Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 700 VSSF Issues - anyone else?

Bought a new 700 VSSF in 204 a year ago - promptly injured my hand and couldn't do any shooting. Started to wring it out this winter and . . . 4.5" group with 32 gr factory loads and 1.1" with 40 gr factory loads. Fired cases are concentric. I know I have to do a check on stock bedding (should be good - bedding block) and assure optics are good. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a problem like this, and how I go about sending the thing back to Remington if I can't find/fix it. Anyone send one back? Results??

I have the 700 VSSF in 22-250 in what I call version 1 that I bought a long time ago when they first came out.

I have had no problems and this one just happens to be one of my most accurate rifles. Many buddies that I've shot stuff with will comment on how accurate it is.

Sorry to hear that you are struggling with yours. With the reputation these rifles have, if it doesn't come around a trip back to Remington would seem to be called for. We buy this type of rifle to shoot those little tiny groups.

Granted the 4.5" sucks but what's wrong with 1.1" with factory ammo? No secret the rifle will prefer some loads over others...

A stock rifle shooting MOA with factory fodder is a keeper in my book and can almost always be made more accurate with some load development. Just thinkin out loud! Best of luck.

Shorter bullets with the wrong powder can produce horrible groups in an otherwise accurate rifle. That's been my experience with a .243, .308 and 350 rem mag.

I'd suggest avoiding the lighter bullet loads. While I understand the frustration with shooting groups that large, I've had factory ammo and hand loads do just that in the above mentioned rifles. And I've shot sub moa with the same rifles when I found the combo the gun liked, mostly handloads but also with some factory loads.

Depends on where the throat is. I have a Ruger M77 T that is at the gunsmith for the second time. It would absolutely not shoot factory ammo (the first year) and wasn't predictable with handloads.
Throat was way long, chamber way fat. Sent it back, with targets, Ruger replaced the barrel. A little better but not much, same issues.
Had it cut back and a smaller neck, shorter throat, but did not ask to have the chamber shrunk, too. Both the smith and I thought it would be fine. Nope.
So -- got the reamers on order, a minimum, no throat and a separate throater. We'll see. But the SAAMI dimensions make no sense to me. Wasting a lot of potential.

Update:
Decided to give the rifle a fair shake. Carefully went through a barrel break-in of sorts, shooting groups and cleaning thoroughly after every group. Discovered the fiberglass was high behind the tang, and there was no bearing on the bedding block at the rear action screw. I wrapped some fine sandpaper around a 1-3/8" dowel and corrected that. I also noticed the front action screw on had about two threads engaging. I checked the scope base, changed the rings and tried a different scope. The best load was Remington 32gr. Factory loads averaging 2" at a hundred yards. Finally I called Remington, the nice lady sent me an e-mail authorizing factory service for, 1) trigger recall, and 2) point of impact.
I took the rifle to Williams Gunsight in Davison, Michigan with my paperwork where the gunsmith told me . . . "2" groups are within Reminton spec" and he could do nothing with the rifle. I left in shock, pretty sure the "V" stands for Varmint . . . 2" is simply not acceptable for a $1200 varmint rifle. Still trying to cool off enough to figure out what to do . . .

my remingotn 700 vssf 22-250 has never shot a group over an inch with any load. my go to load is .5".

I had a 22-250 in the VSSF-II that I couldn't get to shoot better than 3/4" so I sold it. I could have done a bunch of stuff to help accuracy but I just wanted something else. Got a buddy with the first version in .223 that bugholes with Winchester Whitebox. Tiny, tiny groups and a blister pack scope. About makes a guy sick.

Just severely disappointed. Lotsa Remington's in my safe. Always had good experiences. Never bought an M700 that wouldn't shoot under an inch. I saved a long time and had very high expectations. I guess I expected the factory to stand behind their product, especially one that's supposed to represent the high end.

Had a Sendero 300 Rum that shot a 4" pattern. After going through all the steps I sent it back. They did rebarrel it, but it still shot about 3". Had a custom built out of it after that. Problem solved...

I'm loathe to spend another $350 on a $1200 rifle just to get it to shoot. I would have just bought a Cooper.

I have been thru this crap with Remington and will never buy another one of their rifles without a custom barrel.

Mine needed the following

New trigger
new crown on the barrel
recoil lug was not centered
firing pin had slow fire a couple times in each 25 rounds fired, replaced.

Cases came out of the chamber like bananas.

New barrel, shoots consistently under 1/2"

Factory gun a tragic mistake by Remington as it was garbage.

I've already learned that lesson. If I do buy another Remington 700, it'll be through Red Hawk Rifles; might have the same factory barrel, but at least one gets a semi-trued action, a decent aftermarket stock, an installed Timney trigger option (100 bucks more), and at least a semblance of an accuracy guarantee. Around a grand.

I'd like to write to Remington and give them a chance to fix it. Obviously going through the call center and to the factory service center is not going to work. Anyone know who I should write to?

If you want half inch guarantee @ 100 for 3 shots with match ammo, buy a Cooper. If you cant exceed that by half consistently, then its not the rifle. BTDT X 3

I had the exact same experience with a Remington VSSF II .204 Ruger a few years ago. I was so disgusted with Remington that I sold the gun for parts. I got the same story as yours from their customer service folks. The Remington certified gunsmiths in Des Moines shot the gun, confirmed it shot as I said, then proceeded to tell me it was "good enough" and that I should learn to shoot better. I was positively livid.
The best mine would shoot at 100 yards was 2" including factory and handloads. It shot 39 and 40 grainers sideways through the target. The prettiest key-holes you can envision.
Sadly I sold an original VSSF in .223 that shot sub 1/2" handloads all day long years earlier.
After parting out the Remington I bought a Cooper. Funny they don't tell you they shoot that amazing little target at 33 yards in a tunnel with a 36X scope. At least that's what they told me when I inquired and asked what the powder charge was on their test load. It did shoot a couple groups right at 1/2" but 5/8" was the norm. It got sold.
I now have a custom Kreiger-Stiller-McMillan-Jewell-Nightforce contraption. I went 1/10 on the twist and used a match (short leade) reamer. It drills one hole 5 shot groups with boring regularity. It's more fun when it's hard to miss :-).

So -- not everyone loves that SAAMI 204 throat. I knew I wasn't nuts.

I thought I would throw my $0.02 in the ring. After tinkering with rifles for 40 years I would place my bets on two things. 1. Bedding 2. Muzzle crown.

Especially #1 after what you have mentioned in your posts. Remington 700's are very easy to pillar bed with the kits that are out there now. Do it yourself or have someone do it. Then shoot the rifle. If still no go, then have the muzzle crowned.

If not those two things, then it must be a bad chamber which is highly unlikely and would be visible and would be covered by warranty.

all the best, dxr

No sir you aren't nuts.
See a lot of factory 204 fat barrels on the used market.

Hawk R,
I can consistently put 3 shots into .25 @ 100 with 3 different Coopers.
Sorry your 204 was a bummer. Seems the norm.

Me too, actually the Cooper was a .223. I love the looks of the Phoenix. I suppose I could have spent more time looking for the magic recipe but it honestly never gave me the impression it was going to do 3/8" consistently with any combination. I'd still love to have one if I knew it was going to shoot sub half regularly.