I'm about ready to give up. I've been trying to find a load that my Rem 700 7mm08 shoots good consistently and so far have had no luck.
I've tried:
120gr Nosler Balistic tips
140gr Nosler Balistic tips
139gr Interbonds
139gr Interlocks
140gr Corelokts
140gr Accubonds
Varget
IMR4064
H4350
All with No luck I did get 1 sub .5" group with 42 gr of Varget under a 139gr Interbond but that must have just been luck because I shot that same load today and it was about 2.5"
I'm 100% sure all the scope mounts were tight as I just installed a new scope and even double checked after firing a few shots.
I'm thinking I need to tear the rifle apart and free float the barrel because I can't slide a $ bill between the barrel and stock. What else should I do while I'm at it?? I've really been eyeing a Boyds stock for it but may have already spent my Christmas funds on the new scope.

Any advise?

Check the mag box and front base screw length,and bedding.

If you haven't freefloated the barrel, that's where you need to start. I won't take a new rifle to the range until I've freefloated the barrel.

Had exact same problem with a hvy bbl 700 in 7mm08. It had a factory bdl stock and i did same as you. Was about ready to get rid of the POS. then decided to get a BC stock for it one last try. BBl is free floated and it now shoots pretty much anything I give it 1" or better.

Try H414 with 140 TTSX? I tried all types of combinations in a finicky Cooper and had same experience with no consistency until I matched those. I also found that IMR 4064 with a 130 Speer BTSP worked as well.

Steyr.

Remove action from stock. Make a couple of temporary shims from aluminum can(s), just enough to free-float the barrel. Torque the action back in the stock and try your Interbond load again.

The 139gr Interlock was THE most accurate bullet in my Sako 7-08.

Ed

IMR 4064 with the 130 Speer btsp.

My classic would shoot worth crap in stock trim.

1. Bedded and floated in an Alaska TI stock,
2. Replaced the POS factory trigger w/ a Tim trigger
3. Improved my bench technique.

Shoots nice

S-C-E-N-A-R

(once you get the action/stock/mag thing figured out)

Is your rifle currently sitting in a factory tupperware stock? If so, I would shift this project into park until I can get the stock I wanted. Then, for me it's float, bed, trigger, check for binding, check action screw length, same for base screws.

I hope everything works out well for you.

As everyone else said. Float first. I had a Model 7 CDL in .22-250 that I absolutely couldn't get to shoot...had a list of tries like the OP. I asked JB about it and he was astounded when he found out I hadn't floated it yet!
I floated it.


Problem solved.

I have several M700's in various calibers. Most are in after-market stocks - either wood or synthetic. The one thing I have noticed about them all is that they shot poorly right out of the box. Once they were put in new stocks (and for some, got a new trigger) they all started grouping much better. In short, I'm agreeing with everyone else, even ingwe!

What do the groups look like? Are they stringing? Are they random? Has this rifle ever shot the way you want it to?
Did you clean the bore down to bare metal?
My brother had a M70 in 22-250 that he bought used that would only do about 2 MOA. He brought it to me to try and fix. I cleaned it with Wipe-Out overnight. 1/2MOA. He now thinks I'm a genius. (He's still the only one.)
Fix the easy stuff first!

I did that on my Model 7, and it shot so well I never took it apart again to actually bed it

That was over 30 years ago and it still shoots great

I'll try the shims tonight.
There is no consistency to the groups at all. No stringing, no 2 in 1 out, just patterns.
I did get the gun used but I did not personally scrub the barrel so I will also do that tonight.
I'm frustrated because I've never had this much problem getting a rifle to shoot. I even got my wife's Remington 770 243 to shoot 1 ragged hole with a 10 shot group and a 710 30.06 to shoot .5" groups with boring repeatability.

F f hgfgffh f edgg!!!!

If at first you don't succeed....

You could be getting inconsistent pressure on your barrel as the barrel heats and cools. Before you try shimming it out of the stock, try putting a single shim between the pressure point and the barrel and try that.

Hey Sniper, are those targets available on the web? I searched but couldn't find that one.

there's lots of places, do a google search for free palma targets.

Here's one: http://mysticvalleygunclub.com/printable-targets/

Cool. Thanks!

I guess what really gets me about this is this is the rifle I have always wanted. I have made cheap rifles that most people laugh at out shoot many custom built rifles and I can't even get this one to shoot better than 1.5"
(Rem 710 shoots consistent .5" and a 770 shoots .2" groups)
I won't say this is the nicest rifle I've own but it is the one I've always wanted and by far the best set up with the scope, rings and bases I have ever owned.
The barrel is scrubbed and the barrel channel got a little trim. Gonna load a few and test them out tomarrow

Good luck on it. A new crown job may be in order or barrel replacement would be my next suggestion?

Soak that baby overnight in Wipe Out. Then recheck all the screws, and make sure front sight base screw is short enough that it doesn't hit barel threads.

I would do that, then shoot it. If you change too many things at once, you'll never know the culprit.

"I just installed a new scope". The scope might be your problem.

Nope shot like junk with old scope too. Loading up a few test loads now to try in the morning. Got some RL15 and 140gr Accubonds I'm trying out along with:
Interlocks
Interbonds
Pro Hunters
Corelokts
And if I can find enough 140gr NBTs I'll try them too. I'm out of 120s.

Would you belive that 140gr Corelokts and 41.5gr of BLC2 powder shot right at .75"??
Floating the barrel made all the difference.
Now I have something I can work with.
Thanks for all the info.

Good to hear it. How was your velocity with the Blc2?

ALS, thanks for the update.

Glad we could help.

My first 7mm/08 shot 140 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips into little clusters and killed several whitetails for me, when I pushed them with 42 grains of BL-C2. I have no idea the velocity, but I called it the cyanide load for that rifle.

I'm not sure what speed they were running. I didn't carry my chronograph. The load that shot best was 41.5grs seated to 2.775"
I'm quite sure I can play with it alittle and improve on it some.

Nice to hear it worked out. When a rifle doesn't live up to your expectations it can be very frustrating.

Next go around, start with barrel float and clean barrel, save lotsa headache

I learn most of my lessons the hard way too!

Mike

Had a similar issue with my Ruger in 7-08. Tried a bunch of different powders, primers, etc. trying to get it to shoot 140 gr Partitions.

Finally settled on 44 grains of RL-15 and 120 gr TTSX bullets around 2950 fps. It shoots sub 0.5" as long as I do my part.