Is there a point to rebarrel a Rem 700 Police?

[Teac]

So a long time ago I wanted a reasonably accurate .223 rifle to fire off loads of extra .223 ammo I had and got a used like new Rem 700 Police.

I am probably not the best shooter and with S&B and Federal match ammo it shoots 0.5 - .75 MOA

Now I like tweaking things and was wondering, if I had a better barrel installed would this rifle magically become a 0.25 - 0.5 MOA rifle? maybe only with hand loads?

cheers

Matt

 

[mikeelliot]

Is it bedded? I mean factory rifle shooting 1/2 MOA with factory ammo is pretty good. If you like to tinker have at er! But if you want to push the accuracy of the rifle as it is now, I would bed the action and swap the trigger to a TT Diamond and try some other match ammo first...then rebarrel after that.

 

[dan belisle]

Bed it. Adjust or replace the trigger. Handload. That should tighten it up some. - dan

 

[Teac]

Is it bedded? I mean factory rifle shooting 1/2 MOA with factory ammo is pretty good. If you like to tinker have at er! But if you want to push the accuracy of the rifle as it is now, I would bed the action and swap the trigger to a TT Diamond and try some other match ammo first...then rebarrel after that.

It has one of those mcmillan stocks with an aluminum insert. I think that was the rage in the 60ies haha. Does it need bedding on top of that?

I have a jewel trigger already , now would get a triggertech but the jewel thing is not bad.

I tried the rifle with the federal gold medal and S&B match and both shoot almost the same federal a hair batter maybe. cheap ammo like federal black bulk shoots 1.5- 2 MOA

 

[Teac]

Bed it. Adjust or replace the trigger. Handload. That should tighten it up some. - dan

would those mcmillan stocks need bedding tho?

I want to avoid handloading because of the effort and the difficulty of getting components....

 

[maple_leaf_eh]

Let's do the math. A minute of angle at 100 yds is (effectively) 1 inch. A quarter minute is 1/4". For argument sake, that is the same as one bullet diameter. If I had that kind of accuracy from an indifferent factory rifle, I'd be ecstatic!

Rebarrel if your soul tells you there is no choice, but you can keep chasing for smaller groups forever and not stumble into a better rifle.

 

[Teac]

Let's do the math. A minute of angle at 100 yds is (effectively) 1 inch. A quarter minute is 1/4". For argument sake, that is the same as one bullet diameter. If I had that kind of accuracy from an indifferent factory rifle, I'd be ecstatic!

Rebarrel if your soul tells you there is no choice, but you can keep chasing for smaller groups forever and not stumble into a better rifle.

yeah for a factory rifle its not bad but take in mind its a precision factory rifle and you can expect it to be better than the average hunting rifle.

I read that good hunting rifles can get 0.5 MOA these days so a precision rifle should be better

 

[IvoB]

yeah for a factory rifle its not bad but take in mind its a precision factory rifle and you can expect it to be better than the average hunting rifle.

I read that good hunting rifles can get 0.5 MOA these days so a precision rifle should be better

Only if when you shoot the rifle you have completely removed the human error element - have gun in a gun vise so it does not move when the trigger is pulled - that is how accuracy should be measured but two people shooting that same rifle would probably get different groupings (not all humans shoot the same)

 

[JEC]

For the past dozen years or so, I have shot at my local Range (one of the largest memberships in AB) between 150 - 200 days / year … mostly at 100M…. and have not seen many multiple group targets agg’ing under 1/2 MOA. I’ve heard many claims by shooters that their rig is a “half minute” shooter but seldom actually observed that result on their paper down range. (Of course there are some that are legit, but I have personally never seen it done with an unmodified factory rifle or using factory ammo.) Of course, I am seeing only a small fraction of all the “groups” shot, so my experience could be different than what others observe.
My “better” shooting rigs (Barnard/BAT/KSA actions) with aftermarket barrels are mostly pretty good shooters, but I would be hesitant to claim that any are consistent 1/4 MOA shooters in my hands.
So OP (based on my experience), I think expecting an aftermarket barrel on an untrued Rem 700 action to “magically” morph into a .25 - .5 MOA shooter using factory ammo would be a stretch. However, with well made handloads, and lots of practice … maybe.

 

[dan belisle]

would those mcmillan stocks need bedding tho?

I want to avoid handloading because of the effort and the difficulty of getting components....

I have numerous HS Precision stocks on rifles. Better than wood, but if you want a stress free mounting better to bed it. Incidentally, those stocks started out around the 80's. Before that we had to mill our own inserts from aluminum and fit them to factory type stocks. Handloading will allow you to tune your ammo to your rifle, which also helps. I see lots of components (though not certain ones) still in the stores. And online. Both are much cheaper than rebarreling, after which you will have to start the search for another accurate load anyway. - dan

 

[Wendell]

I think that your money would be far better spent taking a formal course of instruction on how to shoot better.

Everybody - including me - wants to find a shortcut to success, to just buy a better widget, but, as they say: "It's not the gun, it's the nut behind the butt."

 

[Potashminer]

So a long time ago I wanted a reasonably accurate .223 rifle to fire off loads of extra .223 ammo I had and got a used like new Rem 700 Police.

