[Archangelboy]

I'm finishing the painful process of paying off a Remington 700 LTR (gotta hate not being a millionaire). Found it used with a Leupold MkIII 3.5-10, probably the factory packge. It's in good shape, and on top of taking it to a gunsmith to make sure all the details are squared away, the next thing I want to do is spend more money on the bugger.

I know it will shoot well from shot one (unless there's something wrong with the action/bore that I and the guys at my shop are unable to find), but I'm interested in compiling a list of suggestions for things I can do to improve the accuracy/funcition of the rifle. Going out and shooting it is the most obvious, and believe me, with the 500 rounds of GMM I've got on order, I'm sure to do plenty of that, never fear. However, I've seen several posts, one about lapping the scope base, one about lapping and squaring the action to the barrel.

I'm not a gunsmith (that's why I'm taking it to one), but I'd like a list of suggestions of things to make mine go, "Hmmm.". Thanks in advance for your understanding, I'm used to just trying my luck with precision, this is my first concerted effort in that direction and I'd like it to be a good one.

 

[Jake S]

Lapping the scope base will only ensure a properly mounted scope, and will not really effect the potential accuracy of the rifle. But there are a whole crapload of things you can do to really make your rifle sing. You can start out by having your 'smith squre up the action and smooth out the bolt. Make sure the bolt face is perfectly concentric and headspace is correct, though this should not be a problem. Then you have to spend the time to either find a good factory load or custom roll one that does the best with your rifle, utilizing a bullet weight that coincides wiith the rate of twist in your rifle. I assume the rate of twist is probably one turn in about twelve inches, so it will do well with match bullets of 168-175 grains. Federal Gold Medal match would be a good place to start (and probably finish ) You'd be surprised at the accuracy differences that can occur between two different loads. And then you can have the action pillar bedded to the stock, which will make it stiffer and thereby increase potential accuracy. Get a trigger job done to ensure a smooth pull, which will enhance your accuracy. Make sure your scope is properly and securely mounted in a good set of rings (not $10 Wal-Mart specials). An dfinally, you can invest in a match grade barrel, from somewhere like Lilja or Wilson. But it probably wont need a whole new barrel just yet. Hope this helped.


Jake

 

[Jake S]

Oops I just realized you said you have a case of Fed Gold Medal Match, so finding the right load should not present a problem at all, as you just bought 500 of them! How much did that cost you, by the way? That GMM is pricey.

Jake