When I shot my used Remington late this spring I got 3/8, 7/16, and 3/4 " groups from Federal 115gr Noslers. Horray I thought and put the gun away figuring I would start the final sight in and practice shooting in early fall. Well, sometime between the spring and fall a gremlin got into the rifle cause I can't get consistant groups with it anymore! I can get two shots touching and one about 2" off, let the barrel cool then another two shot group and a couple of shots off the mark, let the rifle cool then shots wandering (about a three inch group). No vertical or horizontal stringing just an erratic group.
I tried different scopes, different rests, copper cleaner (not much evidence of copper)and no difference.This was to be my Mule Deer rifle this fall but that will now fall to my trusty .308.
When I get back from Wyoming, I want to investigate this rifle a little more before I either get rid of it or decide to buy reloading components.
Has anyone had similar issues with this rifle/cartridge? I did notice that it was tip-bedded and thought I might free float it to start. Any tips or suggestions will be appreciated, as I think the rifle has real potential and I will have all winter to tinker.

Which copper cleaner did you use? I know a lot of copper cleaning solvents that don’t really clean much copper. The 25-06 can lay down a lot of copper.

West-Mass,

The only problem with your puzzle is that it can be any number of issues!

1. Cleaning related (doubtful...)
2. Ammo related
3. Gun related (more like, stock...)

Spring vs. Fall: let's talk humidity perhaps? It's entirely possible that the stock has warped just enough to throw accuracy.

Another thought is that you may (may not) have tightened the stock-screws down enough...or too much. That can make a huge difference in accuracy. Too tight can pull bullets...especially as the barrell heats up.

As to cleaning: I really like Kroil. It's a super-light penetrating oil that gets UNDER the copper fouling and keeps it from sticking in the barrel. No harshness at all. Just a clean barrel.

After any good cleaning, fire 2-3 fouling shots before shooting for accuracy.

For your actual shooting: are you shooting off a bench? how is your rest? Using a Lead-Sled or something? It's absolutely critical to have as stable a base as possible to put the rifle on. I've found that I can push 3" groups into 1" groups by stabilizing my base.

And, of course, there's always the good old fashioned mental screwup. I've had days where I just plain couldn't shoot with my rifles. A bad day? Next week I'm shooting sub moa...

For me, my "goto" rifle is actually my Ruger GP100 6". It absolutely will drop 6 rounds into a 1.5" group (4 in sub 1") at 50 yards every single day and weather conditions.

If I can't shoot that revo that well at 50 yards, it's just a bad day. Because I KNOW that pistol will do it all the time.

You've got a whole lot of variables going on here - try to isolate them down one at a time.

Good luck!

PS: do you have a "baseline" round that you KNOW works well in the gun? IMO, that's always a good starting point.

IF it were mine, i would have free-floated it. those remington barrels are around a 2.5# contour and most like to be free floated.yes a lot of long skinny barrels like to be preesure point bedding for ridgidity and normally increased accuracy.
some like to float it right back to the action (i am one of these people) others like to bed it under the chamber. you cant go wrong either way.
have the action bedded (the tang and the recoil lug) and get someone who knows what they are doing to lighten the trigger for you and remove the creep, if yourve done it befor you might aswell do it.

and if it still doesnt shoot after free floating, a bedding job and a trigger job. I would personally rebarrel it, yourve alreaddy done all the 'accurizing' work to it.


between the stock and the barreled action i am of the opinion that it should be either floating or bedded.

Well, I am pretty confident of no copper as I use shooter's choice on my rifles which show copper (my 7mag) and none has been indicated on the patchs.
I used either sandbags or a mechanical rest on a heavy shooting bench on concrete. Sighted in two other rifles to take to Wyoming with no problem using same equipment and technique.

However, during the world series game last night I did play with the action screws by alternatively tightening and loosening them. In any combination I felt NO movement. From what I have read this is a problem.

Also, I have read that there should be a little play in the magazine like that I have in my Rugers. Well, I have none in the Remington, but don't know if that is normal due to the design of the magazine.

Shoot about 10 to 12 rounds through it and then check groups. Some rifles will need additional fouling shots to obtain max accuracy.

As said above floating the barrell may help, but you might want to invest in an inch pound wrench to make sure you tighten your stock the same every time. Also when shooting my 25-06 I let it set three or more minutes between rounds. It develops a lot of heat in a sporter weight barrell.

The first groups you fired are absolutely incredible. The next groups fired are much more representative of what to expect from an average rifle. Internet rifles are an exception, of course. I own a Browning A-bolt with a B.O.S.S. and have yet to fire a 1MOA group with it. I would not do any work on the stock, yet. First thing to check: action mounting screws. If your rifle fired those groups once, barring a warped stock, it should be capable of doing it again.

quote:

Shoot about 10 to 12 rounds through it and then check groups. Some rifles will need additional fouling shots to obtain max accuracy.

+1

I've quit cleaning my .30-06 since, at a minimum, it didn't seem to matter if it was dirty, and it almost seemed that it shot better dirty. Many people way overclean hunting rifles.

LWD

My 25-06 was a bit of a pain until I found I had a bad seater die. It had a lot of run out in the seater stem and the manufacturer replaced it.
Even so it never shot as well with the heavier bullets. The 100 Sierra shot groups between 3/4" and 5/8" consistently. And I never did monkey with the rifle. The best shooting did not begin until it had about 150 to 200 rounds through it. At that point most of the bluing had disappeared from the bore except right in the corners of the grooves.