7mm rem mag rebarrel

[Linegrind]

I had a remington 700 7mm rem mag I'm thinking about rebarreling. I bought it used and have been really struggling to get decent accuracy out of it with any of the loads I've put through it. I've at best managed 1.5 moa at 100 yards when I wait 5 or so minutes between shots and let the barrel cool but It's usually closer to 4. Scope is a nikon so I doubt that it's the problem. I was thinking I'd try and rebarrel it and I was already planning on buying another stock and free floating it. Any idea on what it would cost a fella after labour to have a smith rebarrel the rifle? Part of me has gotten frustrated enough with this gun that I'd rather just buy a new gun. Especially since this is just a deer rifle. I do take shots out to 400 yards though and really need something I can ethically do so with. Gonna just sit in the woods this year and take shots under 70 to play it safe. Any advice would be awesome, and if y'all think it would cost to much to refurbish this gun let me know.

[ligonierbill]

Have the smith inspect the barrel first. Might not be the problem. If you do put a new one on, it will depend on the quality of the barrel, but I know a couple places that will rebarrel and set headspace for about $500 plus finishing and extras. Google Douglas or Shaw. There are plenty more, and if you have a good guy locally, he will have several sources. It's not really uncommon to replace a barrel, and hot loads in the 7 mag can work one over.

[T. O'Heir]

A 7mm Mag Rem M700 is not a target rifle.
1.5 MOA is dandy for a commercial hunting rifle. Even better if it consistently shoots 1.5 MOA. Even 4" at 100 is sufficient for hunting.
In any case, consistency is the key. If a rifle shoots consistent groups, you don't have an accuracy issue. You have a rifle doesn't like that ammo issue.
However, have you adjusted the trigger and worked up a group? Assuming you're reloading, of course.
Not reloading mean you need to try a box of as many brands and bullet weights as you can to find the ammo that particular rifle shoots best. Price of that ammo means nothing.
Free floating guarantees nothing. Your rifle may prefer a pressure point. Easy thing to try by putting a bit of match book cardboard(or the like) under the barrel just aft of the end of the forestock.
Five minutes may not be enough cooling time either. Depends on how and how fast you were shooting, the barrel's diameter and, to some extent, the climatic conditions.
Usually about $500 plus the cost of the barrel. That can run close to $400 or more depending on the make.

[Linegrind]

WellI have reloads my pa has worked up and I also have tried a few different factory loads. About the only thing I've noticed is 150gr bullets seem to work best and Remington core lokts seem to be the best 150s for me. As far as the accuracy being good enough I guess for me it's not. As ivery said I like to be able to hunt athe up to about 400 yards. Usually shooting across a field. If I'm frequently getting 4moa groups at 100 that's leaves me struggling to hit paper consistently at 300 let alone 400. I can't justify hunting with those results. So far it sounds like rebarrely is really expensive. I might just pull off my scope instead and use this as a backup woods gun with the iron sights and put the scopen to use on another rifle.

[Scorch]

My advice is clean the bore really well with some of that foaming barrel cleaner and try shooting it to see if the barrel is copper fouled. You may be pleasantly surprised by your rifle regaining its accuracy.

If you really want to rebarrel your rifle for whatever reasons, go ahead. You could easily buy a new Remington 700 for what it will cost to rebarrel the one you have. Factories make more money on parts than on a new gun, and the cost of labor adds up pretty fast.

I recently rebarreled a left hand Rem 700 in 7mm Rem Mag for a customer who said cost didn't matter since it was his favorite rifle and left-handers are scarce. Oooookay. I bought a new factory barrel, unscrewed the old barrel, screwed in the new barrel, timed the new barrel and adjusted headspace, inletted the forend to float the new barrel, and pillar bedded the action, then blued the barreled action. Put the whole thing together with new base and rings and took it to the range to sight in, then called the customer.

[hooligan1]

Sometimes when I but used rifles the owner complains that the barrel didn't have what they considered good consistancy, and so I look at a couple things, fouling, and the muzzle crown.
I don't have to tell you that the crown , (last part of barrel the bullet touches) is one of the primary reasons rifles won't put bullets in same hole, another is bullets that are too heavy for the rate of twist for said rifle.
Handloading helps to get accuracy and consistancy on a regular basis, as does proper scope and scope mount torque as well as stock screw torque.
I will not take a rifle hunting that will not group 10 rnds under MOA at 100 yds...

