Is a stock Remington 700P .308 a 1000 yard gun?

[liltank]

"If it's shooting that well"... Now I'm thinking, if it ain't broke why fix it? The scope lives on my rifle. Anyone see any opportunity for long term problems with the aluminum Weaver rail and my homemade .010" shim? I used a SS feeler gauge.

Nope, just check your base screws from time to time to make sure they are tight.

 

[WildRose]

"If it's shooting that well"... Now I'm thinking, if it ain't broke why fix it? The scope lives on my rifle. Anyone see any opportunity for long term problems with the aluminum Weaver rail and my homemade .010" shim? I used a SS feeler gauge.

The only problem I see is the possibility of the shim shifting or falling out creating play in the rail which will have your scope wobbling and vibrating to such at extent it could damage the scope or even cause the mounting bolts {Rail to Rifle) to back out or shear off.

A completely solid and consistent bond between the rail and rifle is pretty essential which is why most of us bed them in with some form of epoxy. It's not as important on a low recoiling caliber like .308 as it is on the magnums but it does make a difference.

As for the scope itself only you can determine if it's got the magnification and clarity you want when moving on past 600yds. Up to 600yds you can get away with a lot, beyond 600 life starts getting awfully complex.

 

[MudRunner2005]

How do you install your rail? Do you install both middle screws first, then work your way out? If not, that is a better method than just tightenting down on one end all the way, first. You just snug them up from the middle, out. B/c if you tighten down just one side first, then go to tighten the other, you do leave yourself alot of room for screwing something up, bending, warping, misaligning, the rail...or cross-threading your screws.

And if none of that helps, just break down and buy you a new rail.

Like mentioned before in this thread, the EGW rails are about the best there is. I use them exclusively b/c of the quality and their very reasonable price.

 

[goattman]

No shimming is not more durable or stable.

JB weld works great, so does devcon.

clean both surfaces well with a little steel wool and acetone, thinly apply the epoxy and then just barely snug the screws down just enough to get solid contact.

Use a qtip or exacto to remove most of the excess and use a cotton ball or the other end of the q tip wetted with just a tad of the acetone to remove and smooth the rest.

After 24 hours torque the screws on down and it'll be set for life.

So no release agent between the receiver and mount?

 

[WildRose]

So no release agent between the receiver and mount?

On my own no. If I was doing it for someone else I'd ask them which way they wanted to go.

Once I put one on I have no plans to take them off. I don't change out my gear or accessories unless something is wrong.

The more solid the meld between receiver and rail the better off you are.

On some of the magnums I've also after mounting drill through the rail into the receiver to place one or two pins.

If you use big heavy scopes on magnums there's a hell of a lot of shearing forces at work every time you pull the trigger and I have seem some guys have a very expensive scope fly off and crash into the cement when their allen screws sheared off.

Bolts and screws, especially those threaded from tip to head don't have very good resistance against shearing forces because the threading greatly weakens them.

 

[WildRose]

How do you install your rail? Do you install both middle screws first, then work your way out? If not, that is a better method than just tightenting down on one end all the way, first. You just snug them up from the middle, out. B/c if you tighten down just one side first, then go to tighten the other, you do leave yourself alot of room for screwing something up, bending, warping, misaligning, the rail...or cross-threading your screws.

And if none of that helps, just break down and buy you a new rail.

Like mentioned before in this thread, the EGW rails are about the best there is. I use them exclusively b/c of the quality and their very reasonable price.

I wouldn't say EGW's are "the best" but they are certainly the best I've found for the money.

I have all kinds of different rails from EGW to NF, to Leupold, to Murphy precision and they all work just as well.

On any magnums though that I put the EGW's on I get the HD version.

 

[goattman]

No shimming is not more durable or stable.

JB weld works great, so does devcon.

clean both surfaces well with a little steel wool and acetone, thinly apply the epoxy and then just barely snug the screws down just enough to get solid contact.

Use a qtip or exacto to remove most of the excess and use a cotton ball or the other end of the q tip wetted with just a tad of the acetone to remove and smooth the rest.

After 24 hours torque the screws on down and it'll be set for life.

WR,
Trying not to mooch here, (I am actually more able to work on my own firearm than the average bear, but also OCD and a bit anal...) how to you keep the threads of your mount screws and the receiver free of bedding material?

 

[WildRose]

WR,
Trying not to mooch here, (I am actually more able to work on my own firearm than the average bear, but also OCD and a bit anal...) how to you keep the threads of your mount screws and the receiver free of bedding material?

