Can My Rifle Do Better?

S

slorider

Guest
I've been hanging around here for awhile gathering lots of great information, although this is my first post. I've picked up some very useful info here and have done my best to put it to good use, but by no means even close in my quest to learn as much as possible about benchrest shooting. My overall goal is to someday enter a local competition and move up and shoot with the "big dogs". :D

My question to all is; what is the best 100 yard group one could get with a factory, off the shelf, Remington 700 VLS? Since I've never been to a competition I don't now what I should expect out of my gun. Below is a recent 100 yard 5 shot group using a Harris bi-pod, rear bag and a bone stock 700 VLS (except for adjusted trigger). I'm sure the group would have been a little better with match grade bullets and a better rest. Can I improve the group with more experience/load development or is it time to move up to a better gun? Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Bryan


Remington 700 VLS .223
5 Shot group
Measured .34"
Hornady 55gr SXSP
Light cross wind

Target- Hornady 55gr SXSP #2.jpg
 
Bryan,
That is an excellent group for that rifle. I think the best that you can expect with reloads would be a .400-.500 ave. group size. You might have a few better, but many more that are larger.
Butch
 
slo, that dog is huntin!!! if you get a chance attend a match, watch if they don't have a "factory class", the first match I attended I shot a 700 VSSF in 22-250 with a 4.5 x 14 x 50. all hunting setup, got my butt handed to me, (4th place 7-10 points behind 3rd). But I started learning and met some of the best people in the world of benchrest, this is the only game were the person on the next bench is our biggest helper/cheerleader. In dublin ga you'd be right in there with a gun that shoots that good, if you watch the wind flags,on your load, are you using lapua brass? also try Vitvh N-133(workup to 25.0 grs). Ya got a damn good base to start on there cuz,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

the wind is my friend,,,,,,,,,

DD
 
I bet with some sierra or berger, etc., bullets, good brass, good loading practices, you could put them in one hole.

Keep working it......that's the fun!

Keep posting those targets...
 
david dumas said:
if you watch the wind flags,on your load, are you using lapua brass? also try Vitvh N-133(workup to 25.0 grs). Ya got a damn good base to start on there cuz,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DD
Click to expand...

Thanks guys! Sounds like that's about all I should expect out of my gun, next I need to find a local competition to see how it "really" shoots or should I say how "I" really shoot.

No, I'm not shooting over flags or using Lapua brass, using Remington brass loaded with 25gr H335. Will the Lapua brass make a big difference, more consistent groups? I'll have to give the N-133 a try next along with some match bullets. Burger, Sierra match???
 
Thanks for the tip on tuning, I'll check out those posts.

In terms of accuracy, with a factory rifle, is it worth the extra money to purchase a higher end match bullet like the Berger's then the cheaper Sierra's or Hornady's... or will my rifle shoot them nearly the same?
 
doing better

i would try the lapua brass berger bullets and n-133. and 205gm and cci benchrest primers. with a the action trued and kreiger barrel your big groups will looklike the one you posted . i would shoot off of sand bags front and rear. too. roninflag
 
roninflag said:
i would try the lapua brass berger bullets and n-133. and 205gm and cci benchrest primers. with a the action trued and kreiger barrel your big groups will looklike the one you posted . i would shoot off of sand bags front and rear. too. roninflag
Click to expand...


Is that 205 grams of N-133? Wouldn't that equal about 13 grains or did you mean 20.5 grains?
 
.223 load

"205 gm" - 205 federal gold medal match primer. the max load for a 52 grain bullet in the VV manual calls for 25.8 grains of n-133. i shoot 26.0 behind 50's.
 
I think you can...

I have a similar rifle and I've been working with it for the past year. It's a 700 vsf in .223. After much trail and error I've ended up with the following that shoots 1/4" easily. (well, maybe not all that easily!):)

First it really likes the 52 gr. Sierra Matchkings, the BTHP's. I couldn't get anything out of a 55 grain bullet and found the Hornady 55 gr. FMJ to be very difficult. The rifle came with a 6lb pull x-trac trigger that i've now replaced with a Jewell BR model set at about 8 oz. I finally got rid of all my Remington brass and replaced with Lapua. For a year I used nothing but H335. Then recently I bought some H322 for use in my 6ppc and decided to give it a try in the .223. My groups Instantaneously shrunk to .25 or better in most cases. I used Federal match primers. After fire forming the cases I now only neck size. I seat the bullets within a couple thousands of the lands. Sometimes at 0.015. I also have an anti-canting bubble level attached to the scope for consistancy. It's a Burris 24x. I use a Caldwell front rest and Protektor bags. Good and solid.

I also should add that I am convinced frequent cleaning is a must. Maybe every 15 or 20 rounds. A few fouling shots to quiet down the barrel and then shoot for group.

I know you probably can't get the same groups out of a factory rifle that you could with a custom built rifle but I think a stock 700 has a lot of potential.

Hope some of this helps.:)

Steve
 
In terms of accuracy, with a factory rifle, is it worth the extra money to purchase a higher end match bullet like the Berger's then the cheaper Sierra's or Hornady's... or will my rifle shoot them nearly the same?
Click to expand...

My old VLS .223 fired its best groups with the Berger 52 match. The mods performed to that particular rifle was a Jewell trigger install and free floating of the barrel. The group you have posted above is excellent in my opinion , especially for a non-match bullet. Firing a series of groups , say four or five groups in a row , the match bullets should provide you with the highest level of consistency possible.

The best shooting rifle I own now is a 700LTR also in .223 and again the most consistent accuracy has been with Berger , although with the slightly heavier 55 grain match and varmint match. And older lot of the 55s I had left over that did not shoot as well in the VLS fired some amazing groups in the LTR. The Sierra 69 MatchKing has performed very well too in my 1 in 9" twist 700LTR.

I just picked up my newest 700 a few weeks ago. It is a stainless VLS with thumbhole stock , a .223. This may eventually be used as a custom project but it will be interesting to see how well it shoots compared to my other .223s.
 
Just Checking

There is something strange going on with my computer, sorry to hijack your thread but needed this space to test.
 
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