Ok, I'll see what I can do.
I would agree that a one piece base is less prone to movement. You'll be happy with one.
As for general tips for long gun accuracy:
In my opinion, the best thing for repeated accuracy is a good fit. As you said, trigger work makes a huge difference. It's probably the first thing everybody should check into before resorting to more drastic tweaks. The stock should fit your build and face. The scope should be mounted in line with your eye, both vertically and horizontally for a quick sight picture when you get down on the stock. Imagine a gun being a new car, this would be like adjusting the seat, mirrors, pedals, etc.
Secondly, you should use quality ammuntion. Federal Gold Medal Match is about the best for the money. If you handload (or have a friend who does, APK...), custom ammo will perform the same, if not better. The point is you should know what the gun can do with quality ammo before you take it any further with actual gunsmithing.
With the first two suggestions being followed, the best thing to do is
practice. Before you funnel some cash into the gun, you may want to know you, the shooter, are able to get the gun to its peak performance. That's the way I operate, and I'm just suggesting it. You may have the cash to fund it all upfront...
The next level is gunsmithing, or after-market things (barrels, triggers, stocks, etc.). I haven't had anything like this done/installed on either of my rifles. I am confident with the accuracy as is, and I won't have the time to shoot them for a few years. Thank the U.S. Navy. Here's part of Mel's post in the FAQ forum. These are some of the things that can be done to the action to improve accuracy.
What does lapping the lugs mean?
This is where some lapping compound is used on the lugs to "wear" the lugs smooth. What this does is create 100% surface mating of the bolt lugs to the chamber lugs. This creates a uniform pressure to be created which aids in accuracy. It's generally fairly affordable and generally does provide good results.
Square the action face? What is that?
Because of mass production, many times the face of a rifle action is not 100% square, or flat. To make a uniform and universal mating surface of the barrel to the action, a gunsmith will machine the face of the action to make it square and uniform. This is another means of improving accuracy. It does require removing the barrel.
What does "blue printing" mean?
When a rifle action is manufactured in large quantities, a certain level of tolerances is set. For instance, if the dimensions of an action are within .01 inch, it's considered acceptable. Blueprint is where someone will attempt to make an action meet the EXACT specifications as drawn on the blueprints.
Hopefully this post helps you and others in your shoes. Feel free to ask more questions if you're not sure about anything. I wish this forum was running when I put together my first Rem. 700. Good Luck!
