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eldermike · February 4, 2013, 09:07 AM

I received a Remington SPS stainless in 223 as a gift from my wife. I have been working on load development and making decisions on what to do with this rifle. I almost ordered a stock and trigger for it but have held off based on some other issues. I don’t believe these issues have anything to do with the stock and trigger.

Issue 1) Hard to single load, feeds great from magazine (perfect) but the back of the barrel is square and to make it single load you have to fidget with the round to get it started in the chamber. That’s a deal breaker with me.

Issue 2) On a clean bore it shoots low left (about 2 inches X 1 inch) but slowly walks its way to center as it fouls the bore. Once on it stays until you clean it. I was a bench rest shooter for years and I know how to clean a bore. I JB’d the bore several times and I am waiting for it to break in but no change so far in this pattern of shooting. I expect some change from a clean bore to a fouled one but 2 inches seems a bit much to me.

I am shooting 52 grain hollow point match bullets with neck sized only brass. Tried a few powders but settled on H335. Have tried loading depths from touching the lands to deeper than I like, the pattern of fouling stays the same. Once fouled it shoots less than 1” in long stings up to 10 shots. Accuracy is not the issue.

All shooting so far at 100 yards from a proper bench rest with rear bag. I did notice right way that I needed to keep the front end of the rest as far back as possible to get the best groups. Also use a side bag to help with the heavy trigger pull but that is manageable at this point in the project. I know the stock and trigger are limiting the potential of this little rifle but until it single feeds without fussing, without standing up and fussing with the round I will not be spending any money on it. The back of the barrel is dead square and the little 223 is running right into the face of the chamber. It feeds from the magazine so smooth I can see how that little detail might get missed.

So what to do?

February 4, 2013, 09:07 AM	#1
eldermike Senior Member Join Date: January 24, 2013 Location: NC Posts: 545	New SPS stainless I received a Remington SPS stainless in 223 as a gift from my wife. I have been working on load development and making decisions on what to do with this rifle. I almost ordered a stock and trigger for it but have held off based on some other issues. I don’t believe these issues have anything to do with the stock and trigger. Issue 1) Hard to single load, feeds great from magazine (perfect) but the back of the barrel is square and to make it single load you have to fidget with the round to get it started in the chamber. That’s a deal breaker with me. Issue 2) On a clean bore it shoots low left (about 2 inches X 1 inch) but slowly walks its way to center as it fouls the bore. Once on it stays until you clean it. I was a bench rest shooter for years and I know how to clean a bore. I JB’d the bore several times and I am waiting for it to break in but no change so far in this pattern of shooting. I expect some change from a clean bore to a fouled one but 2 inches seems a bit much to me. I am shooting 52 grain hollow point match bullets with neck sized only brass. Tried a few powders but settled on H335. Have tried loading depths from touching the lands to deeper than I like, the pattern of fouling stays the same. Once fouled it shoots less than 1” in long stings up to 10 shots. Accuracy is not the issue. All shooting so far at 100 yards from a proper bench rest with rear bag. I did notice right way that I needed to keep the front end of the rest as far back as possible to get the best groups. Also use a side bag to help with the heavy trigger pull but that is manageable at this point in the project. I know the stock and trigger are limiting the potential of this little rifle but until it single feeds without fussing, without standing up and fussing with the round I will not be spending any money on it. The back of the barrel is dead square and the little 223 is running right into the face of the chamber. It feeds from the magazine so smooth I can see how that little detail might get missed. So what to do?