Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Remington model 7 Predator in 223

Ordered it new from Buds last week and it arrived yesterday. Trigger seemed ok at first out of the box but the forend was a bit wiggly. Did my usual removal of the square pads, cleaned up the barrel channel to make sure it floated free, sealed the unpainted meal at the bottom of the action with satin Polyurethane. I let that dry and then reassembled putting a thick nickel sized glob of black automotive silicon on the forend where the pads were. This morning I mounted a 2x7 Leupold in Weaver rings and bases and hung a bipod on it. Being sick from the flu but better than I have felt in days I went out to shoot up some rounds to get some fresh brass. I had two loads, some Monarch brass cased factory ammo loaded with the classic 55 gr. FMJ and a box of shells I loaded a year or so ago for a 223 Encore which fit snugly.. Load data on the flap said they were loaded with 26.2 grains of 748 and the 45 gr. Speer soft point. I bore sighted at 100 yards, moved up to the 50 yard line to find it was hitting a hair low but centered. Cool! Move back to the 100 yard bench and hammered out 4 rounds to find that the Monarch ammo hit 1/2 inch high and shooting pretty good. Switched to the reload and started shootin on another target, POI is dead center. Shot ten rounds into an inch! I then burned up the rest of the box of factory loads to get fireformed brass and to heat the barrel up some. This is the same target I shot on at fifty yards and I shot the rest of the box at an easy pace just loading and shooting not really concentrating or waiting for the gusty wind that came up because it was starting to rain. All twenty round in 1 1/4 inch. Now for the snivel. The factory trigger has a small click that can be felt just before the rifle goes off. The pull is light enough that it doesn't effect POI but it does sort of annoy me. This trigger has an allen screw in it for adjustment. Was it set too light from the factory?

I guess I was wrong about it being set too light, I backed out the screw till the trigger worked smoothly and at the same time lightened it some. Actually not really liking the trigger yet and I will have to shoot it some to see if it gets replaced.

I had one of those with the Mark Trigger on it. It decided to go from 4 lbs to 16 lbs all by itself overnight ...so it hit the trash can next..

The trigger shoe with the screw in it sometimes actually just cracks and breaks completely. If the rifle seems to want to shoot accurately, I'd be looking for a replacement trigger right away.

Shot it some more Using the Monarch brass ammo with the 55 gr. bullet replaced with a 45 gr. Hornady hornet bullet. Have to say the rifle shoots pretty good and I like the way it puts the 55 gr. fmj just about 3/4 of an inch higher than the 45 grain bullet. This will work out fine as I can spine or head shoot hogs and just by changing ammo do my raccoon and coyote busting. I shot twenty more of this round and I think I will just do this for a while as accuracy is plenty good enough for practical purposes. I generally hunt at night so seldom shoot past 150 yards and most of the time under 75. This session the trigger performed in a satisfactory manor. I have been looking at aftermarket triggers though. I have the flu and haven't been able to beat an inch by much though I have yet to put a load together for this rifle. And being sick could be affecting group size.

Since I have nothing to do but be miserable I worked up a very accurate load using the 45 gr. Hornady Hornet bullet and IMR4895. I also did the same using the Hornady 52 gr. match HP. I am now completely happy with the accuracy I am able to get when miserable, just under an inch for five shots and I can't wait to see how much it improves when I can easier control my breathing and I don't have a headache! That said the Mark Xpro trigger has got to go. It is not consistent, not matter how you turn the adjustment allen screw it is the slightest bit creepy and the little
click and then the rifle going off just doen't get it. Will order a Trigger Tech primary trigger or a Timney soon. I did get a couple of four shot groups in the half inch range and then the horrid flyer. This has turned into more of a self test than a rifle test.

Looks like it's going to be a Timney.

Install a Trigger Tech trigger group.

Timney's are non repeatable JUNK.

Well after doing some searching it appears that the M7 and M700 triggers must be different somehow. Timney offers a unit specifically for the M7 and Trigger Tech doesn't. It may just be that the safety angle is different. I wanted to try a Trigger Tech trigger and would still if their M700 unit would fit a M7 without issue.

