I am sick of my rifle......Tine to rebarrel?

[Delkal]

I have a 15 year old Remington 700 in 7MM Mag. I couldn't tell you how many times I have been to the range and tweaked loads but the best groups I can get are 1 1/4 inch (most loads are 2+ inches) at 100 yards. The barrel fouls badly and is full of copper after 20 shots too. I know that's good enough for hunting but I want more. Lets say 0.5 inches best case (even one time) and if can usually keep it at 0.75 I would be happy.

Looking at my load notes I have shot over 500 rounds with all kinds of powders and tried bullet weights from 150 to 175 from numerous manufacturers. The best groups ever were slightly under one inch but I retested the same load today and it was back to 1.25 inches. This was the only load I found that shoots well and it will not repeat! I am sick of it and give up.

Thinking about rebarreling it in the same cartridge but I get confused about what to do and who to send it to to get it to shoot. I've seen some people happy about getting a Williams barrel installed for $300, other people like the Pac-Nors installed for $600, and others spending MUCH more for Krieger or Lijla.

What will work without going full custom?

[Twoboxer]

My Rem 700 is a vintage 1964 BDL in 30-06. It was a good hunting rifle - cold shots would stay zeroed and the first 3-shot group would be pretty good (under 1 moa). But shooting more would spray larger and larger groups.

I decided my first step would be to check and see if the barrel was free-floating. It wasn't. The forward swivel stud actually touched the barrel and also prevented me from sanding out the stock's channel. Rather than remove the stud, I replaced the stock. Felt better, but no real improvement in group size.

Next I replaced the trigger with a Timney drop-in. Felt better, but no improvement in group size.

So I decided to rebarrel. Found out the labor cost was the same regardless of which barrel I chose, so I chose a 26" Krieger bull barrel ($325 plus $325 installation). Decided to go the whole route and have the stock bedded ($120) and the action trued ($110). The bolt face turned out to be significantly out-of-perpendicular to the chamber center line.

Fired about 25 rounds for break-in and began load development. The results were significantly improved. Using OCW, I found that ALL of the test groups were now good groups and it was easy to tell where the nodes were by observing adjacent powder charges with VERY similar POIs. The rifle now shoots 0.75 MOA 5-shot groups in my hands, and the results don't change as the barrel heats up (within reason).

Don't know if ALL that work was important . . . but I am certain the barrel played the big role. So I'd advise not "skimping" on a barrel. The next time I feel the need to make a rifle a good shooter, I'll start out installing a good barrel and go from there.

[Delkal]

I free floated the barrel and lightened the trigger. No Change. But this was with the original Remington parts, not aftermarket.

Who rebarreled your rifle and what stock are you using?

[Twoboxer]

I used a Choate Tactical stock. Later added their 3-way Recoil pad and an adjustable cheek rest.

Barrel work et al was done by Sabreco Inc in Skippack, not too far from you. Fred also builds 6mmAR uppers (and others) for Robert Whitley.

If you check the 6mmar.com web site and click on "barrels" you can check inventory and actually purchase a 7mm blank from Robert. Don't know how his prices compare to other sources, but the lead time for a pickup (in Doylestown) is essentially zero.

I brought the barrel and rifle to Fred 12/2 and picked up the finished product 1/14. Of course, the lead time varies from season to season.

[bfoosh006]

IMHO.... buy a high quality barrel.

You have high expectations, ( I have no problem with that ) .... and anything less then a great barrel will leave you wondering what could have been.

I bought a Krieger for an AR build and a M1A build.... what I have noticed about the Krieger isn't just amazing accuracy with quality ammo that it likes most,.... but it is more consistent with ammo in general... producing the same type of group, repeatedly, day in and day out.... with whatever chosen ammo.

I can comfortably know where a cold bore shot will go.... including the next shot... etc.

It is far easier to clean.


Ultimately, buy one of the best barrels you can afford. The benefits far outweigh the price difference.

You only live once. Enjoy your hobby to its fullest.

[MasonArmsGunsmithing]

I would also highly recommend going with a high quality barrel. There is nothing worse than spending money to have a rifle rebarreled only to find out it shoots the same or sometimes worse because the barrel is no good. At our shop we normally work with Krieger or Shilen. I like them both personally, the Shilen is going to be a little less expensive than the Krieger and you can still get great results. I have a Shilen on my .22-250 that I built for myself and it shoots .25 MOA with no issues. We would be happy to work up a price for you on the job. If you are interested, send us a message and we can see what we can do for you.

[bullzeye8]

I agree on the higher quality barrel. Spending the extra couple hundred now is worth it and you don't want to spend money on the barrel and labor for it to not be as accurate as you would like. With a high quality barrel any competent smith should be able to get you to half moa easily.

[Yellowfin]

Put it in a XLR chassis while you're at it.