[James Sharps]

Remington 700P Maintenance Procedure Questions:

I noticed the rifling in my 700P appears copper in color. I have only shot 40 rounds through it; before the first 5 and then every 5 thereafter for the first 20, I cleaned using Shooter’s Choice MC#7 Bore Cleaner patches and bronze brush. After scrubbing the bore, applying 3 wet patches and then running the dry patches though, the third or so dry patch came out clean. My question is, if the dry patches come out clean then is there still copper fouling or do the wet patches need to come out with no blue color?

Also does anyone know the torque specifications for the stock screws? The manual only lists values for the Model 710. I just tightened them until they bottomed out and then applied a bit more force. Will that suffice?

 

[Dan]

James,

Copper fouling can be still be present despite a clean patch.

When I first got into shooitng, a veteran showed me the way to check for copper fouling. Here's how to do it:

After finished with your cleaning routine (which sounds good), run a final dry patch through and bring it to a stop 1"-.5" from the end of the barrel. Go outdoors (if you're not already there) and into the sun. Place the buttstock of the rifle on your foot and tilt the rifle so that the sun will reflect off of the rifling revealing how good of a job you did getting the copper out.

I've posted a picture of what the rifling should look like if you're doing your job right. This is also a Rem 700 (VS) chambered in .308 Win. It's much easier to see with the naked eye, but I used the camera's flash. Sorry for the picture quality, but you can see the reflection does not have the copper color that will be there if it is fouled up.

Remington doesn't specify how much to torque the two screws, so I think you'd be safe bottoming them out.
I'm interested to know if there is a specification myself.

 

[Dan]

James,

I forgot to include this in my last post, but the blue-green color on the patches itself is a dead giveaway that there is copper in the barrel. I use Remington Bore Clean on a patch that has been wrapped around a copper brush (gives it more resistance than the jig) and run no more than 20 passes.

 

[Yimmy]

Do you really have to get the barrel and action spotless to maintain performance?

I mean, clean yes, but a small amount of carbon in the barrel wont do any real harm will it?

 

[Dan]

No, the rifle does not have to be spotless. For example, my cleaning routine varies in time depending on the location (range vs. home), but more important is the method itself than the energy spent cleaning the rifle. Time spent on cleaning the gun properly is a small price to pay for keeping it in good condition. Of course, common sense should play a role in determining the frequency of ones cleanings. Every 40 rounds is what I go by because 40 rounds fits in an RCBS loading block thus being the average I handload at a time.

I would imagine leaving residue in the barrel for long periods of time between cleanings or when the gun is not being used would harm it more than occasional traces left in.

 

[JLU]

Also does anyone know the torque specifications for the stock screws?

65 in# on the front and rear screws. The center screw is only hand tight, this is because the center screw only keeps the floorplate in place and not the action.

Note: Inch pounds NOT Foot pounds.

JLU

 

[James Sharps]

Excellent, thanks for the detailed information. The pictures were especially helpful, now I know what to look for. Also thanks for the torque spec.

Regards,