It's a remington XCR 338 win
Factory ammo does no better than 3"
most hand loads do no better than 3"
my best tuned hand load will bring the group down to 1.8"
I'll list everything I did so You don't list ideas that I've already tryed.
1) Tryed two different premium boxes of ammo.
2) Tryed many hand loads with 225 gr and 250 gr bullets (225 accubond,225 hornady sp, 250 gr partition, 250 hornady sp)
3) Installed into new stock with aluminum bedding and free floated the barrel
4) Tryed 2 different brands of high quality scopes
5) Rechecked the action and scope mounting screws.
6) Tryed different reloading dies
7) No the recoil of the 338 isn't too much as the ruger I owned in this caliber shot everything under an inch and tuned loads to 1/4 inch

Do you think it's time to get rid of this rifle?
This is 2 out of 3 remington 700 rifles I've owned that shot piss poor. I decided to give remington another chance and I think it was a mistake.

If I had a Ruger that shot .250" groups I'd never have purchased a Rem.

Check the crown isn't damaged / that you have a perfect star shape on the muzzle after firing a couple of rounds.

Put something that puts a little pressure on the barrel right at the end of fore end to change the harmonics of the barrel. If you see a slight difference, move it back and forth to see where it is best.

You could also just put a piece of card or rubber under a small part of the barrel anywhere from the chamber to the end of the fore end.

You can also use things like the Limbsaver De Resonator on the barrel in front of the fore end.


If non of the above work, get rid of the gun (considering you have gone through most things with your list).

If youve done everything you can do to no avail, call Remington in the morning and tell them what you got, I had a 22-250(VSSF) that had the barrel screwed on a bit left and it wasnt getting consistant groups, I sent it in and they sent me back a new rifle. Cant hurt to try.

I sent an email to remington. Yeah the crown looks perfect and doesn't snag on a cotton swab. I don't have a ruger that shoots .25 groups, I use to years back and should have never sold it.
The barrel had a pressure point from the factory, now it's free floated. I might try another batch of powder while I'm waiting for remington to get back to me, but it sure feels like a dud to me.

Ive loaded for a Nikko Golden Eagle using 225IBs and 73grs RE19, if your rifle wont shoot good with something close to that load it probably wont shoot at all.

yeah, it won't shoot anything with rl-19. i went through a pound of it. I'm sending the rifle into remington.

quote:

Originally posted by gohip2000:
I sent an email to remington. Yeah the crown looks perfect and doesn't snag on a cotton swab.

The barrel had a pressure point from the factory, now it's free floated. It sure feels like a dud to me.

Hope I am wrong, but I'd be very suprised if Remington feels obligated to help much with a rifle on which you have changed the bedding system.

Maybe they'll do it out of courtesy, and for good customer relations, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Good luck; keep your fingers, toes, eyes, and legs crossed

quote:

Originally posted by gohip2000:
yeah, it won't shoot anything with rl-19. ...

None of the Rifles I've ever had shot the Slower RL Powders worth a clinton. Not 19, 21, nor 25. RL-15 did OK in the 308Win, but not as good as IMR-4064 nor Varget.

Have you tried more than the RL-19?

yes, I tried imr4350, and H4831.

I am also afraid they will use the excuse that I removed a slight amount of material from the barrel channel, to not do anything. I did mention in the letter I sent them that I shot many rounds out of it before doing that and even tried putting it in a full aluminum bedded stock too.

Scope mount tight ?
What scope mount are you using ?
What scope is on the gun?

I have never had a bad shooting Remington! Yes, some needed work like piller bedding and free floating the barrel. But, most of my magnums needed some tip pressure. I also Epoxy bedd the magnums. I have a 280 MTR with a super thin barrel and it was Epoxy bedded and free-floated....Before I worked on it... it would shoot no better than 2 1/2" It now is a 1/4" and under @ 100 yards.

Go clean it TOTALY - at my one this was a negative effect - after about 20 shots it needed 3-4 times cleaning with forrest foam...

accuracy normaly was 20mm for 5 shots (4/5 inch) - in the dirty mode it was up to 3-4 inches for 5 shots...

quote:

Originally posted by T/C Nut:
Scope mount tight ?
What scope mount are you using ?
What scope is on the gun?

I have never had a bad shooting Remington! Yes, some needed work like piller bedding and free floating the barrel. But, most of my magnums needed some tip pressure. I also Epoxy bedd the magnums. I have a 280 MTR with a super thin barrel and it was Epoxy bedded and free-floated....Before I worked on it... it would shoot no better than 2 1/2" It now is a 1/4" and under @ 100 yards.

scope mount tight ? Check my first post #5
What scope mount are you using ? Mount
What scope is on the gun ? The first was a trijicon accupoint 3-9 that worked fine on a 375 h&h. The second is zeiss conquest 3-9.

