Help me, please !!
I bought a whitetail rifle that I always wanted - a Rem 700 Mountain in 7mm-08. I mounted a Leupold 3-9x, bases and rings and loaded 20 rounds of 140 grain Sierras. Cleaned the bore every 5 shots. I have a few dozen guns, and I'm not a nimrod. I have another Rem700 in 22-250 that shoots 1/2" at 100 yds, but I can't get the mountain rifle to shoot for beans !! I'm up to my 6th load. I've tried Hornady, Speer, Sierra, and Nosler 140grs using various IMR powders and one with Varget and I can't get it to shoot under 3" groups. I free floated the barrel, still it's no better. I love this gun, and I really want to keep it. Do any of you guys have any suggestions on where to go next? Should I have the action bedded?? I'm at the point where I could win a gold medal in the Olympic rifle toss event !! I never had a rifle this stubborn.

Stoney

Maybe you've already done this, but have you tried several factory loads to establish a "baseline"? Odds are, if it won't shoot at least one factory load decent, it's probably not going to shoot handloads, and you have some kind of mechanical problem...

stoney
Try to bed the action in the stock.

If that won't help you the alternatives are rebarrel or sell.

Remington is about to earn the title "the most expensive fixer up" but there is stil some competition from other manufacturers

Cheers
/JOHAN

First eliminate the obvious.
1. Check your scope bases and rings for tightness.
2. Change scopes and shoot some more. It is not unheard of for factory new scopes to have loose reticles.
3. Take a magnifying glass and check the crown for uniformity and coeccentric form. Remingtons are notorious for lousy crowns.
4. Trigger pull weight? Most new rifles come with triggers in the 6 lb + range which are not conducive to accuracy. Adjust to 3 lbs.
5. Don't clean your barrel every 5 shots. A recent thread on this forum indicated that most rifles shoot best with a fouled bore. If you are cleaning every 5 shots, I assume you are shooting 5 shot groups. Its almost a given that the first couple of shots will be off the main group.
6. Apply some inletting black (zinc oxide if you've got a black synthetic stock)to the bottom of the receiver and screw it in snugly to the stock. Remove and look to see if it is making uniform contact. If not, bed it as you suggested. It probably wouldn't hurt anyway.
7. Try a different bullet like the 154 grainers. You might even try some factory loads.
8. Realize that lightweight mountain rifles are not known for their gilt edge accuracy, although a modern rifle with handloads should do better than 3 inches.
9.Make sure you let the barrel cool thoroughly between shots as these lightweight barrels tend to heat up fast.
10. If all of this fails you may have a lemon. Sell it or rebarrel. If it is new, why not send it back to Remington?

Start with Bobster's list. If that doesn't clear things up, check your process in the reloading room.
Measure your bullet runout. If the runout is over .005" that could be adding to your problems. .003" or under is better. Is the sizer die adjusted right? I ran into a problem today with runout that was caused by me. I didn't screw the sizer down far enough. Too much runout can seriously affect groups. It might be helpful if you went into more detail about what kinds of groups you are getting, ie: stringing or something else.

ZM

Change the barrel. The last M70 mountian rifle that I had to rebarrel had a factory barrel sooo
crooked I have to wonder about Remingtons quality control; or lack of (The bore was VERY crooked & off center to the OD of the barrel. A Lothar Walter barrel fixed that problem.

TRY HAVING YOUR MUZZLE CROWNED. I VE LEARNED THAT THE INSTANT THE BULLET LEAVES THE MUZZLE IT SHOULD LEAVE PERFECTLY STR8. THE MUZZLE CROWN HAS A LOT TO DO WITH HOW YOUR RIFLE GROUPS SHOTS DOWN RANGE.

A .357 MAG CAN BE YOUR BEST FRIEND.

STONEY,
Bobster had excellent advice and I agree with him. The only thing I'd change is to have the action and chamber area of the barrel glass bedded. I've gotten to the point that I have every rifle I buy glass bedded as a matter of routine. I wish I had the money back I've spent experimenting with loads that were wasted. I could buy a few more rifles. Good luck. Let us know how it works out for you.

Stoney, they covered all the areas I would look at. I might add one thing, nimrod is not a derogatory term, it means hunter.

Just look for something loose while you change the scope. Unless you find something it's just a cookie cutter gun. Sell it and get another.

If it were shooting 1.5" groups then I would work on it.