Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Remington 700 BDL Custom Deluxe Question

I have been working on accurizing a 22-250 700 BDL Custom Deluxe (I think). It has the rolled engraving/stamping on the receiver and floor plate with their high gloss finished stock. I have been steered towards having it re-crowned from the advise here on the forum (after a good bore cleaning and glass bedding) it shoots MOA with 40 gr HP Rem/UMC factory loads, but 3 MOA with all other factory fodder I've tried. Looking at the crown, It appears to have a recessed target type crown already.

My question to you all....did Remington put a recessed crown on them from the factory, or do you think it has already been re-crowned? I was hoping some one here could remember what type crown they originally came with, or could pull one out of the gun safe and check for me. I will do a few other things first with handloads before it gets a new crown, but checking out the possibilities.

Thanks
Scott

If the crown was screwed, don't think it would shoot any load very well. I have an earlier model BDL Varmint in 25.06, didn't come with any target crown.

One thing to watch for on a 700 is that the magazine isn't binding against the floorplate. You should be able to slightly move the magazine up and down with a finger once assembled. If the magazine isn't properly installed, the floorplate will pressure up against it when the screws are tightened, in turn torquing on the action. A design feature of the magazine being split on one end that makes it hard to keep seated in place while replacing the floorplate.

Also, Remington builds a pressure point into the forearm at the very end to tame barrel vibrations. Too much pressure, not good. Strikes me that this might be why one particular load works, and the rest not so good...each generating its own unique vibrations, just happens to click with the one load. In bedding the action, you might have inadvertently increased the pressure at the tip. You should be able to separate the forearm tip away from the barrel with very little effort, some would say no more than about 10 lbs worth of pull. I'm of the opinion that a full floating barrel is much more reliable in the accuracy department. This can be done by carefully sanding away that pressure point until you can slide a dollar bill freely between the forearm and the barrel.

Thanks, I will check out the magazine to see if it is on a bind. I free floated the barrel when I glass bedded the rifle. I've done this a few times before and had excellent results. I had high expectations for this rifle....but am pleased with the one factory load. I hope I can find a handload it likes with a heavier bullet than the 40gr.

I appreciate your thoughts!

Scott

One other thought...

Do the other loads you've tried use considerably heavier bullets than the 40? Occurs to me, if you're going heavier than 55 gr., rate of barrel twist might be the issue.

http://www.6mmbr.com/223Rem.html

"Twist Rates
223 Rem Remington barrel Twist rateThe .223 Rem shoots a wide range of bullets very effectively, from 35gr flat-based varmint bullets, to ultra-long 90gr VLDs. However, you'll need the right twist rate for your choice of bullet. For max velocity and accuracy with the lightest bullets, a 1:14" twist may be ideal. More versatile is a 1:12" twist that will allow you to shoot the popular 60-64 grain match bullets. (However, a 1:9" twist is needed for the steel-core 62gr bullet used in the M855 military loads, because that bullet is as long as most 70-grainers.) For normal lead-core jacketed bullets, a 1:9" twist will let you shoot up to 73gr bullets. Since most .223 Rem shooters prefer bullets in the 50-73gr range, a good "do-it-all" solution is a 9-twist, unless you're a Highpower competitor.

For long-range match purposes, long, high-BC bullets are favored for their ability to buck the wind. You'll want at least a 1:8" twist to shoot the 77gr and 80gr MatchKings and 80gr Bergers. To shoot the new 90gr pills, a 1:6.5" is recommended, though a true 1:7" will work in most conditions.

Overall, what twist rate is best? For varminting we like a 12-twist. The slower twist will give you a bit more velocity, and minimize the risk of jacket failure at high rpms. For general use, an 8-twist barrel will let you shoot the excellent 77gr and 80gr Sierra MatchKings and nearly all varieties of non-tracer milsurp ammo. We'd only select a 1:7" or faster twist barrel if we had a need to shoot the 90gr VLDs."

I have only used factory loadings that were 50 and 55gr bullets. I was hoping to "fix" it to where it would shoot factory ammo well. But so far my fixing it hasn't helped it much.
Thanks
Scott

I have a M700 Classic .250 Savage that shoots sub-1/2" with 75gr bullets and 3/4" with 100gr bullets, all hand loads. Factory ammo makes nice, symmetrical, 4" groups. Go figure. Maybe try one of JB's "loads that work" and see what happens. It could be a function of throating, too.

Springer,

I'm not sure slower twist will give faster velocities to any degree of significance. Seems that issue has been discussed at length on the Fire. Very fragile bullets shot with a fast twist at high velocity can be destroyed. Otherwise, fast twist shoots light bullets about as well as slow twist, which is a testimony on the quality of modern bullets.

DF

Dirtfarmer...

He'd mentioned 40 gr. bullets, pretty light, and got to thinking that a rifle that would cloverleaf those might not handle the heavier stuff nearly as well. I've no idea what twist rate would show up in a Rem. 700 22-250, but there certainly seem to be a lot of possibilities. No experience with .223 myself, but have read lots regarding how sensitive this caliber can be to twist rate.

My own Rem. 700 25.06 Varmint so far hasn't shown to be too particular about ammo...but then the only feed it's had is Federal Prem. 117 Gamekings, Fusion 120s and handloaded Hornady 117s. If I'm up to it, it'll stuff all of these into 1/2" clusters at 100 yds all day long.

OP, yes the recessed crown is factory. They started that around the time the "embelished"/engraved receivers came out. Circa-late 90's early 2000's.

Thanks Horseman....for anwering my question. I also appreciate all others who have been helping me try to sort this rifle out.

Thanks
Scott

I had one of those.

The only thing I could get it to shoot accurately with was the 35 grain VMAX. Long range or big varmints ... no. Massive splat for 50 yards on tweetys .. oh HELL yeah!!

I wound up trading it off fairly quickly. That was just before I finally got the rebarreling bug, so at the time, if it wouldn't shoot "factory", it was a failure.

Tom

Springer,

IIRC, my .22-250 is a 14 twist, but it's a 70's vintage model 700. Not sure if that's still the standard.

DF

1-14" twist is standard for Remington guns chambered in 22-250.
I prefer faster twists, but have always gotten great accuracy from 40gr thru 55gr bullets (lead core) in the 22-250 with a 14" twist - most will drive tacks with 55 grain bullets.
Good luck,
Ted

My 14 twist .22-250 shoots Ralph Council 60 gr. bullets under 1/2". These bullets are sorta old style, and don't have long, sleek ogives.

I don't think this gun would do as well with Bergers, etc. of the same weight due to bullet length. I think it would do well with NPT's and bullets of similar profile.

DF

True, the standard is 1~14" for the .22/250. However all the Savages and Sakos I've ever seen were 1~12", But I've heard some Sako's can be 1~14"

GH