Remington 700 sps

[HunterRed]

I bought a 700 sps last year and tried to work up a load on it only I found it would shoot spreads instead of groups. With a 165 bullet the faster I loaded them(velocity not reloading between shots) the wider the spread. For instance at 2450 fps it would be 4 in and by 2750 about 10. I took the gun back to where I bought it and he polished the crown and brought it down from 7 inches to about 3.5 with factory ammo but and the slow handloads I can now get down to 2.25. My plan is to call Remington but am wondering if anyone has seen this and knows if there is something I can do or if it just has to go back for warranty? Maybe 2 inches is all they guarantee out of the box? I'll call them today anyways. It is a 308 and I have tried multiple bullets, powders and lengths according to the Sierra manual

 

[Boomer]

Welcome to CGN,

Its disappointing when a new rifle won't shoot. IMHO, a new 700 should manage an honest MOA accuracy with match grade ammo, perhaps 1.5 MOA with factory hunting ammo.

The basic advise will be to check the torque of the scope ring and base screws and the action screws to ensure nothing is loose. If the rifle still refuses to shoot, try another scope that has been proven on a different rifle to eliminate your scope as the problem. I would pull the action out of the stock and remove the pressure bump(s) from the barrel channel, then try again with the barrel free floated. After shooting with the barrel free floated, try adding thin shims of paper, or better yet brass, to the barrel channel to see if there is an improvement in accuracy as pressure gradually increases against the barrel compared to free floating. I would have the action bedded or bed it yourself, but just address one element at a time so you can isolate the problem, or determine if accuracy can be improved gradually by changing a number of elements in the rifle.

Good luck.

Edited to add . . .
Take a close look at your fired brass. Is there anything there to suggest that:
A) the chamber was not properly cut or finished
B) that the chamber is not centered with the bore
C) that you have evidence of high pressure on your brass
D) that your rifle has something other than a .308 bore.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

The spreading group is very common with the SPS rifles. The problem is the ####ty stocks. Drop the SPS metal into any quality stock and your rifle should turn out a real grouping.

 

[hunter5425]

If your going to call Remington I wouldn't modify the stock as that would probably void the warranty. Boomer has it right for things to try but if you don't want to modify the stock right away you could shim the action with business cards to get a free floating barrel and see if that helps. I got lucky on my 223 SPS as it shot well out of the box, all I did was polish the trigger. Hope it works out for you.