[Linegrind]

I did take about half and hour after my last outing to clean the gun. It was pretty amazing how dirty it was after a box of ammo. The crown looks good to me but maybe there is something amock with it. So far I'm leaning towards just retiring the rifle to backup duty and just buying a fresh one. I'll probably keep tinkering with it though. I doubt I'll rebarrel it at this point. Just sounds far to expensive. I suppose I'll have to take a loot at that X-bolt or M77 I've been eyeing. Maybe even both...So to kind of change the subject of my thread, any opinions on the next caliber I purchase? I've had fun with the 7mm but I'd like to play with a few other loads too. What's on the table for me right now is a 6.5 creedmore because I think it could be fun to experiment with, another 7mm tried and true, 300wsm or 300 win mag because I see a lot of them around in lefty bolts. Really open to any ideas and interested to hear anybodies reasoning. Black bear is about the biggest toughest thing I hunt and I'm confident with most any centerfire cartridge that I can make the shot.

[ligonierbill]

I should have brought this up before, but old brain cells... I inherited a 700 7 mag from my Dad. It shot OK, but not great. I checked the stock, and found a couple contact points. Wrapped some sandpaper around a dowel and smoothed up the barrel channel. For this rifle, it made a considerable difference.

Before then, and before I started rolling my own, I shot a cow elk in an Idaho late hunt at 400. Good ole Remington commercial ammo with 150 core lokt dropped that elk right in its tracks. Now, it shoots 160 Sierra GameKing or Nosler Accubond into an inch at 100.

[Mobuck]

My Rem 700 7mmRM shoots far better than most shooters can manage. IF I had a 7mmRM that didn't suit me AND I wanted it rebarreled to a more deer suitable caliber, I'd go with the 257 Wby.

[tobnpr]

Agree with much of what was said above.
Apparently, 1.5 moa isn't good enough for you-which is fine if that's your need.
A new factory rifle should shoot better- but no guarantees...

Re-barreling is going to cost more- but it will guarantee better accuracy with a match grade barrel. This is usually reserved for target, or long-range hunting rifles where sub moa is required.

Could be the throat's shot out of it, not usually the case on a hunting rifle but you don't know it's history so it's always a possibility. I take it to a local smith and have it borescoped as a first step.


If the barrel checks out fine, I would re-stock it, invest in a quality stock; epoxy bed the action if it doesn't have an integral bedding block and see if that doesn't pick you up an additional 1/2 minute. Even if it doesn't- the stock will be useful for the next rifle.

If not, you only need "hunting accuracy" and MOA should get you there. Consider a Remage style re-barrel, you can DIY and it'll save you some dough over a smith doing a precision re-barrel.

[Linegrind]

I understand where a lot of folks are coming from. 1.5 moa is normally fine at 100 yards. But at 200 its only gonna be a bigger spread and at 400 it's gettin to the point where a vitals shot might be a shoulder or gut shot. I hunt a mix of woods and open farm fields where anything from a 30 yard or 400 yard shot is on the table. If I was only in the woods I'd just take off my scope and use the irons. I put a scope on because I want to be able to reach out farther with this gun like I used to with my 30-06.

"Apparently, 1.5 moa isn't good enough for you"

To me the fact that 1.5 at 100yds is good enough for anybody willing to take a 300 or 400 yard shot seems unethical to me. But to each their own. I like to drop an animal where it stands and I've spent hours waiting for the perfect shots. Be it with my 5.56 or the 7mm or the .22 when I'm chasing squirrels. I've lost one deer in my life. A nice buck even and that was because I got excited and took a quick poor shot. Tracked the blood and chunks of flesh he left behind for hours and never recovered him. Granted that was own fault but it helped make me even more adamant to ensure my shot goes exactly where I want it when I want it too. I'm probably coming off to strong and heated here. I'm sorry.

"I've at best managed 1.5 moa at 100 yards when I wait 5 or so minutes between shots and let the barrel cool but It's usually closer to 4"

And to just ram home another point that is being overlooked is when I say at best I do 1.5 I mean it. Usually the groups aren't that good. In fact me and my dad and another fella spent a long long time working up hand loads and spending hundreds on factory loads looking to get decent accuracy. I usually see 4moa at 100 yards. This is why I'm concerned because even though you can argue that 1.5 moa is passable to take a 400 yard shot 4moa is certainly not. That 1.5 is the anomaly that I've experienced shooting. It wasn't the norm for us. I'm sorry for not being more clear in my original post. Any who as I said I think I'll probably retire this gun to the reserve duty and start fresh next year if I don't see any success this winter toying with it. Any ideas on another rifle? Something effective on black bear or elk. I wanna try something new. My 30-06 I had and the 7mm were very similar. I was thinking about trying that new 6.5 Creedmoor that some folks rave about. My ole pa thinks it's be a fun one to work up a load for and to experiment with. I'm also toying with a 300wsm or just another 7mm. I like the Ruger 77 and the Xbolts. Maybe a savage 16/116.