Many people claim that they have never had an inaccurate remington, but I've talked to a few that have, and they have other rifles to compare them to. I've owned many rifle and this is 2 out of 3 remingtons that would not group under 3-4 inches even after trying a ton of different things. Something I notice on the once fired brass is uneven weird marking on the should like the chamber was cut sloppy and there is also very noticable chatter marks in the barrel that go from none to scratches, back to smooth and so forth.

quote:

Originally posted by scubapro:
Go clean it TOTALY - at my one this was a negative effect - after about 20 shots it needed 3-4 times cleaning with forrest foam...

accuracy normaly was 20mm for 5 shots (4/5 inch) - in the dirty mode it was up to 3-4 inches for 5 shots...

I forgot to list this, but I have cleaned it every range session back down to clean steel, no copper, ect.. Usually takes about about 3-5 bore foam cleanings to get all the copper out for me.

Have someone else shoot the rifle. At times we have to look in the mirror when everything else seems to be fine.

If a different shooter gets the same results I'd try to get Remington to look into it & FIX the problem.

I'd put it back in it's original box and send it back to Remington after I called them. Tell them to test fire the next one and send you one that shoots.

I bought one too this spring in 375 H&H that had quality control problems. It shot well but had an overlarge extractor that made chambering extremely hard. I really liked the way the gun felt, the minimal recoil, and how it shot though. I get it back from Kevin Weaver today. He replaced the extractor with a Sako extractor, welded the bolt handle on (a precaution), and rechambered it to 375 Weatherby (my desire). All told I'll have $1100 in the gun, not counting scope when I'm done. I'll let you know how it shoots this weekend.

it can be frustrating...as I had a heck of time getting a Ruger #1 RSI to shoot...but I ultimately did. If you want to try quick fixes, you could purchase one of those ugly Simms Vibration Labs rubber barrel things (looks like part of gobble tube ! ) it allows you to find the sweet spot with a given ammo. Like I said, I think it's ugly but it if you have the patience, you'd find out what kind of groups the rifle is capable of doing (if you do your part).

I had a similar problem with a Rem 700 BDL in 243 Win. Tried every load I could think of to include buying factory ammo for the first time since 1966. Changed scope. Finally called Big Green and they said that 3" group at 100 yards was acceptable. Finally free floated the barrel and glass bedded the action myself and the groups came down to slightly under 1 MOA.

That was the last Remington that I bought and will ever buy.

Barstooler

I must be very lucky then or I'm a good shot.

35 Whelen Classic three shots @ 125 yards



XCR .375RUM three shots @ 125 yards


350RM XP-100 three shots @ 100 yards

I've got a Rem 700 BDL in 270 I bought in 1972 that still cuts the same hole at 100 yards with 5 shots. I never did anything to it but have Norm Thompson adjust the trigger to 2 1/2 lbs in 1989. It has never failed to function and been in the Arizona desert, Western Montana, the Adirondacks, Colorado and slid down more than a few rockslides with me. It's accounted for a lot of deer, javelina, elk, black bears and two grizzlies. They are not the same quality today. I gave it to my youngest son last year.

4 shots tikka 270 handload at 100 yards 5th shot was pulled to lower left


2 fouling shots then 3 shot group ruger markII 338 win at 200 yards. Man I wish I would have never sold this one!!!

and similar results with quite a few other rifles.
This remington feels comfortable in my hands and doesn't kick much. I don't think it's me, but it would be nice to have someone else to shoot it too and verify that. I'm not to too full of pride to let someone else show me that I'm not shooting it well. Just need to find someone to do it. most people don't take me up on shooting anything bigger than 30-06.

It is already on the way to remington by the way, with a detailed letter of everything I tried, so hopefully they don't say 3-4" groups are fine by their standards. With groups that size I don't feel comfortable shooting or hunting past 100 yards and even feel uncomfortable at 100 yards.
The first remington i bought back in 2000 shot great. The on before this was purchased in 2007 I think and it shot just as bad as this one.
Once fired brass does have a lot of weird marks on the shoulder like the chamber was cut very sloppily and the chatter marks in the barrel don't inspire confidence either.

Well, I'll just wait and see what remington does.

Thanks for all your replies everyone.

quote:

Originally posted by chuck375:
I'd put it back in it's original box and send it back to Remington after I called them. Tell them to test fire the next one and send you one that shoots.

I bought one too this spring in 375 H&H that had quality control problems. It shot well but had an overlarge extractor that made chambering extremely hard. I really liked the way the gun felt, the minimal recoil, and how it shot though. I get it back from Kevin Weaver today. He replaced the extractor with a Sako extractor, welded the bolt handle on (a precaution), and rechambered it to 375 Weatherby (my desire). All told I'll have $1100 in the gun, not counting scope when I'm done. I'll let you know how it shoots this weekend.

Yeah let me know. I've always been interested in the 375 weatherby, just never spent the money to rechamber. If I for some reason was able to wear the barrel out on this one, I might rebarrel to a 358 norma.