really need help with rifle build off my remington 700

[jd5521]

6.5x284 or 270 Sherman

 

[Sam Pace]

I have posted over the past several months on possibly rebarreling my Remington 700 and im just lost and need help and suggestions. For those that don't know, here is the deal: I have a Remington 700 mountain SS with a pencil thin barrel in 3006. it shoots 1.5MOA which is fine for the hunting I do BUT it bugs me and it recoils a bit more than I would like. The recoil is no problem at all for when I hunt but when I sight it in every year or just shoot it for fun, it does tend to start hurting and cause me to flinch after about 15 rounds. I always like to get below 1 MOA with my reloads and have been able to do so with all my other rifles. Why the change you may ask? well I have built my wife two rifles in 7mm08 and 6.5CM. I absolutely LOVE shooting her rifles. Low to no recoil and they shoot .5MOA if I do my part. This has led me to want to rebarrel my Remington. I want to try and keep costs lower on this one so id prefer to re-use the stock and not have to buy a new bolt (if possible). The stock is a B&C stock (with aluminum bedding block) on the Remington mountain SS with a drop plate (no magazine). it has some meat which can be removed for inletting of a slightly thicker barrel but not too much. It should hold a sporter contour ok but maybe not much thicker. When I checked new bolts out, they would be 200$ which just doesn't fit my budget so that means I need to pick a caliber which fits the 3006 bolt that I have. I hunt primarily whitetails, definitely no Elk or anything big. Maybe the very rare black bear but doubtful. I do not hunt prone with this rifle nor do I want a brake on it. It is primarily tree-stand hunting and shooting house hunting with absolute max ranges being 400 yards but the norm would be under 200 yards. I am pretty sure I no longer want 3006 (partly because of recoil and partly because im just bored).

Number 1 thing is a sub 1 MOA rifle. It just bugs me when a rifle wont shoot under 1 MOA.

Number 2 is trying to make the current stock work which means not a thick contour. Again, my guess is not too much thicker than a sporter contour barrel would work ok. if I MUST, then I could buy a new B&C stock in regular sporter contour but now the build itself is getting into the territory of just buying a new rifle such as a Tikka or Sako A7 etc.

Number 3 is lower recoil than a 3006 in a ultralight barrel. I used to shoot 300 winmags but as ive been using my wife's rifles, ive been loving lower recoil.

What I know I dont want is another 3006 or a 270win. So here is what ive been contemplating but truly not sure what to do. I could go with 280ai and load it with 140 grain bullets to help tame recoil a bit and keep the gun shooting pretty flat. This way, should I ever want a power setup (elk), I could load it with 160s at full tilt and be ok but I think 140 grain bullets with a mid range powder charge should keep recoil lower than my current 3006 shooting 165 grain bullets. 280ai also allows for some factory ammo in a pinch.

Last question is, should I go remage? Ive done switch barrels with my savage rifles so I have a action vise and barrel nut wrench so that isn't a worry...inletting the new barrel is definitely the worry on this one. I have zero experience and I think id rather have a gunsmith do that so ive thought about just sending it to a smith and having them square the action and throw the new barrel on. What kind of costs should I expect for this?

Other than this im not sure what else is possible.

There are a thousand reconfigurations to consider on your rebuild. Personally, I would not rebuild. I'd buy a Bergara HMR in a 6.5 CM and slap a good scope on it and be done. It will do everything you want and with low recoil. And it will be perfectly capable of serious LR precision shooting if you top it with a capable scope. They run about $950. And if you wanted even less recoil you could put a brake on it.

That said, if you did reconfigure your current gun I would blueprint it to a med-heavy Barrel in 25-06.

Good luck! I love this stuff!

 

[Legionnaire]

Since you have along action, I'd go .260 Ackley Improved with an 8-twist. You can shoot factory ammo to your heart's content if you want to, but reloading the fire-formed AI brass will outperform the 6.5 Creedmoor signficantly. The long action will let you load the heaviest .264 pills without worrying about magazine length.

