243 rem 700 zero

M

mike s 243

New member
hi to all
i have a rem 700 in 243 that will no hold its zero point the first shot from a cold barrel always shots high and then it used to return to its zero point but in the last few weeks it will not even return to its zero point i have put a new scope on it and it's not the scope all the blocks are tight i have hot had it bedded in i will get this done. this rifle is now shooting all over the place even when zeroed in the next time i go to use it it will shoot all over the place .any ideas from you guys?
 
What do you mean by all over the place. 12", 6", 3", 1 1/2" groups?

Do you totally clean the rifle after every day's shooting? Have you checked the crown for damage? What kind of stock is it in, factory synthetic, wood, etc.? Is the barrel free floated or does it have pressure points?

When you clean the rifle, are you sure it is really clean and all the copper is out?
 
sorry for not giving the full information the stock is a laminated type. and all the screws are tight and i have been giving it a good clean with bore solvent of late when this first started. the stock did have a pressure point in it before i removed it to float the barrel its also not the home loads as the ammo is spot on in a friends rifle.the barrel is a varmint heavy type
 
This happened after you removed the pressure pads in the stock? Maybe that is your problem? I would still give it a very thorough cleaning, make sure the copper fouling is out of the bore. Then shoot a few rounds to foul the barrel a little, let it cool then shoot a group and see what happens.

Btw, just because the ammo shoots good in your friends rifle does not mean it will in yours. Again, What do you mean by all over the place. 12", 6", 3", 1 1/2" groups?

What kind of groups was it shooting before, and now? When you said the first shot would go high, is that 1/2" high, 3" high, 6" high?

It is not uncommon for a coldbore, clean barrel shot to be out of the rest of the group.
 
did it shoot first shot on zero with a dirty bore? And now your saying with clean bore it wont? If so then don't clean it till accuracy goes to pot.
 
this rifle has always shot high with the first shot about 2 inches and then it will go back to zero .but now it will not group at all at this time. if i zero at 25mts it can give groups of about .5 and will give groups of about .75 to 1 inch at 100mts then the day after it will shoot all over the shop 3 inches to the left next shot 1 inch to the right then zero as i have changed the scope looked at the screws to make sure all are tight im not sure what is going on here but its a pain when you cannot trust it to shoot . it gets a good bore clean about 50 rounds or so.
 
Bed it, then try again. If you changed the scope, that should rule that out. Barrel is free floated, so no contact there. Leaves either bedding, rifle fouls very fast, scope mounts, or person pulling the trigger?

You could check the torque on the action guard screws too.
 
Strikes me funny, as to how I am messing with a couple 6mm's myself.

One is a 6mm WOA in an AR15. It is shooting pretty good, but not where I think it should be. I haven't ruled out the guy pulling the trigger yet. I have better luck with bolt actions so far.


I have a Sako AII in 243 that was shooting 1/2 and better groups one day and then I would reload some ammo. The next day the groups went to 1 1/2" groups with the same load, but used different brass. So I am suspecting the brass. Loaded up again same bullets, powder, primers, and different brass and groups are around 3/4".

I am using a 30mm Leupold, pretty high dollar scope, well it cost more than the rifle and I feel pretty safe with it being spot on. Looks like solid Sako mounts.
 
thanks for all the tips i have given it to a guy to do a bedding job on it. we will see if this works i do hope it solves this problem i love the rem700 its a good killing machine when it's working as it should do. i always used 100 grain bullets in it but it did not shot as good as expected .a friend gave me some 70 grain home loads awesome accuracy when i get this problem sorted i will be back on the foxes with the 70 grains look out mr fox.
 
Sounds like the barrel is copper fouled and the barrel needs floating and action bedded.

Don't forget the wind plays havoc with bullet impact.
 
I'm betting on the barrel being fouled badly. I've seen this several times where guys only clean their guns after 30+ rounds. 30+ (and some as many as 100rnds) isn't so much the problem. The problem lies in them "thinking" the gun is clean. I've cleaned several guns for friends that had the same issue. They swore the gun was as clean as could be. Ya shoulda seen the looks on their faces after the gun sat for 15min with some Shooter's Choice eating on the copper!! Powder fouling is what most guys look for, but copper fouling is much harder to remove and requires more elbow grease.
 
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