[Linegrind]

I understand where a lot of folks are coming from. 1.5 moa is normally fine at 100 yards. But at 200 its only gonna be a bigger spread and at 400 it's gettin to the point where a vitals shot might be a shoulder or gut shot. I hunt a mix of woods and open farm fields where anything from a 30 yard or 400 yard shot is on the table. If I was only in the woods I'd just take off my scope and use the irons. I put a scope on because I want to be able to reach out farther with this gun like I used to with my 30-06.

"Apparently, 1.5 moa isn't good enough for you"

To me the fact that 1.5 at 100yds is good enough for anybody willing to take a 300 or 400 yard shot seems unethical to me. But to each their own. I like to drop an animal where it stands and I've spent hours waiting for the perfect shots. Be it with my 5.56 or the 7mm or the .22 when I'm chasing squirrels. I've lost one deer in my life. A nice buck even and that was because I got excited and took a quick poor shot. Tracked the blood and chunks of flesh he left behind for hours and never recovered him. Granted that was own fault but it helped make me even more adamant to ensure my shot goes exactly where I want it when I want it too. I'm probably coming off to strong and heated here. I'm sorry.

"I've at best managed 1.5 moa at 100 yards when I wait 5 or so minutes between shots and let the barrel cool but It's usually closer to 4"

And to just ram home another point that is being overlooked is when I say at best I do 1.5 I mean it. Usually the groups aren't that good. In fact me and my dad and another fella spent a long long time working up hand loads and spending hundreds on factory loads looking to get decent accuracy. I usually see 4moa at 100 yards. This is why I'm concerned because even though you can argue that 1.5 moa is passable to take a 400 yard shot 4moa is certainly not. That 1.5 is the anomaly that I've experienced shooting. It wasn't the norm for us. I'm sorry for not being more clear in my original post. Any who as I said I think I'll probably retire this gun to the reserve duty and start fresh next year if I don't see any success this winter toying with it. Any ideas on another rifle? Something effective on black bear or elk. I wanna try something new. My 30-06 I had and the 7mm were very similar. I was thinking about trying that new 6.5 Creedmoor that some folks rave about. My ole pa thinks it's be a fun one to work up a load for and to experiment with. I'm also toying with a 300wsm or just another 7mm. I like the Ruger 77 and the Xbolts. Maybe a savage 16/116.

[coyoterunner]

Guys I'm on this forum today because I have a problem shooting my 7mm Magnum due to damage to my rotocuff in my shoulder. I aquired a bent barrel short action .308. So I shopped around and found barrels are'nt cheap.
Thus I considered Ebay and found Many high end barrels and found most bids were almost nonexistant on the heavy Remington 300, RUM. 7mm mag barrels bid off at less than $100. A lot of factory take-offs and as new are a lot of them.
I did bid and won 2 barrels in .7mm08, one standard and one mountain barrel. I'm having the mountain barrel installed on that "bent barreled" action and the 'smith said it should be ready Tuesday next.
Point here is a person can buy a decent large caliber barrel easier than I originally thought.
Coyote

[Mobuck]

"A 7mm Mag Rem M700 is not a target rifle."
Correct, BUT that doesn't mean they're not accurate. Mine was/is deadly on coyotes out to 400+. I kept a target with a cloverleaf 100 yard 3 shot group from back when I was shooting the 7mmRM as my primary game rifle.
Lots of factors in shooting a kicker accurately and many aren't rifle related.

[jrothWA]

as a 7x57Mauser load.

Have a M70 post 64 first series. the rifle could not hold grouping on a paper plate
@ 100 yds., this with commercial 7mmMag ammo.


Then I soft load a 162gr Sierra gmk into a case and close the bolt [caught the rim under the extractor] and removed the round to avoid disturbing the depth.
used a Sinclair hex nut for measuring the bullet diameter to case head surface and the math indicated that the distance to the "leade to bolt face, was .120 grater than SAMMI spec informatio. So now Iload the bullets long.

powder for mimicking the 7mmMauser is IMR 4064, worked up a niced load after talking with the Sierra bullet techs.

Groups dropped to 1" @ 50 yds., will get better load data later this Spring/