Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles ? about Rem 700 Mtn Guide rifle

I've got one of the Mountain Guide rifles in .243 that is not very accurate. It will hold about 2" groups at 100, but that's about it. My question is...did those of you that have mountain rifles remove the pressure point, free-float completely, or what?? I do realize that this barrel heats up quickly, but I was not shooting it hot. Also, are there any favorite factory loads for this skinny barrel in .243??

Thanks,
Mike

I have a titanium that was a little pickier about grouping well than most of my other recent rifles. Based upon my Titanium experience (which except for the receiver material is pretty much your rifle) I would recommend the following.

Make sure you have tried a couple of bullets.. and change bullet weights. Mine is a 308 and I wanted to shoot a 150, but none of the 150's I tried did very well.. but both 165 AB and TSXs were better.

Make sure take your time shooting groups... that little barrel heats quickly,

I left the presure point in mine. Before I ground it out I would try putting a shim (like a slice of a credit card) under the front of the receiver and shooting a few loads. if free floated is better then you can float.. or bed and float.

The buggy whip barrels generally shoot better with the pressure point. Not always.

Before I did any grinding, I would make sure to test a variety of ammo.

Hope it comes around for you.

FL bed

Thanks, guys. It seemed to have a LOT of pressure from the pressure point, so I relieved some of it. I have it set up now with the credit card trick to see how it will do floated. It will come around...it might not be the same rifle when I'm done, but it WILL come around!

Mike

Both of my 270 Ti's preferred full length neutral bedding with the issued mountain contour barrels. The stocks from both now hold ADL barreled actions with the standard sporter contour (the Ti actions used for custom builds) and prefer free float.

I free floated mine and it shot better. I also bedded it and adjusted the trigger at the same time, so I can't be sure what made the biggest difference.

My Ti and MG are both free floated and shoot under an inch. That said they dont ware the BC stock. They are both wraped in mickys.

With those barrels & stocks, it can be a problem of action to stock fit as well as barrel bedding.

I've got a Ti in 7-08, and the fit to stock in the front action/lug area was really poor with uneven contact and enough barrel pressure to actually see the barrel start to bend when the front action screw was tightened.

Bedding the action & bedding the barrel with a "neutral" pressure point worked for me (as it has on many other guns) and now the rifle shoots well under 1" and is pretty tolerant of different bullets & powders.

So bottom line is, could be more than just the barrel pressure............

JMHO & E

MM

Well, the credit card floating didn't help and neither did a different bullet. I then took the pieces of credit card out and put it back together and shot it with a little of the pressure point relieved...same results. So, it goes to the gunsmith on Thursday to be checked out and bedded(and maybe even rebarreled). We'll just see what he finds.

Mike

I have a M700 Mt. Rifle in .260 that will do this. When I start to tighten the front action bolt, I can feel the barrel pull to one side of the stock. I'm researching how to do a quality bedding job on this rifle. I have trouble getting it to shoot better than 2" at 100yds at this point.
Selmer

I'd sure start with "neutral" barrel bedding 1st............by that I mean, the barrel just firmly contacting the forend bedding pad when the action screws are tightened.

Also forgot to mention that I lapped the barrel pretty well with 600 grit lapping compound on a patch over a brush and then followed with the same with JB compound and a final polish with Flitz.

As a result the barrel fouling is minimal, even with copper bullets. Don't know how much difference it made since I didn't shoot it 1st though.

MM

Well, I have also figured out that the barrel lug is not square with the action. As I tighten the front screw, the lug hits the bottom of the stock and since it's not square, it causes the action to twist in the stock making the trigger/bolt release hit the right side of the trigger guard. And, as I tighten the front action screw, I can feel the barreled action being wedged down into the stock. What I mean is that the barrel and the tang is seated, but the middle area, around the lug, is being pulled down by the front action screw. What a bunch of garbage! I love the feel of this rifle and the stock is great, but the assembly by Remington absolutely sucks!

Mike

Tell Remington. I bet they fix the problem for you. Other wise take it to a smiths and have them straighten the recoil lug and bed that sucker so there is no pressure anywhere. The guide is a great platform so I think it would be worth your time.

Mike,

More or less the same condition as mine, except the lug didn't bottom out on mine.

You can talk to Rem., but I doubt you'll get much satisfaction........they'll also tell you that if you bed the stock, it'll void the warranty.

To fix it do the following:

1. Sand out the barrel presure point nubs in the fore-end completely.
2. Wrap enough electrical tape around the barrel just back of the fore-end tip so that when the BA is set in the stock the barrel is floated and the action is straight and level in the stock.
3. Bed the recoil lug and the action forward of the mag cutout; put stock screws (or stockmakers screws, if you have them) in for alignment but DO NOT TIGHTEN, instead, wrap surgical tubing around the action & stock, snugly, but not overly tight.
4. Let the bedding set up and remove action; remove tape from barrel; put action in stock and snug up action screw.........barrel will be floated at this time if you did it right.( On Rem's, I don't leave any bedding under the barrel just ahead of the recoil lug, other do, but I don't.

You can shoot it floated and see how it is........on thin barrels like these, I add back a neutral pressure point as follows:

1. Mix up bedding compound and place a patch thick enough that the barrel will push it up into the stock about 1/2" from end of fore-end.
2. Put BA in the stock and put stock screws in and leave about 3/4 of a turn from being TIGHT.
3. Allow to dry, remove BA and trim the new pressure pad into a 1/2" long rectangle just under the barrel.

I use Acraglass Gel and after about 4-5 hours, you can take the BA out and cut the compound with a thin scrap razor knife.

4. Allow the compound to completely harden, put BA in stock and tighten screws and you will have close to neutral barrel pressure.

5. Verify that you have enough and even clearance around the barrel the length of the barrel channel; if not sand out any spots that are too close. I clearance mine around .025-.030" or so.

Let me know if you have any questions.

MM