remington 700 sps varmint

[saspas48]

i have a remington sps varmint and was wondering what some things are that i could do to up the accuracy with this rifle... Im pretty good with this rifle but know it could be better!

[Creeper]

Hand load.
Get better front rest/rear bag.
Hand load.
Get a higher magnification/better quality scope.
Hand load.
Get a lighter trigger.
Get a more stable bench... concrete preferably.
Read lots and lots of articles in Precision Shooting Magazine.
Did I mention... hand load?
Use a reticle that doesn't completely subtend a bullet hole.
Buy wind flags... at least 3.
Learn how to dope wind and mirage gooder.
Hand load... I think I mentioned that.
Buy a custom, tight neck barrel... and learn how to hand load benchrest quality rounds.


Cheers,
C

[saspas48]

soooooo you think i should handload then? Lol does having the barrel free floating make that much of a difference?

[Creeper]

Yes I do, and yes it does.

A floating barrel allows for repeatable, consistent harmonics. The only variation to this is a well designed, thoroughly tested pressure point... which no one really uses anymore, because they typically didn't stay consistent for extended strings of shooting.

You don't have to handload, but the quality of loaded rounds that you can produce, with experience and practice, can exceed the quality of the most costly factory match loads.

PM me... if you're interested, I have something you might like to read.

C

[CharlieDeltaJuliet]

Did you replace the stock? I have an SPS and love it. The Hogue stock would flex and touch the barrel when on a rest or bipod. Just make sure yours isnt doing this. I can explain how to fix it if it is doing this. Mine shoots 5/8" groups at 100 off of a bench or bipod. This is using 178gr A-Max hand loads.... Just message me if you need help with the stock...

[codyb1991]

Maybe try a different scope. I had a weaver scope on my 700 ADL for a little while, my groups weren't as tight as i wanted them to be, so i tried out the Redfield brand and BOOM, groups INSTANTLY improved. I guess it could have been a crap weaver scope but it worked just fine on my Winchester 670, that scope only had problems on my 700.

[Saltydog235]

AS others have stated, get rid of the POS factory stock and get something decent. Replace the Factory trigger with a Timney, Jewel or Rifle Basix and mount a quality peice of glass on the top.

[sundog]

Hand load. This can be a LOT of fun. Try a variety of bullets and powders (and charges), and even different brass and primers. Let the rifle tell you what it likes best. There is certainly enough data out there that is "standard" and will work. Run it all through the rifle and you will find something that will make you go, "Wow!"

[Rimfire5]

saspas48

Upgrade the stock and the trigger and measure the improvement.
Then hand load to get even more improvement.

I bought a SPS Varmint in .22-250 last year and shot factory rounds for a while to try to determine what weights it liked to shoot and what velocities it preferred. It averaged about 0.8 inch groups at 100 yards.

I found my Remington trigger to be heavy and not too smooth.
Rather than adjust a trigger that wasn't a smooth as I prefer, I switched in a Timney trigger group that was on sale for $90. I set it at a smooth 2 lbs and found that it improved the group sizes by about 0.1 inch at 100 yards.

Then I decided that the factory Tupperware stock was binding a bit so I replaced it with a Bell & Carlson Medalist. The group averages dropped by another 0.1 inch.

It shot pretty well but I decided to hand load for it and, after I found what the rifle liked, I got it to shoot just a bit more than 0.6 inches at 100 yards with favorite factory ammo. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of choices in factory ammo for the .22-250.

I then figured that I needed to start hand loading to get the most out of the rifle. I varied the velocity and seating depth and found the best results for a variety of bullet weights and bullet shapes.
The best 10 hand loads now under 0.4 inches at 100 yards.

Hand loading, if you take the time to learn your rifle, can improve the effective accuracy of your rifle simply by allowing you to match velocity and seating depth to the rifle and the bullet shape.

I load for 5 different rifles and, for all of 5, hand loads shoot more accurately than factory loads.

