I just picked up an old Rem ADL in 243. It was pretty beat up so I re-finished the stock, cleaned the copper out of the barrel, floated the barrel, and adjusted the trigger. Looks pretty good now. I just loaded up some old Barnes varminator 58 grainers with H414. If it shoots, I'll keep it the way it is. If not, I am going to re-barrel with a #5 contour Shilin
stainless match. If I can get up the canyon today I'll try the loads, and see if it stays the same or if the old barrel goes. DW

You gonna give it a try with just the light ones or try the heavier ones too?
Let us know how it shoots.

I have several rifles that don't shoot Barnes bullets worth a crap. That doesn't mean they don't shoot however. You should try some other bullets. I've had good luck with the Hornady vmax's myself, in most every small bore gun I've tried them in.

FWIW anyway...

A year back I too picked up a 5 digit Rem .243 ADL. The rifle came with a little 20" barrel and turned out to be one of the most accurate rifles I've owned.

With both 75 gr. Hornady HPs and Barnes 85 gr. TSXs I'm getting groups in the .300 range at 100 yds. off the bench. Best of luck with yours!

Floating the barrel might have been a mistake. The Rem 700 is made with an up-pressure point in the fore end. This contributes to their reputation of out-ofthe-box accuracy.

Before tossing the barrel, try replacing the pressure point you rasped off with some bedding material. And like another poster suggests, don't make a judgment based solely on the performance of one bullet -- some guns just don't like some bullets.

quote:

Floating the barrel might have been a mistake. The Rem 700 is made with an up-pressure point in the fore end. This contributes to their reputation of out-ofthe-box accuracy.

Can't disagree with this statement at all.....

That said I have floated several Remington barrels and improved the accuracy. However I'd strongly recommend to shoot it as is to see what you get first.

Float it only if the accuracy with the original bedding is unacceptable to you.

The bump can be put back in if you really want.

I've had really good success shooting the 75 grain VMax, 85 grain Sierra HPBT, and 95 grain BT and Partition in my 243s and 6MMs. If I was going to shoot Barnes, I think that I'd try the 80 grain TTSX, but the 4 bullets that I've cited do everything that I need a 243 or 6MM to do. As with many things, YMMV.

Jeff

Thanks everyone for the advise. This is just a starting point. The rifle will be used primarily as a long range varminter. I have 1200 of the 58 grains and 1200 of the 72 grain varminators. These are discontinued bullets that have a lead core. They are not the newer varmint grenades. I do plan to try them though. I also have some Sierra Match kings, 70 grain, and some Sierra 60 grains. I won't base my entire judgement on the one load. I'll try several bullets and powders and seating depths. The 58 grain bullest are so short they are seated just to get 2/3 the diameter of the bullet shank in the case.
I have free floated a couple of other remingtons. a 223 and a 270. Both shot better floated and bedded. We will see however. I'll post agaian when I shoot these first loads. DW

I loaded up a bunch of these for a 22-250 a while back. Wacked a coyote at about 75 yards. Result the bullet blew up on his front shoulder and removed about a 6 inch square of hide. Floored him, but didn't kill him. Had to finish him off with a 22 pistol. He was paralyzed, and couldn't move, but it didn't penetrate or kill him. If you are thinking larger predators, I would take caution. Just my experience with this bullet.
semper fi

I would take the rifle to a 100 yd range with loads from various bullets and powders. It's really the only way to tell if the rifle will perform with the original barrel.

Like some of the other posters, I really don't prefer Barnes bullets, so don't let the performance of those bullets alone make your determination. If you decide on a Shilen barrel, needless to say, you will have a very accurate rifle but be prepared for a significent period of time getting the rifle back. I had a 40X rebarreled in 22PPC and it was 3 to 4 months, but the wait was worth it!

F. Prefect

2drifters, which bullets are you reffering to? I'v shot a lot of the Varminators, the old lead core Barnes offering with no problems.

fperfect, I would order a barrel from the barrel man, and have the work done locally. I am fortunate enough to have a friend who does very good precision work. In fact there are a couple of amateur and proffesional smiths right here in happy valley. DW

My 243 will shoot anything heavier than 70grs up to 100 gr into little tiny holes..BUT it will not shoot Boat tails at all. Flat base excellent tho.