Well there's lots to be said about factory accuracy in rifles, and even more in after market modifications and accessories. Here's a little story of my 270 Win factory Rem BDL S/S. I purchased the rifle on CGN from a fella in Vancouver who had used it for 3 years on his annual deer hunt with some success. He advised me that accuracy was fair but really not so great out past 200 yards. I got the whole rig from him....rifle, mounts, rings, scope and sling. Well when it arrived I found that the bore was full of crud, the rings were not setup straight and had pinched the scope which was a Bushnell 3-9x40 sportsman. So after about an hour of bore cleaning it appeared to be free of build up. I removed the scope and rings from the rifle to find that the Millet bases had been loc-tited on with the red version
So I carefully loosened the hex screws and cleaned up the mess under the mounts all over the receiver. I installed Leupold bases and a set of new Leupold high rings and purchased a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x50 A/O to sit on top. Well this certainly improved accuracy well out past 300 yards with factory ammo. 100 yard groups were about 1 1/2 " in the factory tupperware stock. But out at 300 yards the groups just were not acceptable. So onto Ebay I went and got a great deal on a Hogue Overmoulded full alluminum bedding block stock for the L/A BDL. I installed the new stock and off to the range....well 1 1/2 100 yard groups now were 3/4 MOA. Being happy with that I continued to shoot for a while. Big Redd says " I bet that razor can do better than that with hand loads"...so off to the reloading bench and packed some 140 grain AccuBonds over IMR 4350...but to our surprise the COL was way out there. A little testing and we found the sweetheart load...a group so tight I couldn't beleive it....two bullets passed through the same hole at 100 yards. The rifle had truely been underestimated wearing factory and low cost/quality accessories. After a year of use with the rifle in the feild I found that its weight was surprisingly high and needed to be slimmed down for a carry gun. So sold the Nikon (24 oz) and tossed the Leupold bases and rings and replaced with Burris Siganture double dovetail meduim rings and bases and a spankin' new Leupold VXII 4-12x40 A/O with the new Long Range Duplex. Let me tell ya...this scope is light and wow what a clear picture. I have yet to dial it in from 100 out to 500 yards but will definately post some pic's with Redd's assistance. Hopefully this Razor will never be underestimated again...eh Redd?
So I carefully loosened the hex screws and cleaned up the mess under the mounts all over the receiver. I installed Leupold bases and a set of new Leupold high rings and purchased a Nikon Buckmaster 4-12x50 A/O to sit on top. Well this certainly improved accuracy well out past 300 yards with factory ammo. 100 yard groups were about 1 1/2 " in the factory tupperware stock. But out at 300 yards the groups just were not acceptable. So onto Ebay I went and got a great deal on a Hogue Overmoulded full alluminum bedding block stock for the L/A BDL. I installed the new stock and off to the range....well 1 1/2 100 yard groups now were 3/4 MOA. Being happy with that I continued to shoot for a while. Big Redd says " I bet that razor can do better than that with hand loads"...so off to the reloading bench and packed some 140 grain AccuBonds over IMR 4350...but to our surprise the COL was way out there. A little testing and we found the sweetheart load...a group so tight I couldn't beleive it....two bullets passed through the same hole at 100 yards. The rifle had truely been underestimated wearing factory and low cost/quality accessories. After a year of use with the rifle in the feild I found that its weight was surprisingly high and needed to be slimmed down for a carry gun. So sold the Nikon (24 oz) and tossed the Leupold bases and rings and replaced with Burris Siganture double dovetail meduim rings and bases and a spankin' new Leupold VXII 4-12x40 A/O with the new Long Range Duplex. Let me tell ya...this scope is light and wow what a clear picture. I have yet to dial it in from 100 out to 500 yards but will definately post some pic's with Redd's assistance. Hopefully this Razor will never be underestimated again...eh Redd?
