I've had this Remington 700 youth in 243 with a 20 in barrel that hasn't shot that well until I put 38 grains of Hodgon 4350 behind a 100 grain Nosler ballistic tip. Anymore powder than that and doesn't do well. Question I have; is there unburned powder affecting the accuracy? 38 grains on left and 41 grains of powder to right in photo. Another note I sanded out the factory stock forearm to free float the barrel. It's not bedded and this is the first outing I've had with a free float barrel. Mind you this is the first outing I've had where there's actually been a pattern. I don't think this barrel liked all the pressure the stock had on it.
On Remington 700 many of these rifles are not free floated and have a raised bedding area at the fore end tip. This gives the barrel 3 to 9 pounds of up pressure to control barrel vibrations and help accuracy.
The reason I bring this up is I did the same thing to my Remington 700 .243 in the mid 1970s and removing the up pressure and made the rifle shoot much bigger groups. Meaning Remington put the raised bedding point at the fore end tip for a good reason.
There are two ways to tune a rifle.
The military tunes the rifle to the issued military ammunition. And Remington had the bedding point at the fore end tip because it made the rifle shoot better.
On a rifle with a free floating barrel you tune the ammunition to give the best accuracy.
Example, the military British No.4 Enfield was to have 2 to 7 pounds of up pressure at the fore end tip. And the amount of the rifles up pressure was regulated to give the best accuracy.
How Does Barrel Bedding Affect Accuracy?
By
Jon R. Sundra
Not all barrel bedding is equal. Bedding dynamics can increase or decrease a rifle's accuracy. What are some things to know about bedding dynamics and accuracy?
https://gundigest.com/rifles/barrel-bedding-affect-accuracy
Below I had a Winchester Model 70 .270 with BOSS, and after two adjustment the rifle was shooting groups of 3/4 of an inch or less. And this was with mid range loads I made up to sight the rifle in at 100 yards.
What is the BOSS?
Browning's Ballistic Optimizing Shooting System (BOSS) is a patented breakthrough in rifle accuracy. When any rifle is fired, the barrel goes through a series of vibrations as the bullet leaves the muzzle. The variations of these vibrations greatly affect the accuracy of the rifle. Controlling these vibrations will greatly control the accuracy of the rifle. Browning's BOSS allows you to control the vibrations of your barrel so you can shoot groups you didn't think possible.
How the BOSS works.
The BOSS simply tunes the vibrations of your barrel. This allows the bullet to leave the barrel the split second it is stationary. Your BOSS manual has a list of settings for each caliber and bullet weight. Adjusting your BOSS to these "Sweet Spot" settings allows you to find the instant your barrel is stationary. The result is accuracy never achieved before by an out-of-the-box rifle.