Happy Holidays to all.  For anybody that knows my woes with the Rem 700 PSS I bought, I'll skip the preamble.  For all others, www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=80170.  

The dealer calls me on Christmas Eve:  he just got in two new PSS, offers even swap for my bent barrel model.  On December 26, I hop in the trusty RAV4 and drive the 100 miles in the predawn hours to be on his doorstep at 8am when he opens the place.  Sure enough, he has a nice PSS set aside, and it at least straight.

I get it home and start checking the rifle out.  For a factory rifle, it aint' bad, not bad at all. Chambering is tight, .001-.002" off the belt, just like I like it.  The crown on the chrome lined bore seems fairly crisp and the dial indicator doesn't wobble like a metronome when I chuck it up in the late.  I leave it alone.  Stock pillars actually touch the action and the floorplate at the same time, and the action doesn't do the Macarena when I torque the action screws down.  I slap on a Badger Ordance base and the really cherry Mark IV nobody seems to want to buy for $900 shipped, load up 5 rounds of my favorite 240 grain match load in some positively ancient mixed WW brass, and head up to the range on my property, a 15 minute walk.  I shoot the following group from prone in the dirt with a bipod.  Note:  I have put the image through a negative filter; the bullet holes and markings seem to show up better:


Shot #1 at the bottom is the first cold clean barrel shot.  Shots 2-5 form a cloverleaf .765" on center at the widest point; for the first shots out of a factory rifle, this doesn't suck!  This will shoot moa or better at any range, even though the bullets aren't quite asleep here yet.  I may fiddle with the seating depth to tighten it up, but suffice it to say I finally seem to be in the hunt with the factory Remington rifle.  The only question remaining:

What will the dealer do with the rifle I returned?

Shooter

Glad this is working out for you. I voted that the dealer returns it to Remington. Wishful thinking?

Glad to hear things finally worked out for you.


Your last thread had me really worried.  I Recently bought the same gun but havn't had the chance to fire it yet.  I read about your problems and pulled mine out and checked it out as well as I could (eyeball) and it seemed fine.  Final verdict will be later this week I hope when I can get it to the range.

If your dealer has ANY character he will send it back to Remington.  The extra cost of a tube of KY might be worth it, depending on who  opens the box at the factory

Thats the second bent barrel I heard about new from remington. The other was a bull berrel 300 Ultra.  

Another interesting thing about the same rifle was the origional problem was a H.S. Precision which H.S. Precision took the customer's side told remington this was their problem and get it fixed because the bedding lug was not on strait, it was off a few degrees.  Which they did.

There is a tune-up regimen for the H&S stocked 700s that is almost mandatory before they will shoot.  Check Sniper Country's Duty Roster around last Christmas; I wrote a piece and Trigger50 wrote a really comprehensive checklist of items.  Its worth looking into.

Option 4: Cut me a killer deal for the old PSS action and stock.  I'll do the rest.

ShooterX:

My 700P shot 2 identical .75 inch groups at 100 and 50 yds. during shots 31-36.  I took it to the range yesterday and rezeroed it at 7.5X instead of 3.5X.  I shot a five shot group at 100 yds. that had 2 flyers, but 3 shots formed a ragged hole that is 3/8th of an inch center to center.  The two flyers are the shooter (me), not the rifle.  

I later discovered that 300 yds. is nothing to sneeze at.  Deer are in danger, but the little 3" shoot-n-c that I was going for was safe.  A 12-14" drop made it a bit squirrelly.

What I am trying to say is this:  It will only get better.  Especially since you have a decent scope instead of the Simmons 3-9 that I am using.  Try sandbagging your rifle to get it really stable and your results should improve even further.  Welcome to the club of the big, black ugly rifle brother.

Breathe in, breathe out, hold, OOOHHHHMMMM, squeeze!

-Ryan  

My PSS 308 about 6 weeks ago 8 shots at 300 yards, the 5 shot group was 3/4" the 3 flyers to the right were my my fault (jerk behind the trigger.. it was kind of cold that day) This was using Fed. GM 168g. only mod to the rifle was adjusting the trigger to a crisp 2 1/4 pounds.  I am impressed with mine....

Glad this is working out for you. I voted that the dealer returns it to Remington. Wishful thinking? If your dealer has ANY character he will send it back to Remington. The extra cost of a tube of KY might be worth it, depending on who opens the box at the factory

I think he will, he really is a pretty square guy, and his shop is big enough he can afford to take it off the rack for a few days, er, weeks, er, millenia!

There is a tune-up regimen for the H&S stocked 700s that is almost mandatory before they will shoot. Check Sniper Country's Duty Roster around last Christmas; I wrote a piece and Trigger50 wrote a really comprehensive checklist of items. Its worth looking into.

Been there, done that.  That problem nearly drove me to drink with a .270 Sendero I had taken out of the stock to fiddle with and then wouldn't hit a coffee can point blank.  A grizzled old ex-sniper showed me the hold by the barrel and tighten the action screws trick, and voila, all was good in the world again.

What I am trying to say is this: It will only get better. Especially since you have a decent scope instead of the Simmons 3-9 that I am using. Try sandbagging your rifle to get it really stable and your results should improve even further. Welcome to the club of the big, black ugly rifle brother.

Been in that club for a while, bro.  I gave up sandbags and the like a few years ago as I rarely have one handy in the field .   I've taken to following the Marine philosophy of shooting only from field expedient rests to give me a real world idea of how bad I really shoot!.  I do haul around a Harris bipod, but usually I shoot off my field pack with a small bean bag I clip to one of the carrying straps.  When grass gets high, I have some shooting sticks, which are neat, but I really haven't mastered those yet.

I must say, all initial pains and woes aside, I'm satisfactorily impressed with this rifle. I've been advising would-be long range shooters to avoid fancy and expensive rifles and wildcat cartridges and to go buy a Sendero or 40X in 300 Win Mag and a case of Federal 190 grain Match Ammo, using a Tasco 16X42 or 10X42 scope, and to shoot that rig until they could reliably place a bullet in an MOA circle under any condition.  Only when they can do that should they consider having a custom barrel added, but I still urge them to stay away from the wildcats and stick with the WinMag. The ones that listen to this advice do well, the others spend about 2-3 years collecting pieces and parts and slaving over the reloading bench instead of the shooting bench; a few eventually will come around, the rest sort of just continue in mediocrity; a very few will excel. The first PSS really had me on the verge of rethinking that advice, but now I'll just modify it to say: MAKE SURE THE BARREL IS STRAIGHT FIRST!

Shooter


shooterx308