Brownell's release agent or clear shoe polish.

Use a very thin layer of epoxy on the bottom of the rail keeping it away from the screw holes as much as you can.

Pretreat the screw holes in the action before placing the rail in position with the holes lined up as well as you can.

Pretreat the screws as well.

Start with the inside screws and just tighten them down to where it makes contact.

Then do the outside screws doing the same. Them in a skip pattern slowly torque them down just enough to get good contact with the rail and action. Then give each of them about another half turn.

Let it set from there for 24 hours before torquing it all down to spec. I usually go with about 14in/lbs, same as the ring screws.

 

[goattman]

Thank you, about what I was planning.

Of course another question...

If my receiver is .010" lower in the rear than the front, I need to verify with whatever rail I use, why wouldn't I just start to snug the front and let the rear float more with the screws installed to take up the gap in the rear? As opposed to starting in the center and working my way out.

Thanks!

 

[WildRose]

Thank you, about what I was planning.

Of course another question...

If my receiver is .010" lower in the rear than the front, I need to verify with whatever rail I use, why wouldn't I just start to snug the front and let the rear float more with the screws installed to take up the gap in the rear? As opposed to starting in the center and working my way out.

Thanks!

Your rail should be made to fit securely on both ends with no gaps or bowing.

Doing the bedding and torquing the way I laid out takes care of most of that. If you can tighten your front screws and have that much clearance on the rear I'd get some lapping compound and lap the front end until you get it where it will set level.

If it does have a bow in it then it's going to create downrange problems on you and if it's bad enough could even damage the scope body when you mount it.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Thank you, about what I was planning.

Of course another question...

If my receiver is .010" lower in the rear than the front, I need to verify with whatever rail I use, why wouldn't I just start to snug the front and let the rear float more with the screws installed to take up the gap in the rear? As opposed to starting in the center and working my way out.

Thanks!

Are you 110% sure it's your reciever, and not your rail? The rail being bent or over-cut would be more realistic.

I'm not saying it's not possible, just have you checked both and measured both to be sure it's the reciever and not just the rail?

 

[goattman]

I'm not 100% sure it is the receiver. I checked the two Weaver rails I have and both have a gap. The 20 MOA is worse than the 0. Neither rails are particularly good. Based on Michael's statement:

It's usually the tolerances of the actions that vary. Most 700 actions fall short and need shims or to be bedded.

I wasn't sure. I like to think it is the rail and not that Remington has .010" tolerances... I just ordered NF 20 MOA rail.

Obviously I will check it when I get it.

By the way MudRunner and WildRose, if either of you are ever in the Philadelphia area, look me up. I owe you a range day and your favorite beverage.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I've never been a particular fan of Weaver products. The only weaver products I own are the bases that fit on my Marlin 917 VSS & VSF .17 HMR rifles. And sitting on top of those are Leupold PRW rings. LOL! I was hoping for higher quality bases, but the local outdoors store only had those bases. I wonder if I could talk EGW into making a 1-piece picatinny base for them.... That would be sweet!

Anyway, digressing back to the conversation at hand... I have never had to bed any of my rails. They have all mounted flush and smooth and tight with no play. I do put all 4 screws in at once and start my torquing process from the inside to the outside, tightening a little here, little there. It really helps to delegate even pressure amongst the 4 screws.

Let us know how that NF base works out for you. I have heard nothing but positive about them.

And to answer your original question about your gun being a 1,000 yard gun....By simply bedding the action, floating the barrel, truing the headspacing, and with practice....Yes, it can be a consistant 1000 yard competitor. Don't let anyone try to tell you any different. Especially if you've found the right ammo, or right handload combo, and your gun is shooting 1/2 MOA or better @ 100 yards.

Now, some factory Remingtons won't hit the broad-side of crap....My buddy has a Remington 770 that is a one of those Walmart special ***'s, that comes with the $0.50 Bushnell scope. I sighted it in for him, since he was having a hard time. It's lucky to group 4-6" at 100 yards. It's horrific.

But I have NEVER seen an actual 700 that wouldn't shoot under 1 MOA @ 100 yards. Some people just don't know how to shoot. And I've witnessed that first-hand. I can't tell you how many people with high-dollar rigs I've had to help sight their scopes in @ 100 yards, or show them features on their OWN weapons that they didn't know about.... LOL

 

[goattman]

Knowing my rifle and my ability I never doubted it. Having only shot to 800 yards, I wasn't sure if something magical happened between 800 and 1000 based on what the clown at the LGS stated.

If the rail sits flat I won't bed it.