I am probably not the best shooter and with S&B and Federal match ammo it shoots 0.5 - .75 MOA

Now I like tweaking things and was wondering, if I had a better barrel installed would this rifle magically become a 0.25 - 0.5 MOA rifle? maybe only with hand loads?

cheers

Matt

Your rifle might "magically" become a .25" 5 shot rifle with a new barrel - or it might already be one - but would it have a shooter that can do that? Read up on what bench rest guys do - after exquisite truing of action and bedding set up - then often shoot fully free recoil - only thing touching the rifle, on firing, is the pad of the trigger finger - nothing else. Hours spent finely adjusting and prepping the brass used. Actually these days, I think those guys need better, by a factor of 10, to be competitive - so in the "2's" - 0.025", more or less - and I think they shoot 10 shot groups. With factory ammo, I think that .25" 5 shot groups, more than once, is pretty much a dream thing. If you and your rifle can produce .5" to .75" 5 round groups with factory ammo, on demand - you have a very unusually good thing going. Is not the "norm".

 

[1-trident-1]

if you have money to burn, and are wiling to take the chance it will get worse, have at it.

 

[guntech]

True the action and bolt, install a quality barrel and you could have a 1/4 inch rifle... are you a 1/4 inch shooter?

 

[Buckmastr]

When guns shoot that good its best to leave them alone.
Build another one. I’d bet it doesn’t shoot much better with factory ammo.

 

[Mystic Precision]

So a long time ago I wanted a reasonably accurate .223 rifle to fire off loads of extra .223 ammo I had and got a used like new Rem 700 Police.

I am probably not the best shooter and with S&B and Federal match ammo it shoots 0.5 - .75 MOA

Now I like tweaking things and was wondering, if I had a better barrel installed would this rifle magically become a 0.25 - 0.5 MOA rifle? maybe only with hand loads?

cheers

Matt

Any properly functioning rifle is really limited by the performance of the barrel. Factory barrels offer a range of possibilities but beating a quality match barrel is not one of them. If you are willing to handload with quality bullets, a match barrel will go along ways to meeting your performance goals.

To improve as a shooter, having gear that can 'outshoot' you is important.

Proper bedding is really important and would be recommended no matter what you do going forward. A scope that has enough mag and clear enough glass to aim precisely... AND will hold zero is critical for the smallest possible groups.

Then you set up the rests for consistent and reliable tracking. Nothing needs to be overly expensive... just do the right job. Foldy bipods will make this task harder.

Tuning up a factory rifle doesn't need to cost a fortune and nowadays, much can be done by someone handy with proper hand tools.

pm or email if you want to chat further

Jerry

 

[Teac]

Thanks all for the feedback!

A local gun smith charges 170 for bedding so this seems a no brainer. I could do it myself but dont want to mess with it...

Action truing might be nice but probably pretty pricy ... so need to see what to do about that. The biggest issue seems to be finding someone willing to do these things. Ideally locally as shipping this rifle isnt cheap

Of course as pointed out correctly, the rifle has an HS stock .. not sure how I mixed this up


Do I need a super precise barrel? No. Can I outshoot a super precise barrel? No

But it makes me happy to know I have an accurate rifle and if I miss then I know it was me

Also take in mind that a bad shooter with a bad rifle is worse than a bad shooter with a good rifle....

Matt

 

[dan belisle]

Thanks all for the feedback!

A local gun smith charges 170 for bedding so this seems a no brainer. I could do it myself but dont want to mess with it...

Action truing might be nice but probably pretty pricy ... so need to see what to do about that. The biggest issue seems to be finding someone willing to do these things. Ideally locally as shipping this rifle isnt cheap

Of course as pointed out correctly, the rifle has an HS stock .. not sure how I mixed this up


Do I need a super precise barrel? No. Can I outshoot a super precise barrel? No

But it makes me happy to know I have an accurate rifle and if I miss then I know it was me

Also take in mind that a bad shooter with a bad rifle is worse than a bad shooter with a good rifle....

Matt

Guntech on here can true your action. I dont think the cost will be out of line with the bedding quote. Send him a pm and ask. - dan

 

[kthomas]

Thanks all for the feedback!

A local gun smith charges 170 for bedding so this seems a no brainer. I could do it myself but dont want to mess with it...

Action truing might be nice but probably pretty pricy ... so need to see what to do about that. The biggest issue seems to be finding someone willing to do these things. Ideally locally as shipping this rifle isnt cheap

Of course as pointed out correctly, the rifle has an HS stock .. not sure how I mixed this up


Do I need a super precise barrel? No. Can I outshoot a super precise barrel? No

But it makes me happy to know I have an accurate rifle and if I miss then I know it was me

Also take in mind that a bad shooter with a bad rifle is worse than a bad shooter with a good rifle....

Matt

The best money you can spend on this sport is on professional training.

I wouldn't waste money on truing the action. A new barrel and bedding job should extract more precision potential out of the rifle. I would be willing to bet that the biggest reservoir of potential that should be tapped is in the shooter.

Also, when it comes to barrels, it's not just the quality of the barrel blank that matters. Who is doing the work and how they perform the work is every bit as important. A good barrel blank with a poor chamber job is not going to be a good barrel. There are a lot of fly by night gunsmiths that know how to ##### a barrel job up pretty good. I know more then a few people that have spent good money after bad on "cheap" gunsmithing services and barrels, which cost them a lot more in the long run to fix (not to mention time and resources wasted on a crap barrel).

I would steer clear from inexpensive gunsmiths.

 

[sgt.rock]

Leave it as-is. You have no guarantee a new barrel will shoot better. You may end up spending $600 to make the rifle shoot worse.