this evening. Barrel isn't toughing anywhere. All I did was clean the barrel with a brass brush and hopps cleaner.

The brake is snug too? I'm at a loss. Cutting the barrel shouldn't have an effect on accuracy like that. There has to be something else that changed.

 

[HeartLand Hunter]

Brake is snug.. Not timed true but Silencer co said that it wouldn't cause any problem..

 

[powdahound76]

Hmmm.

Check barrel tightness.
Check headspace on brass fired after cut and brass fired before.
I think most smiths would remove a barrel for that work.

Pull from stock. Look it all over (action and recoil lug area).
Re-torque into stock.
Double check all base and rings torque.

Shoot it without the break. No thread protector.

 

[MrSmith]

Pull a Q-Tip out of the muzzle against the new crown to check for any lips or burrs. However, from the look of the work I think this would be unlikely.

Thank you,
MrSmith

 

[Wannashootit]

I'll take a different tack.
Naturally, the fact that you say it shot OK before sending out to chop and thread- and it shot differently when you got it back would logically lead us to think it's related to that...
But as the saying goes, "correlation is not causation".

You cleaned with Hoppes, which is just a powder solvent.
Have you stripped the bore of copper since you bought it?

 

[Hateca]

Slower twist needs higher velocity to stabilize some bullet. What is the velocity of that factory barrel now that you cut it? Could be you’re just too slow.

 

[HousePlant]

Bullets coming out too slow. You took almost 4" of bullet velocity and stabilization at a slower 1:12 twist off the barrel. Unless Class3 goofed up re-installing your barrel (I'd be surprised if they actually had to remove it), the twist rate is probably your issue. Class3Machining did my Savage threading and it's dead nuts bore-centered and the crown is tippy top. Suppose you can check to see if your new crown is not the same all around its diameter.

My 308 barrel is a 1/10 twist. Likes 175 gr. bullets the best, in my experience. Never fired anything heavier, though. Does 168s nicely too.

 

[eastexsteve]

I need some help. I recently bought a Remington 700 tactical with a 20” non threaded barrel. This gun was manufactured in 2013 per Remington.
The barrel is 1:12 twist. I had barrel cut and threaded and re-crowned by class 3 machining in Dallas it looks great.
When I bought this used gun I shot some 168 Federal gold metal match. Gun shot decent 3 shot group right a inch at 100yrds I sent to get cut at 16.25 After it got back I cleaned the barrel with a brass brush and hopps solvent. “Maybe I shouldn’t have”
Now I can’t get this gun to group at all 2.5-3.0in group all it will do.

Factory Ammo I’ve tired
Hornady 168amax
Hornady 178 eldx
Federal gold metal match 168
Remington corelock 150
Winchester PowerPoint 150
Gun specs-
Remington 700 tactical
1:12 twist
Timely trigger
Magpul Hunter stock
TPS base
Warne rings
Vortex viper 2-10 pst
Omega 30
I’ve shot 44 rounds all different ammo can’t get under a 2in group...
Do you think the 1:12 twist is messing me up I know the Remington 700 SPS tactical factory 16.5 in a 1:10 twist. Any help trying to diagnose my problem would be very much appreciated Thanks

OK, I own MANY 308 guns. Take the Remington and Winchester selections out of your bullet test offerings. That is crap ammo for what you are trying to achieve. What you are left with is 168 being the lightest bullet you tested. You've reduced your velocity by losing 4 inches of barrel. It's going to take a fast (but consistent) round to stabilize in that 1/12 twist. This equates to a lighter bullet. You need to get down around 150 grains with QUALITY premium ammo. I found that Hornady 150 grain American Whitetail is fairly consistently accurate out of a 1/12 twist short-barreled gun when I ONCE tried it. I would bet that there is some really good premium 150 grain 308 ammo out there, but I'm not familiar with the light 308 ammo.

 

[Gunsmith PJ]

I need some help. I recently bought a Remington 700 tactical with a 20” non threaded barrel. This gun was manufactured in 2013 per Remington.
The barrel is 1:12 twist. I had barrel cut and threaded and re-crowned by class 3 machining in Dallas it looks great.
When I bought this used gun I shot some 168 Federal gold metal match. Gun shot decent 3 shot group right a inch at 100yrds I sent to get cut at 16.25 After it got back I cleaned the barrel with a brass brush and hopps solvent. “Maybe I shouldn’t have”
Now I can’t get this gun to group at all 2.5-3.0in group all it will do.

Factory Ammo I’ve tired
Hornady 168amax
Hornady 178 eldx
Federal gold metal match 168
Remington corelock 150
Winchester PowerPoint 150
Gun specs-
Remington 700 tactical
1:12 twist
Timely trigger
Magpul Hunter stock
TPS base
Warne rings
Vortex viper 2-10 pst
Omega 30
I’ve shot 44 rounds all different ammo can’t get under a 2in group...
Do you think the 1:12 twist is messing me up I know the Remington 700 SPS tactical factory 16.5 in a 1:10 twist. Any help trying to diagnose my problem would be very much appreciated Thanks

The crown looks good, I would try a 155gr. Bullet, 1-12 may not be fully stabilizing the bullet. I have a 700 sps 1-10 that loves 168's. I also have the same can.

 

[smoothy8500]

Gun shot decent 3 shot group right a inch at 100yrds

Maybe that was just a "lucky" three-shot group and in reality, it was a 2MOA rifle all along. Combined with a loss of velocity and the 1:12 twist threw it over the edge.

 

[8up]

Shoot it without any muzzle device on? Get a base line off of that. Then add muzzle device, see if there is any difference. Got to find the variable.

 

[Shooterrrr]

As others have said, I would probably go about things in this order:

1) remove scope, pull it out of the stock, check barrel torque along with scope base torque.
2) install in chassis, or maybe even try the original stock it came in (assuming you shot the original 20” barrel with it when you shot your 1 MOA 3 shot group). Make sure the recoil lug is sitting as far back in the chassis as it will allow.
3) install scope.
4) shoot a group with 175 FGMM (there aren‘t many guns that don’t like that load IMHO).
5) defoul it if you have a bunch of rounds down the pipe or if you don’t know the round count history on the gun.
6) try the 175 FGMM after.
7) if it shoots well add the muzzle device back
8) you can also alter your target distance to see when it’s falling apart regarding you twist/velocity/stability question.

Let us know if it works out, it can be super frustrating.

 

[HeartLand Hunter]

Hi Guys,
I think i have narrowed my problem.. The pervious owner painted the stock and the thickness of paint actually cause the trigger to rub the sides of the trigger guard i found this out by closing the bolt and the firing pin would let go.. lucky i didn't have a round in it i knew than something strange was going on.. I took the stock back off and inserted the bottom metal and noticed it wasn't very smooth but basically the trigger was in a bind due to paint thickness and I removed the paint around the trigger.. Gun is shooting much better. Thank yall for all the advice. Now i just need to practice.

 

[Shooterrrr]

Glad you got it figured out.

Enjoy your weekend.

 

[eastexsteve]

Hi Guys,
I think i have narrowed my problem.. The pervious owner painted the stock and the thickness of paint actually cause the trigger to rub the sides of the trigger guard i found this out by closing the bolt and the firing pin would let go.. lucky i didn't have a round in it i knew than something strange was going on.. I took the stock back off and inserted the bottom metal and noticed it wasn't very smooth but basically the trigger was in a bind due to paint thickness and I removed the paint around the trigger.. Gun is shooting much better. Thank yall for all the advice. Now i just need to practice.

But, you said the gun shot well before you shortened the barrel.

 

[smoothy8500]