Headed out to the range today with my new 700 SS ML in .45 cal and was goung to try pach and ball but it was 3 degrees and well lots of fumbaling around with Pach and Ball so instedd I tryed 225gr Power Belts with 75grs of FFFG Tripal 7, My first shot went WAY high so I trend to scope to proper hight and tryed agin next shot was center and 3" low so mad my adjustmebts to get it to be 2" high at 50 yards and my next shot was right on the money right whare I wanted it. took 4 more sots at that range and setting and they where all with in a 1.25" Group NOT BAD for a 1X32 Simmons Shot Gun scope. then i had a target set up at 100 yards and well it is very hard to see the center of the target at 100 yards with a 1X scope but it worked fine 5 shot group was in a 3.675" Group. I am realy impressed with the way this gun shoots. My next time out I am going to be trying 190gr Power Belts as well and going to play with the Pwder Charge too see what happens......

I don't know about the .45 cal but my 700ML .50 has shot everything I have shot in it well. The worst groups I have shot with it (which could not be attributed to poor shooting) were with a 350 gr Lyman .45-70 hollow point bullet in a MMP HP sabot with 130 gr of Pyro pellets. Those averaged about 2.5" and are some serious muscle. 300 gr Rem Core-Lokts avg'd a bit less. Most bullets I have shot in it have grouped 1.5" or less with the best being the Knight RedHot 250 gr which with 130 gt pellets went appr. .5" center to center for 3 shots. A White 480 gr .50 solid lead bullet over 100 gr Pyro Select grouped under .5" high x about 1.5" wide for 3 shots. All this was done at 100 yds.

I have not tried RBs because the twist is all wrong nor have I tried the Powerbelt bullets yet. I have shot them in another rifle and thought they did well. I have not done anything with light (around 200 gr) pistol bullets in sabots. I watched friends find those to be unreliable on deer when fired from the handguns which they are intended for so I refuse to fire them at game at even higher velocities from a ML rifle.

Give that Rem 700 a serious chance and I will be surprised if you are not pleased with it's performance. Yes, you have to take the bolt apart and clean it but I find that a small price to pay for the shooting performance mine has delivered. Acquaintances have/have had Knight, Omega, Savage (smokeless), etc, and I have yet to see any of them do any better, if as well as the Remington. I am not putting down anyones choice of other rifles, it just boggles my mind why more ML hunters have not taken to the Remington. I watch guys being disatisfied with performance of various other brands and switch from one to another without once considering the 700 ML.

BTW, all my shooting with the 700 ML is/has been done with #11 caps. I use good nipples and the CCI hot caps. With a minimum of attention to loading ignition is instantaneous, even with Pyrodex pellets. IMO the 209 primers exert too much force, considerably more than is required for reliable ignition. Also, if you want to shoot small 3 or 5 shot (or more) groups with sabot you have to do something about the plastic fouling between shots. This does not yield unrealistic accuracy as any first shot at game should be from a clean barrel anyway and a secon shot will not suffer significantly.

Incidentally, an acquaintance has a Savage smokeless ML and reports an astounding (chuckle) 2200 fps+ with something like 44 gr Accurate 5744 powder. I have clocked 2140 fps or so with a 22" barrel, 250 gr bullet, (3) 50 gr pellets and a#11 cap. It pays to sort through the hype.

500MagMan, not a bad first try. Hopefully it will get a little better at 100 yards with some load work. Ron