And I would do a Remage. I have built three to date, and they won't be my last.

 

[Zep]

308 with twist to bullet weight

A better trigger

Magpul adjustable stock

 

[Bradu]

Also i might catch some flak for this, but if cost is a high concern, you shouldnt need to have the action trued up if your criteria is a sub moa rifle. A quality barrel will get you there easily, maybe a better trigger if you dont already have one

You definitely don't need to have the action trued. I had two rifles that shot just as good as my others but they weren't trued even though they were supposed to have been done. Long story short, I got screwed but it did teach me that having an action trued isn't that important.

 

[Bang4theBuck]

284 win with 162-168class or 6.5x284 for 140s-156 eol. are my suggestions and a criterion remage barrel if your wanting to DIY. I'm a big fan of criterion barrels.

This would be my advice as well. You can spin the Criterion on yourself, go shoot it, ad if it doesn't perform as you want it to, you can rest assured that it isn't the barrel. You can spin it back off, and have a smith true the action, and put the barrel back on yourself. Tis would be the least expensive way to 'step' through the process without spending anymore than necessary to achieve you results. Also, you would not be out any money for having to do and then redo any part of this. You would only be out some of your time. I would also bed the action into the stock. I have yet to find a rifle that didn't benefit from this. Some just by a narrow margin, some it made all the difference. Good Luck.

 

[Tim Sharp]

I have posted over the past several months on possibly rebarreling my Remington 700 and im just lost and need help and suggestions. For those that don't know, here is the deal: I have a Remington 700 mountain SS with a pencil thin barrel in 3006. it shoots 1.5MOA which is fine for the hunting I do BUT it bugs me and it recoils a bit more than I would like. The recoil is no problem at all for when I hunt but when I sight it in every year or just shoot it for fun, it does tend to start hurting and cause me to flinch after about 15 rounds. I always like to get below 1 MOA with my reloads and have been able to do so with all my other rifles. Why the change you may ask? well I have built my wife two rifles in 7mm08 and 6.5CM. I absolutely LOVE shooting her rifles. Low to no recoil and they shoot .5MOA if I do my part. This has led me to want to rebarrel my Remington. I want to try and keep costs lower on this one so id prefer to re-use the stock and not have to buy a new bolt (if possible). The stock is a B&C stock (with aluminum bedding block) on the Remington mountain SS with a drop plate (no magazine). it has some meat which can be removed for inletting of a slightly thicker barrel but not too much. It should hold a sporter contour ok but maybe not much thicker. When I checked new bolts out, they would be 200$ which just doesn't fit my budget so that means I need to pick a caliber which fits the 3006 bolt that I have. I hunt primarily whitetails, definitely no Elk or anything big. Maybe the very rare black bear but doubtful. I do not hunt prone with this rifle nor do I want a brake on it. It is primarily tree-stand hunting and shooting house hunting with absolute max ranges being 400 yards but the norm would be under 200 yards. I am pretty sure I no longer want 3006 (partly because of recoil and partly because im just bored).

Number 1 thing is a sub 1 MOA rifle. It just bugs me when a rifle wont shoot under 1 MOA.

Number 2 is trying to make the current stock work which means not a thick contour. Again, my guess is not too much thicker than a sporter contour barrel would work ok. if I MUST, then I could buy a new B&C stock in regular sporter contour but now the build itself is getting into the territory of just buying a new rifle such as a Tikka or Sako A7 etc.

Number 3 is lower recoil than a 3006 in a ultralight barrel. I used to shoot 300 winmags but as ive been using my wife's rifles, ive been loving lower recoil.

What I know I dont want is another 3006 or a 270win. So here is what ive been contemplating but truly not sure what to do. I could go with 280ai and load it with 140 grain bullets to help tame recoil a bit and keep the gun shooting pretty flat. This way, should I ever want a power setup (elk), I could load it with 160s at full tilt and be ok but I think 140 grain bullets with a mid range powder charge should keep recoil lower than my current 3006 shooting 165 grain bullets. 280ai also allows for some factory ammo in a pinch.

