Cranky .270 700 mountain rifle.

[GuyWithGun]

I have had a Remington 700 Miutain Rifle in .270 Win for about 25 years. It was rock solid for the first 10, then got a little twitchy. Barrel started requiring meticulous cleaning with limited range between "fouled enough" and "too dirty, then gummed the trigger up with WD 40 (it was the 80s...), eventually got it pillar bedded, then floated and recrowned barrel. Rick solid again for about 3 seasons, then it got the yips again. Pattern has been consistent: Requires a little fine tuning of scope (has had a few over the years) in late summer after a good defouling, then shoots pretty good for awhile. By the ending of the season with 0-5 shots, it is so far off I completely miss deer inside 100yrds. Get pissed and put it up for a couple years, then decided to retry it- repeat cycle.

Rifle has probably 800-1000 shots total on it. Any ideas???

 

[illinoisburt]

Does your rifle come with stock irons? If so, try shooting with the irons to see if the scope if the issue. I have seen way too many cases of loose or misaligned scopes to count. It only takes a tiny movement to throw your shots all over the place.

Start with the scope bases and rings. Assuming they are good quality (my preference is one-piece base but use what you like). Take completely off the rifle, degrease the holes, and carefully remount the base with small drop of blue Loctite for each screw. Mount the rings to the base then check they are straight and properly tightened. Only then lay scope into cradles and secure the top straps using a torque tool.

 

[GuyWithGun]

No iron sights on the mountain rifles. Is actually one of the frustrating things... I shoot iron sights well enough to just use those at the distances I hunt. Have changed scopes and rings a couple times over this process too, guess should have mentioned that. Guess it wouldn't hurt anything to try it again- is possible to get two bum scopes in a row.

Anything else?

 

[ridgerunner1965]

boy thats a tuff one!

2 bum scopes in a row is not unheard of.
what im thinking is go to someone who has a good borescope.

its possible there is some kind of defect in the rifling. if it is rough or has chattermarks in the rifling, copper buildup could be causing problems.

i know you said yu removed fouling but copper is really hard to get totally out.

especially in rough bores.

id want a super close look at the bore.

to be honest you have unreal paitence. id of already sold it.

 

[VoodooMountain]

When you clean copper out of the bore is there less fouling than you would expect? It's possible your barrel is a hair 'oversized' which can result in erratic accuracy and a shorter barrel life.

What is interesting to me the most is that it was fine for 3 years after it was recrowned.

 

[witchhunter]

It sounds go me that you like the rifle, you keep coming back to it. Have it rebarreled and you will love it again forever.

 

[Captcurt]

Limb saver.

You might try a harmonic dampener like those made by Simms. If that failed I would rebarrel it or trade it off.

 

[jmr40]

Sell it, buy something else. Life is too short to fool around with stuff that doesn't work right,

 

[Gunnerboy]

Get some Brownells bore scrubber the sandy coarse stuff and a 30 cal brush and scrub the piss out of it! Than when you get all the black patches turning light gray use some sweets copper remover and i bet you find alot of hidden copper. Remingtons are known for rough bores.. I get at least 2 a week for 3 months after hunting season to clean because "they stopped shooting groups" And after doing the above fix and sometimes a 11 degree crown job they go back to MOA or better guns.

 

[GuyWithGun]

Was my first rifle, killed my first buck with it. Otherwise, would have been gone by now. Will try a proven scope on it (have a nightforce I'm not using right now). If that doesn't work, will go with rebarrelling or retirement.

 

[d2wing]

I agree about the likeness of copper fouling. In addition to good cleaning you may want to think about lapping the barrel. Hand lapping is the proper way. Some do report good results fire lapping. I have never tried it.

 

[The Big D]

If everything you've said is true, something is completely mechanically wrong. You're talking worse than 20MOA accuracy if it's causing you to miss deer entirely at 100y. That's only possible if there is basically no mechanical relationship between the aiming system and the direction the gun barrel is pointed.

If your gun will not shoot 20 MOA, the problem is NOT copper fouling or any other kind of dirty barrel. You could have shot your gun all 1000 rounds since it was new with no loss of accuracy.

Here's what you do:

Step zero is to clear the weapon and leave the action open.

Step 1 is to buy or borrow a torque driver if you don't own one. The wheeler one works: http://www.amazon.com/Wheeler-Firea...0545384&sr=8-1&keywords=wheeler+torque+wrench

Torque the action screws to 30 in-lbs and every screw involved in the scope mounting to 15 in-lbs. Now you should be able to grab the scope in one hand and the muzzle end of the barrel in the other hand, and not be able to move them relative to eachother with any reasonable amount of force. Remember, the action is still open from step zero.

