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Originally posted by Roger 4:
I own several 223s just picked this one up new,,out of the box,,,so far I've ran around
60 rounds through the barrel,,shoot and clean
method,,,,and this little puppy just want shoot,,2" at 100yds. best yet.
I pulled the stock checked for something out of the ordinary,,none found. Torqued the
action screws to 60 inch pounds,,after having
reassembled it in the H.S Precision stock.
Tried several hand loads with different rounds,,still 2",,,.I have noticed that the bore just want clean up very well from get go
,,Cooper just loves to cling on and on,,,thought about lapping the bore a few strokes with the ultra fine "White" grade
diamond polishing compound ,,but I've read
lots of negative thoughts on that now,,,as I'm sure lots of you have to,,,,never seen one like this before. Seems I read that these
barrels are Stainless,,then matte finished ?
anyone know?,,any thoughts on what might work would be appreciated,,,thanks,,,Roger 4
PS,,this is not a Scope or mount problem,,
already been through the whole 9 yards.

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I have one too. Mine shot .25 MOA sometimes, but averaged .75 MOA for three shot groups. Here is the problem: 1. The action is not square- The bolt face and the lugs need to be square, not lapped, but squared in relation to the bore. 2. The runout on my bolt nose was .020" and the runout on my barrel threads was .015". 4. The neck was .256" tapered down to .248" at the tip. The throat was .226" in diameter and the bullets were .224".

All these problems need to be corrected for the rifle to shoot sub .5 MOA consistently. Your copper fouling indicates that your bore is oversized for the bullets you are using.

I suggest that you first clean the bore down to the metal with JB or some other abrasive. then leave some solvent in there overnight. Then clean again with JB just to make sure.

Then, get some Sierra bullets (because they measure .2245") and shoot one, then clean. Shoot two, then clean. Shoot three, then clean and so forth until you fire 50. If you do this with undersized bullets then you will only break in the lands, and not the grooves. Sierra is your best bet for fitting your bore correctly.

Check your scope. If you use windage adjustable rear rings, then chances are that your rear ring is loose. The screws sometimes loosen as the gun vibrates. The reticle might have become dislodged. This happens even in $2000 scopes.

Use a good front rest, and a rabbit-ear rear bag.

Adjust your trigger down to 2.5lbs. Get a Holland trigger return spring from Brownell's for $10 and you can go that low safely.

Make sure that the recoil lug bears evenly against the aluminum bedding block. The aluminum will mark it. Check if the bottom of the recoil lug touches the bottom of the recoil lug channel. If it does, then it will stress the barreled action when you torque the screws to 60inlbs. Check the bedding block itself to see if it bears evenly along the bottom of the front ring of the receiver. It will not mate 100%, but it should bear evenly along both sides of the "V" Make sure the barrel is fully free-floated. If you have any problems with the bedding block, then send the stock back to HS and they will promptly replace it.

I would not send the gun back to Remington because their standard is 2" @ 50yds. They will brush you off.

Lastly, the ammo. Buy a box of Federal Gold Medal 69gr. Match King. It averages in the .3's in correctly set-up rifles. Military ball shoots variably. 2" is the norm. Your handloads might be bad. Check the runout of your bullets by rolling them across a flat surface. Any visivle runout should be weeded out for accuracy work.

If all else fails, have your 'smith set the barrel back, rechamber, square the above mentioned areas. That shouldn't cost more than $300. Give that Remington barrel a chance. It is probably good.

Ralph

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