I have had 2 M7 Predators in 223, and 2 in 22-250. All shot very good, right out of the box. On my original Predator, it had the older style Walker trigger, and I adjusted it down to 3 pounds after taking it out of the box. I have never fired a factory round in this rifle. After trying a few powders and bullet combinations, I settled on 27.5 grains of surplus W-846 powder and a 50 grain VMax bullet. This rifle and load are exceptionally accurate, and I've killed a bunch of stuff with it.

On the other rifles, they all came with the X-Mark Pro trigger, and only one of those could be adjusted anywhere close to where I like a trigger. I replaced the others with a Timney. Despite what you might hear, there's nothing wrong with Timney triggers. I have them in about a half dozen rifles.

I also have never touched the stocks on any of my Predators. Maybe I've just been fortunate to have gotten some that shot good, I really don't know. I do experiment with a lot of different powders and bullets though, and find a big difference in how they shoot in a particular rifle.

I traded for a new M7 Predator in 243 Win about a year and half a go, took it home put on some used Weaver bases with Weaver rings and a 3 x9 Vari X 2 silver. Bore sighted it zeroed for 50 yds 3 shots under a dime with 95 gr NPT's at 3000 fps moved to 100 and adj the elev to give me a 250 yd zero. Ran the load on a ballistic program and put the info on the side of my butt stock under a piece of packing tape. The next week end on opening morning I ranged a nice antelope buck at 398 yds. 1 shot and down, that little rifle handles and shoots great. Couple of buds of mine gave me crap about the silver scope on camo but I probably would have lost the gun by now if I would have used matte finish or rattle canned it..MB

Before it got cold again I fooled with several bullets and powders and found a true tackdriver using I4895 and the 50 gr. Sierra Blitz. The trigger is a bit heavy and the sensation of a time interval after the trigger stops and the firing pin dropping is off putting for sure. Since I'm in for a couple of cold windy days I am going to try to adjust this trigger but I found a place that has the Timney 521 on sale for 124.99. I may call Trigger Tech and find out what they think.

[quote=rickt300]Before it got cold again I fooled with several bullets and powders and found a true tackdriver using I4895 and the 50 gr. Sierra Blitz. The trigger is a bit heavy and the sensation of a time interval after the trigger stops and the firing pin dropping is off putting for sure. Since I'm in for a couple of cold windy days I am going to try to

Go to this site.......erniethegunsmith......buy you a trigger spring for the X-Mark Pro trigger. It will cost around $10-12 with shipping. Take about 5 minutes to install, and on the one I did it turned a crappy trigger into a very nice one.

Well between the time I posted and your post I adjusted the trigger, got it down to a nice breaking 2.5 pounds with a small amount of creep. If it stays like it is then I won't bother replacing it, if it changes like some have mentioned out it goes!

Rick, I've had probably 8 of those X-Mark Pro triggers, and you're lucky you could get yours adjusted that good. I've only had one that would adjust down to where I like them, about 3 pounds. But, like I said, the trigger spring from Ernies is a cheap and easy fix. Glad you got it where you like it.

I meant to call Trigger Tech today and ask them what I needed to do to make their trigger work on a Model 7. My long run goal is to put a 1-8 twist barrel on it and why not have a good trigger to begin with.

BS. I've had both TT & Timney's. A Calvin Elite is about as good as it gets for a hunting trigger

I have found that when the wind is blowing cold from behind me it causes the target frame to move forward and back causing vertical dispersion! The coolness also causes some horizontal dispersion! But the trigger breaks ok with just a small amount of creep which makes it fine for a coyote/raccoon rifle. What I would like is a nice warm day with a very light wind or none at all.

Well further testing shows the rifle to be very accurate with bullet weights from 45 grains to 75 grains. I ditched the bipod and shot off bags and this seemed to make grouping more consistent. I shot 3 3 shot groups each with bullets weighing 45,50,55,60,and 75 grains. The only bullet that didn't shoot nicely under an inch was the 55 gr. Hornady spire point which is sad because I have over a thousand of them. Probably can try a different powder to improve on it. I was happy to see the rifle not only stabilized the Hornady 75 gr. BTHP but shot it very well so I guess I have a 1-9 twist barrel. Another good thing is that the rifle put all bullet weights very close together with the variance being near an inch and vertical. Perfect! Looks like I have found the replacement for the old 788 I used so much in my youth.

My 223 Predator does not like heavy bullets. It is the 1-12 twist, mine was one of the first ones made. The ones they made last supposedly have a 1-9 twist, although I've never seen one.