Last question is, should I go remage? Ive done switch barrels with my savage rifles so I have a action vise and barrel nut wrench so that isn't a worry...inletting the new barrel is definitely the worry on this one. I have zero experience and I think id rather have a gunsmith do that so ive thought about just sending it to a smith and having them square the action and throw the new barrel on. What kind of costs should I expect for this?

Other than this im not sure what else is possible.

I would consider a standard 280 Rem., factory sporter contour and a 1-9 twist. Fire-forming or purchasing "non-standard" brass and dies can be difficult and more expensive. A 280 AI will not perform much greater than a 280 Rem, particularly if you are limiting your shots to 400yds. A 280 Rem shooting light bullets is on the heels of a 7 Rem Mag. without the recoil. Shooting a non-magnum long action cartridge will enable you to utilize your bolt, additionally, the rails of your action will not need to be opened. I agree with several others above the 25-06 would be a another option, but you will be restricted by bullet selection. I have seen Remage bbls which shoot very well, but I am not a fan of the barrel nut at the face of the receiver.

 

[liv4thehunt]

260 AI will give you 6.5x284 performance with less recoil and more barrel life. Plus you can shoot factory .260 ammo through it. I built two recently on $160 Wilson barrels and the both shoot sub half moa. Both guns are shooting 143 eldx's 2980-3004 fps, with 48 grains of rl 26.

 

[thwatson2]

How about save $ and work up light loads in your 06. Recoil could be your only reason for the groupings! Then bed your action, float barrel and check trigger for creep, travel and weight. You possibly have a sub MOA rig that just needs a tweak. Then you could juice it up if you have chance at some elk? I've never had a Remington 700 that didn't need a little tweaking.

 

[26Reload]

I think a point be llst here is recoil...
A 3006 with heavy bullet recoil quite well...
A 2506 with heavy bullet will recoil quite well also...
The only real way to get rid of the recoil is.....
a brake..
a buttpad..
or extremely liteweight bullets...
You need to figure out what you want to shoot....
No way around it....

 

[DavidA]

For Recoil I would go 260 Rem load it up with 135 Berger Hunters. If you custom throat the chamber you can load the 260 rem long which will be fine in the long action. Me I would go with Remage. I have three Remage barrels. 270 win, 284 win and 338 Win Mag. Al McGowen Precision barrels. Biggest problem is pulling off the old barrel. That can be a trick. After that a set of go-no go gauges and its done.

 

[moa_shooter]

284 win with 162-168class or 6.5x284 for 140s-156 eol. are my suggestions and a criterion remage barrel if your wanting to DIY. I'm a big fan of criterion barrels.

do a remage barrel the best barrel type out their

 

[skipglo]

Buy a ruger american (or predator) in .243, 7mm-08, .308, 6.5cm, 6mm cm and swap out the crappy stock for a nice boyds or BC, buy a cheap brake, and youre all in for like $600. You didnt even mess with your nice Rem 700. My dad and brother both have ruger americans and they are sweet little rifles.

My brothers ruger american predator in 6.5G is 3/4 MOA for 5 shots and my dads .243 standard american is right at an inch. The issue is the thin barrel heats up quick on the standard model.

I love remington, but if youre tight on cash just buy one of those, and not mess with a build.

Or you can leave the ruger stock and really save cash with a shelf price of $350 ~ $400 which it sounds like you would be spending on your build anyway.

Excellent advice! There are a ton of options for off the shelf guns these days under 500.00. Re-building is often identical to re-modeling your house or Re-building your car....in the end you spend twice as much as just buying new and you don't know what you have or if it's going to be what you really wanted until it's done! You are not trying for an "X" Gun here at 1000. Your wish list is small and realistic....buy new!
.

 

[mpayne]

My vote is 25/06- my factory Remmy 700 loves 59.5 Retumbo and 115 Bergers. My 110 pound daughter killed a large Mule Deer with it last year the recoil with this load isn't a problem for her at all!