Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Problem with Ammo or Gun??????

I have been trying to zero in my Remington 700,(Purchesed new in August) 300 wsm and I can not hold a pattern smaller than a pop can bottom at 100 yards with the rifle pack in sand.

I've been using Winchester Power-point 150grs. Whats worse the XP3 150grs won't hold on a 6" pie plate. There all over. I even had other people shoot the gun to make sure it wasn't me and they had the same thing.

Had the gun checked out twice by my gunsmith and he shot it to say that it close enough to kill a deer. But here starts the problem. I don't get too many chances to shot a deer a 100yrds to 200yrds where I would say no big deal. Most shots are in the 300yrds to 400yrds where little off at a 100 yds maybe no big deal but at 300 yrds there went the front quarters.

Just curious what other people would do. Try different ammo. (Federal,Remington,???) Would you send it back the company?? trade it off??

Thanks

My guess would be a sick rifle, or a sick scope. Put a scope on it you know isn't screwed up. If it still shoots bad, then...

Either sell it
Or tune it up (bedding job, trigger job, re-cut the crown)

I'm assuming you've already checked that the rings and bases are tight, and the action screws are torqued, right?

Dan's right.. First thing: trigger adjustment to about 3.5#. Second: Try different scope.. Third: (IF scope's ok) bedding/free floating.. Fourth: did 'smith double check the crown to ensure it's perfect?

Get all this done and try again..

Try different ammunition. It sounds like it shoots within specification for Remington, so sending it back probably won't help, but is still an option.

I cant believe any gunsmith would make a stupid statement like that..........one thing I'd be doing is searching for a new smith.

I would tend to look hard at your scope. Or the Mounting system. I had a Rem 700 in a .30-06 that wasn't too accurate until I fed it 180 grain bullets. I liked the rifle, but I also don't need to shoot 180 grain bullet's so I traded it in for a Tikka T-3 Lite. Now I can shoot 130 or 140 grain bullets all day long at 150 yards and stay in a 2-3 inch group. Right out of the box. No tweaking. That being said, I also had an issue with a scope that wouldn't hold it's zero, so I would first put another scope on it, and if that didn't do the trick, get a different rifle. if you don't have confidence in your rig, it's not fun. Winchester XP3 bullet's are good bullets. They should not be floating around, as you have indicated. I would bet it's not the bullet's, although it is an option worth looking at. My Rem. used to like Federal Fusion's. Good luck.

Good recommendations. Try some 165 and/or 180 grain ammo....

Good luck,

JCM

I had a trigger job done, it's a bought 2.5 to 3.0 lbs never had a scale on it, It pulls really nice. Checked everything two three times on tightness and everything is tight. Tried a different scope and came to the same problem.

I was checking in to the ammo part because I've heard it stated that certain guns like certain ammo. With the gun being new I don't have a lot of brass to start reloading yet.

I never ran into a gun that has been fussy with ammo. I own from 243 to a 30-378 and never had once of trouble holding a pattern with them.

I never tried a heavier bullet yet I'll have to give that a try.

Does moly coated XP3 differ that much from a ballistic tip? Reason I was trying the XP3 was that they say thatthe moly coating helps reduce the ware.

My remington 700 cant hold a 2 inch group at 100 yards with winchester premium ammo but with my handloads and a 165grain barnes TSX it will shoot 3/4 MOA no problem providing I do my part.