Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Remington 5R accuracy issues.

Well I found a partial can of 10 year old 4064 in the back of my cabinet. Worked up to 43.5 grains behind a 168gr matchking seated to magazine length and wouldn't you know it 10 shots went into 7/10ths of an inch. Anybody ever seen a 308 that didn't like varget? I had burned a 1/2 pound of the precious stuff in the last week tried every combination with it possible and 1.25" groups was the best it would do.

Maybe you finally got it broke in, or maybe you just got lucky.

I suggest you throw the barreled action in another stock if you have one available. I had a Sendero one time that I fought for over a year, then one day when I was sanding away just a little more material for better free float, I broke through the skin of a huge f**king bubble in the stock, probably an inch long, half inch deep. Basically I'd been shooting a tuning fork with a broken leg. So now, after I am sure the optics are good, bases are solid, trigger assembly isn't hitting the side of the stock, barrel is freefloated like it should be, etc I try swapping stocks. Probably would have saved that Sendero if I'd done that up front but in the year I had it, shot the crap out of it, and moved the throat 3/8ths of an inch farther up the barrel. It was done. Sold it to an accuracy shop where someone had something else built on it and tossed that problem stock in the trash.

Tom

sounds like you just needed to find the node. the 11.25 twist is “technically” for the 175 match king, but mine shoots 168s fine too. i never got best luck w varget, but if you want to do 1000 yd shooting with the 175 smk it is what most seem to do w the .308.

168s with r15, 4064, or 4895 at more pedestrian velocities is usually what i end up doing with my 308s. 39-40 g of 3031 and a 168 is a very accurate easy-shooting load. im rambling, you should go check out the 308 thread in the handloading section

A lot of guys love varget and swear by it. I've, at times, have sworn at it. Finally giving up on the stuff, as I found better accuracy with RL15 and AR comp in both 223 and 308w. I ultimately made the switch to AR comp, as it flows through my powder measure better than RL15 and forget about varget running through the uni-flo like water. It just doesn't happen. Varget has a following by guys that won't let it go and try something better, kind of like glock fanboys or tikka fanboys, or leupold lovers. They just use it and recommend it to everyone they know, even though there are far better products out there... I'm glad the op found a better load for that rifle. Those that suggested FGMM were spot on, generally those 5R 308's love that load. Good suggestion about the 175 for 1000 yard shooting too. My buddy is taking his remington 5R 308w to a match with me in April. We will be shooting from 300-1000 yards, but he's stuck on using the 168 FGMM because his rifle loves that stuff. His rifle will probably do pretty good, but he's preparing to get a good azz whooping from the 6.5 CM CTR...

I have two 40-x’s in .308 and one of them likes H-4895 better than Varget and the other does better with IMR-4064.

My brothers 5r is more accurate than his GA precision guns...no joke. Most accurate rifle I’ve ever seen. Shoots a 175 over varget

Well, at least you know now what powder to buy.

Make sure the front base screw closest to the muzzle isn’t bottomed out against the barrel threads. I had one that drove me bat sh*t trying to figure out. Also shorten the front action screw by one thread has fixed a few 700’s issues.
Good luck, Tom

I have had 2 of the 5r's, had a 24" and have a 20'', both shot good or better. Sounds like you got it figured out, but I bought a bunch of 168gr ELDM bullets and just couldn't get good groups with Varget. I dont have time to reload with little kids and work, but I would give the Federal Gold Metal 168gr a shot. I'll try some other powders another time, but for now I have some federal that average less then 1/2".

Agreed. I’ve had a few of these over the years and all shot FGMM very well no fuss.

Maybe check torque on action screws.