Hi guys,

I wondered if any of you had ever heard of this before. I have a customized Remington 700 with the J-Lock receiver. I bought the gun brand new, it was a .243 Win 700 ADL, synthetic stocked. I rebarred the action with a #4 Shilen and chambered it in .308 Win., added a pillar bedded McMillan stock, had the action trued and trigger work done. This rifle has the distinct honor of being the most inaccurate gun that I own, factory or custom. I struggle to keep groups under 2". I've been doing load development for 2 years now and it would be cheaper to rebarrel than to continue with this seemingly pointless load development. One thing worth noting, I have shot several 1/2" groups with the gun. However the same load will yield a 3" group on the next round.

It has been sent back to my gunsmith twice who sent it to Shilen once for inspection. The gunsmith has also built a .300 Win Mag on a Pre-J Lock model that shoots consistent 1/2" - 3/4" groups with hunting loads traveling 3100 fps. I couldn't be more pleased with the 300 Magnum and I am amazed at the consistency of the group sizes.

I emailed Hart barrels inquiring about a rebarrel job and explained the situation to them. They emailed me back stating that rebarelling would likely not fix the problem. They went on to say that I might try installing an aftermarket firing pin and spring. Evidently this has corrected some poorly shooting firearms for them.

Has anyone ever heard of this before?

Thanks in advance....

X

I doubt that a firing pin assy would fix your problem, but if you've got another Remington,(Short action, pre-Jlock) switch firing pin assemblies and shoot it. BTW, what are you shooting as far as bullets, etc. Jay

Thanks for the reply Jay. That's a good idea about switching firing pin assemblies. Unfortunately, I don't have another short action Remington.

I have tried bullets weighing 125, 150, 155, 165, 168, 180, and 200 grains by various manufacturers (Sierra, Nosler, and Hornady). I'm working off of memory here, but I can remember trying Varget, IMR 4895, IMR 4064, IMR 3031, IMR 4350, H4895, H335, AND W748. I have tried CCI, Remington, Win, and Fed primers. I have even tried the 168 grain Federal Match ammo in it. I am almost to the point of being unwilling to try anything else.

As we speak, I am having the barrel lapped and re-crowned. If that doesn't work I'm thinking tomato stake!

Thanks again!

X

X, What did Shilen say about the barrel upon inspection? Did they shoot the thing for accuracy? They're one of the best out there, though I'd prefer a Kreiger or maybe try a H-S Precision, both cut rifled barrels. Seems you're using the right powders, cept for IMR4350, RE15 is my favorite with 168s, 175s, followed by Varget, 4064, 4895 is excellent also. Used to shoot 50grs. H380 w/165 Hornadys, in a 700 Varmint Special(308), that would put 3 shots under an inch consistantly, that being with a 1.5-6x Signature. What is the weight of your trigger. And I'm sure your shooting off a nice rest and a rabbit ear bag. Hope not to offend you, don't know your shooting habits. Alot of guys I used to hunt with had no use for a rabbit ear bag, probably cuz they didn't know how to use it, and weren't interested in precision shooting, you know, if I can hit that coffee can at 75yds. thats good enough. Well, just trying to figure this thing out for you. Let us know how it comes out. Jay

X, One more thing, whats the twist in this #4 contour? Jay

I feel for you. Having the same type of problems, but not as bad. I have suspeced that the J lock may be dragging on the firing pin.
Back to back to back groups for me vary from 5/8" to 1 3/4"

Compared to what you have invested and the possibility of a "tomato stake", a new firing pin assembly is fairly cheap - abotu $41 from Midway.

Have been think of trying this myself. Here is the link. Good luck. It you try this, please report back.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=839379

Jay,

To answer a few of your questions:

Shilen ran a bore scope in the barrel and said that there was nothing visibly wrong with the barrel. To my knowledge they did not shoot the gun for accuracy.

I realize that IMR 4350 is not an "appropriate" powder for the .308 Win, but it was not responding well to "appropriate" powders so I thought what the heck.

My trigger has been reworked by the gun builder and is set at 2 1/2 lbs.

I am shooting off a good rest. I am not offended by your questions and I realize that you do not know how I shoot. My customized 22-250 puts 3 shots into the .3's at 100 yards consistently and my custom .300 Win Mag puts three shots in groups ranging from .5" to .75" with hunting bullets. The same gun builder that built this .308 Win also built the .300 Win Mag for me and it makes me smile every time I shoot it. My load is 73.5 grains of RL22 with a 180 grain Nosler partition. It chronographs at 3100 fps. I am amazed at the consistency of this rifle.

I honestly can't remember if this is a 1:10 or a 1:12 twist, but it's one or the other. It's been two long since those details were discussed with the gunsmith!

