Trouble finding accurate load for Remington 223 5R

BudInTenn

New member
I have a new model 85504 and have not found an accurate load as yet. Most groups around 1 5/16" for five shots. Have tried Varget and H335. Sierra 53, and 69gr Match kings. Hornady 53gr V-max. Lapua brass. Remington and Fed primers. Four different overall length combinations. Been using WipeOut to clean the barrel and have torqued the action screws to 65in.lbs. Is there any one thing common to this model to try?
 
If you`re groups are that wide with those bullets I`d suspect the scope next since you`ve checked out the action screws. Are the mounts tight, rings too? How about parallax? have you tried a different scope of known quality? New scopes can have problems too.
 
Why would you think the rifle would shoot better than that? Sounds perfectly normal to me....

:confused:

al
 
These rifles typically shoot at about a 1/2 moa. I would have it borescoped to be sure there isnt a problem with the barrel. Are your loads mild or hot? How does the crown look? Barrel touching anywhere? What kind of rest are you using during testing?
 
I had a Rem. 700 forget the twist, I think 1 in 9, something weird like that. I couldn't get it to shoot any better than 1.5. Traded it for a tikka 1in 10. Shoots 60 gr. ballistic tips and vv133 half inch.
 
Accurate Loads

sometimes there are none..... for a specific gun.....you can contact remington...but I think they`ll say that`s within specs..... I`ve had rem.788`s that shot better than my 40 x`s..same caliber...go figure......I`ve seen alot of new rem 700 shoot 3MOA..... factory would do nothing.... if you`ve gotta work hard to get a gun to shoot.... you`re spending alot of time/money for medeocur accuracy....
 
IMO you don't need 65 in lbs. on the action if its bedded right. 30-35 on the front , 20-25 rear.
 
These rifles typically shoot at about a 1/2 moa. I would have it borescoped to be sure there isnt a problem with the barrel. Are your loads mild or hot? How does the crown look? Barrel touching anywhere? What kind of rest are you using during testing?

The rifle is new. Loads are now near the maximum listed. The chamfer around the crown is bright and appears the same width all the way around. No visible damage. Using a Caldwell benchrest iron rest and protektor rear bag. Get better groups from other guns. Am going to try full length resizing on the next try.
 
If you`re groups are that wide with those bullets I`d suspect the scope next since you`ve checked out the action screws. Are the mounts tight, rings too? How about parallax? have you tried a different scope of known quality? New scopes can have problems too.

If the full length resizing does not work will change the scope next. Thanks
 
Why would you think the rifle would shoot better than that? Sounds perfectly normal to me....

:confused:

al

I think Al is right on. There aren't many factory rifles that will shoot better than that. Alan.
 
I think Al is right on. There aren't many factory rifles that will shoot better than that. Alan.

Maybe so on the group size but I expect it to shoot much better than that. I was hoping there might be a trick with the plastic stock. Thanks to all for the advice.
 
I think Al is right on. There aren't many factory rifles that will shoot better than that. Alan.

I don't agree with this. I've had, oh, at least twenty, and maybe thirty Rem 700 rifles in assorted chamberings. And I don't recall any of them that couldn't shoot significantly better than 1.25" five-shot groups with good loads.

However, speaking of loads, I think you should try some Federal Gold Medal Match factory ammo in your rifle, as a benchmark. If it won't put three consecutive 5-shot groups into <1" groups, then I think your rifle is a clinker, and it's likely the barrel. However, the scope could be a culprit, esp. if you haven't dialed out the parallax and might be moving your head behind the ocular.

As to the stock, it's not fair or accurate to call it plastic, OP. It's quite likely an H-S Precision OEM stock, with their aluminum skeleton built in. 65" lbs of torque is quite a bit, but that setting works very well on my similarly-stocked Remingtons. At minimum, I would recommend 45" lbs.

The good news is that these rifles -- assuming it's otherwise in unaltered, original, excellent condition -- have very strong resale value, and somebody in the rude/crewd/lewd/skewed crowd over at Sniper's Hide might jump at the chance to buy the, um vaunted, 5R. :rolleyes:
 
I don't agree with this. I've had, oh, at least twenty, and maybe thirty Rem 700 rifles in assorted chamberings. And I don't recall any of them that couldn't shoot significantly better than 1.25" five-shot groups with good loads.

However, speaking of loads, I think you should try some Federal Gold Medal Match factory ammo in your rifle, as a benchmark. If it won't put three consecutive 5-shot groups into <1" groups, then I think your rifle is a clinker, and it's likely the barrel. However, the scope could be a culprit, esp. if you haven't dialed out the parallax and might be moving your head behind the ocular.

As to the stock, it's not fair or accurate to call it plastic, OP. It's quite likely an H-S Precision OEM stock, with their aluminum skeleton built in. 65" lbs of torque is quite a bit, but that setting works very well on my similarly-stocked Remingtons. At minimum, I would recommend 45" lbs.

The good news is that these rifles -- assuming it's otherwise in unaltered, original, excellent condition -- have very strong resale value, and somebody in the rude/crewd/lewd/skewed crowd over at Sniper's Hide might jump at the chance to buy the, um vaunted, 5R. :rolleyes:

I hope to shoot the rifle this week end with full length resized loads. The 65ft lbs was what i understood HS precision suggests. If I don't get good results I will try a different scope as this is the first time I,ve tried this scope. Thanks for the Advice.
 
I hope to shoot the rifle this week end with full length resized loads. The 65ft lbs was what i understood HS precision suggests. If I don't get good results I will try a different scope as this is the first time I,ve tried this scope. Thanks for the Advice.

65ftlb???? You're gonna have nuttin but splinters......
 
Savage Axis as it came from the factory with Bushnell 3x9 $50 scope

Nosler 55 Gr bt bullet was the best of this lot. The Hornady 68 gr and IMR 3031 shot almost as well.
BearingSurface.jpg
SavageAxis223R.jpg
 
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I've had two Remington-700's in .223, one was a police model with a short 1in9 twist, couldn't get it to shoot under 1.0-1.5 MOA, so I sold it. Later I bought an SPS varmint with 1in12 twist. Had the same problem, couldn't get it to shoot under 1.5 MOA consistently, until I figured out the problem was my handloads. I was bumping the shoulder too much, cases where too long, and I was loading bullets too short. Once I stopped bumping the shoulder, started trimming the cases correcly, and loading the bullets out where they where touching the lands, my group sizes where reduced to 3/8-3/4 MOA with just about anything I feed it. Have action screws torked to 60 inch-pounds. Hope this helps!

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