[mnhntr]

The smartarse in me wants to say sell it and buy a Savage.
But really what the rest are saying is good advice. Handloading makes a difference. A good stock and bedding the stock makes a difference. Good quality optics (not necessarily expensive) makes a difference. Good quality rings and bases make a difference. An aftermarket barrel and having the action trued makes a difference.

[Sweet Shooter]

I gave up handloading for my SPS because I'm able to put 10 rnds in about an inch with factory ammo. It can shoot half inch three shot groups regularly. I did not replace the factory stock either. As long as everything is tight, the factory stock works fine on mine. The biggest factor I discovered with mine—in being able to shoot small groups—is to let the barrel cool completely between shots... be ruthlessly strict with yourself on this and watch your groups shrink. By default it allows a perfect cold barrel zero... mine is a sporter profile so would otherwise walk when hot.
-SS-

[warbirdlover]

My 700 SPS Buckmasters .270 shoots 3/4" groups at 100 yards right out of the box with cheapo Remington Coreloks. (And a Nikon 3-9 X 40 scope).

[kraigwy]

soooooo you think i should handload then? Lol does having the barrel free floating make that much of a difference?

Good quality reloads will make all the difference in the world. You tailer your brass, primers and powder/charge you your individual rifle. Factory ammo may or may not work you your gun regardless of how good it is.

Not all guns respond well to glass bedding. I'd try the ammo route first.

It's easer to bed a rifle then un-bed it. Same with free floating.

The counter/sniper rifle I carried when I was in LE, had never been bedded nor free floated. I started carrying it in 1978 and it still shoots today, only now its a PD/Varmint gun.

It's a Remington BLD Varmint in 223. Totally un-modified.

[ronl]

I bought an SPS two years ago. I put it in a Bell& Carlson Medalist A3 stock. Groups shrunk considerably. I installed an EGW 20 MOA base, TPS rings and a Vortex Viper 6.5-20 scope with an ACD. Last month I shot the best group it has ever shot, .162"@ 100.(3 shot group) The next week the mirage was terrible, but it still managed a .462" group. I shoot from a bipod and rear bag using my handloads. The rifle shot well as it came from the factory(11/16" 5 shot group @100 using my favorite recipe), but the stock made a big difference. Handloading is, in my humble opinion, the best thing you can do to make your gun more accurate, followed by the stock change. I also reccommend getting decent rings, base and scope. That can have a big impact on your ability to shoot well.

[allaroundhunter]

i have a remington sps varmint and was wondering what some things are that i could do to up the accuracy with this rifle... Im pretty good with this rifle but know it could be better!

What kind of accuracy are you getting with it?

I have on in .308, and it has turned in multiple sub 1/4 MOA 5-shot groups at 200 yards and two under .25" at the same distance (with factory loads).

These are just 3-shot groups from its first trip out to 200 yards.

[ROGER4314]

Been shooting the Remington 700's for a long time in various calibers. I also have one SPS in .308.

Be cautious about free floating the 700. The barrels are mostly full floated but Remington leaves a "lump" that the barrel rests on. Many folks take that lump out and find that the rifle shot better before they fully floated the barrel.

Flash

[kraigwy]

I agree with Rodger.

As mentioned, I didn't do anything to my 700 Varmint I got in 1978.

I set this rifle up per guidance of the the USAMU Sniper School in 1978. The ideal per the AMU (and covered in their LE Sniper/Counter Sniper Guide) was to sight the rifle in at 250 yards and you should be able to make head shots to 300 yards, well beyond the needs of urban LE snipers.

I just came in from playing with it (and three other 223's). My '700 still does that after all these years. It still does that. From the prone sling position it still keeps them inside of 3 inches up to 300 yards. Even 400 but drops a tad.

What is supprising is today's shooting was with 64 gn Spear Golddot for Law Enforcement. They are 64 grn bullets, a 1:12 isn't suppose to shoot 64 grn bullets.


It's never been free floated or glassed.

And I've shot the crap out of it since I got it. Whats more the chamber is still tight, after firing the brass from my Remington fits in my Mann device which has zero headspace.