Trigger:
It does sound like you and I have the same problem....I hope your troubles work out for you too! Where in GA are you? I'm in Ellijay.

X

x-c,

I have a Mod700 .375RUM that came w/j-lock. After a ahndfull of rounds the j-lock failed and the gun would not shoot......I called Remington and they said it was impossible send it back; I chose to take it to a Remington authorized repair center which verified the problem as described.........Remington still said it couldn't happen.......the repair center would not install an aftermarket assembly so I did it myself w/assembly from Midway....gun is amazingly accurate......I can't say the assembly
made any difference in accuracy as I hadn't fired it much before the j-lock failed. As referred to in an earlier post, the assembly was $40.00......

Joe

I have a 243 that was giving me simluar trouble after lots of groups I found out what it was.

The first group was great less then .5 the next group was even better. After testing about 6 to 8 groups the thing went to hell. What I found out was the the barrel was copper fouling so bad that the groups open it.

It is all most like clock work at 40 rounds things go bad. before 40 rounds the rifle is amazing accurate. The best group was five shots into a 1.25 at 400 yards lots of small groups as long as I clean it every 40 rds

Not my first choice for a day long p dog shoot but one that I use when things slower and one need to reach out and contect.

I've got a Remington Model 700 SenderoSF 338RUM with the J-lock and it is a tack driver and I really don't think the action lock has any affect on accuracy. I don't have any secret knowlege of why your rifle won't shoot consistently but wonder about barrel relief and are the action screws properly tightened? If this is the three screw setup the front one needs to be very tight, the rear one needs to be almost as tight and the center screw needs to be snubbed to the point it won't loosen under recoil. You are a very patient person. I had a Ruger M77 Inernational in 308Win that I couldn't get to group and after about six months and numerous threats about using it for a doorstop I traded it in for a standard model M77 in 30/06 that is a tack driver. I really think your groups are opening up because of heat stress and if so maybe that can be alleved a little but may require some bedding but that seems extreme for 308 although you didn't mention barrel contour, and if it has a pencil thin barrel there might not be any way to get the accuracy that you are expecting unless you let the barrel cool way down. I've also got a Tikka T3 Lite in 300WSM that has a thin barrel and I have to let it cool after the first three shot group,then after every round through it. I bought it for a hunting/easy carry gun and it does what I expect it to. Good luck with your tomato stake.

Had a 700 LSS in 300 Ultra that had misdrilled scope mounts. Remington told me it was not likely so I went through their gunsmith locally who verified and sent to factory. I had him request j-lock removal and it was taken care of at the factory for free. I also called their 800 # and requested to have a 300 WM barreled action used instead of the Ultra, but their service reps don't seem to talk to the armorers. Make sure your request is in writting with the gun and it will probalby get taken care of. Good luck.

I have a .338 RUM, I changed with parts from Midway and saw a slight change in accuracy, I don't know if it was from the speedlock or from changing the shroud and eliminating the J-lock but 250 a-frames went from about 1.25" down to about .8", I have yet to try my new TSX loads....

IV

Dumb question...

Did you try switching scopes?

Luckyducker said:

quote:

You are a very patient person. I had a Ruger M77 Inernational in 308Win that I couldn't get to group and after about six months and numerous threats about using it for a doorstop I traded it in for a standard model M77 in 30/06 that is a tack driver.

I don't consider myself a patient person. However, having $2,200.00 in a gun that might bring $600.00-$800.00 in a sale makes you more patient I guess.

AZ:

Not a dumb question, and yes I have tried 3 different scopes on it...

Thanks again to all that replied...

X

Hi X-Cal.

Ever since Remington came out with the J-lock system, it seems to have caused some degree of grief for many shooters. Not sure why but I'm told that, for whatever reason, Remington wanted in increase their lock time, even though it was pretty much already the fastest anyway. The new firing pin design is hourglass shaped and there could be rubbing going on inside the bolt. I have 5 Remington rifles, all custom, and all came with the new J-lock system. That was the first request on the list to the gunsmiths was to change it out to the old style. New spring, new firing pin, and new bolt shroud.

Another small possiblility is that even though you have good components, your action just may not accept the new threaded Shilen barrel. Jim Borden, a gunsmith in PA, has told me this can occur now and then. I'm assuming you let the barrel cool between groups and you broke the barrel in properly even though it is handlapped. I have 2 Shilen barrels and like both very well.

Sorry to hear the bad news on your rifle. I have 300 SAUM in the Sendero that was only modified by glassing the bed and it shoots perfect with Barnes TSX and H4350 EXT.

I wish I had a fix for you but I don't have a clue. Good Luck.