Since you have a known-good Nightforce scope, I would take the opportunity to mount it here, especially if you don't 100% trust the existing scope.

Step 2 is to get some known-good factory ammo. Remington Core-Lokt will work fine.

Step 3 is to get front and rear bags if you don't have them.

Step 4 is to go shoot off a bench. Bore sight and then start at 25y. Be careful of marksmanship fundamentals. There's plenty of places you can google them on the web if you're not 100% comfortable.

If you're still getting > 4MOA groups shooing off bags with a scope and good fundamentals, it's time to take the gun to a smith to have the barrel slugged and the bore and chamber scoped.

 

[The Big D]

Get some Brownells bore scrubber the sandy coarse stuff and a 30 cal brush and scrub the piss out of it! Than when you get all the black patches turning light gray use some sweets copper remover and i bet you find alot of hidden copper. Remingtons are known for rough bores.. I get at least 2 a week for 3 months after hunting season to clean because "they stopped shooting groups" And after doing the above fix and sometimes a 11 degree crown job they go back to MOA or better guns.

And here we have a perfect example of how barrels are damaged by cleaning. There's no conceivable reason to put "sandy, course stuff" in your barrel.

 

[Sunray]

Sounds like there's a screw that comes loose regularly. I'd bet it's a stock screw vs scope or scope mount screw.
"...Step 1 is to buy or borrow a torque driver if you don't own one..." You can rent one too. Most 'Rent-All' type places will do it for cheap.
A Mountain rifle has a wee, tiny, thin, barrel. Isn't likely to be shot out with just 800-1,000 rounds(that's only 40 rounds per annum if it's 1,000.), unless it's got a bit of rust in it.

 

[jmr40]

Was my first rifle, killed my first buck with it. Otherwise, would have been gone by now.

Then hang it on the wall and look at it. I'd still rather go buy a rifle that shoots than continue to throw good money after bad.

If you must keep it, then it is time for a full custom. Use the action and have it re-barreled and the action tweaked by someone who knows what they are doing. I'd also spring for a better stock.

In fact your stock could very well be the source of your problems. Over time any wood stock contracts and expands as the seasons change. Some more than others. They will do this sitting in the safe, you don't have to hunt in the rain for moisture to screw around with a wood stock.

A thinner barrel profile exaggerates this. This would explain the inconsistencies and having to constantly adjust the scope for point of impact. I've seen wood stocks change POI several inches in 24 hours driving from Georgia to Colorado because of differences in altitude, temperature and humidity.

I stopped using wood on bolt rifles in 1983. I've used McMillan or Brown Precision on several rifles. Event the cheapest factory plastic stocks are far more consistent than any wood stock.

 

[Gunnerboy]

[QUOTE[And here we have a perfect example of how barrels are damaged by cleaning. There's no conceivable reason to put "sandy, course stuff" in your barrel][/QUOTE] ... apparently your not educated in bore lapping/cleaning compound.. allow me to introduce you to a secret.. http://www.brownells.com/gun-cleani...mbedding-bore-cleaning-compound-prod1160.aspx

 

[The Big D]

... apparently your not educated in bore lapping/cleaning compound.. allow me to introduce you to a secret..

Considering that not a single one of my rifles has ever had anything like that near the barrel and in fact are essentially never cleaned, and not a single one of them shoots worse than an MOA, I think I'll leave this "secret" to people who like damaging their barrels.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Never cleans his guns and they all shoot MOA... yup..

 

[The Big D]

I run one patch or a snake down them maybe every 500 rounds for guns that get shot a lot, and once a year for storage for guns that don't get shot. And they do in fact shoot MOA, and I'll be happy to prove it as long as there's sufficient money on the line. The only gun I have that's hard to get the accuracy out of is an 1886, although it is an MOA gun, and that's just because the trigger is about 8 lbs.

If you think cleaning makes guns shoot, you're dead wrong. First and foremost it erodes barrel steel and thus damages them.

 

[Gunnerboy]

Ahh i see....

 

[The Big D]

Actually I suspect you see very little. Do a bit of digging on gun cleaning and accuracy, and you'll find hundreds if not thousands of shooters confirming what I'm saying. Back to the OP's problem, it's not cleaning. It's something mechanical.