Remington 700 Long Range 300 Win. Mag

[kbrowne14]

I went out shooting again.  I am really not used to shooting off a bipod, I am finding that if I don't load my bipod the same every time, my impact changes.  I believe this has a lot to do with the amount of recoil that is going on and me not handling the recoil the same every time.  I could not keep the rifle on target after the shot, it went a different direction every time.  I think i need to practice shooting off of a bipod more.  Having said that.  I chased my zero around till i just said, "call it good."  I am thinking that my zero might be a tad high, maybe an moa.  My father in law shot my gun and was able to literally create one hole with 3 rounds, but he is a better shot than me. 

So anyways, I took it out to a 500 yard steel target I had in the woods.  When I shot at it, my calculator was saying it should be 9 moa of elevation adjustment, I was off target by quite a bit.  Maybe 6 or 7 inches.  So I began to adjust down, I came down to 8.0 moa and i was dead on.  I had a 14 x 16" steel target with a 6 inch swinging circle in the center of it.  I was able to hit this circle repeatedly, and I was able to hit the target the whole target easily.  I do not if I was more stable at this target because it was a different shooting area and I may have had a better position, but I was able to see my target impact most of the time.  I was also very consistent on hitting the target.  I did a velocity adjustment on my bullet because I was hitting high at 500 yards, do you guys think it is possible to have a magneto speed, be off by over 100 fps?  The magneto speed was reading an average of 2840 from that load but my ballistics were behaving as though the bullet was traveling 2970.  Do you think the difference is due to the velocity, or do you think my zero was high initially by 1 moa?   

[b23]

I've had the original V1 Magnetospeed since they first went on sale a few years ago.  Mine has been shot inline with two separate Oehler 35P chronos and it was within 15-20fps of both Oehler 35P's.  My dad liked mine so well he bought the V2 when they came out and checked it inline with his Oehler 35P.  He got the same results with his newer V2 version, the Magnetospeed is usually 15-20fps faster than the Oehler but it's measuring bullet speed right at the muzzle and the Oehler was 15ft away.

I won't say your Magnetospeed is infallible but I'd probably lean more toward the information you're giving your ballistics calculator is off not the FPS you're plugging into it.

[coop2424]

What ballistic program are you using?  I think when I first started shooting long range I had the sight height wrong in "ballistic" which caused everything to show that I was faster than I really was..  It was around 100fps difference if I remember right. 

[b23]

Depending on the scope objective and your mounts 1.5-1.8 sight height is, typically, the norm.

Good idea coop2424.

[kbrowne14]

I am using the Shooter app for IOS.  What I really think happened is, I was chasing my zero around quite a bit.  I was usually a little bit high, about an MOA or so.  But I was all over the place and getting groups around 2 inches.  I blame the inconsistencies on myself, and thinking looking back, I did trend high about an moa, but it was hard to see due to my frustration and looking to blame something else other than myself.  My father in law grouped one hole at around 1 or so MOA high and about a half minute right. 

I think I have determined what went wrong.  When I began chasing my zero, I didn't see that I was trending high.  So when I went to shoot the 500 yard target and got into a better shooting position, I stopped chasing and became more consistent.  My App said 9 MOA up at 500 yards.  When I shot, I missed high by quite a bit.  So I slowly dialed back until I hit 8 MOA which seemed to be the right dope for 500.  I adjusted my velocity in the app and kept shooting.  I cam home, and started thinking and did some research on Magneto speeds.  This was not my chrony, I borrowed it from a guy that said it always worked perfect for him for long range competitions.  They don't vary that much.  Not 130 FPS.  So I began to think about my zero and determined that I was trending high, along with my Father in laws shots being high.  I brought my speed back down, and adjusted my zero height in my app from 0 to 1".  Which appears to be about how high the shots were trending, outside my thrown shots.  It then gave me the exact same 8 MOA dope that I had at 500 yards.  So, for hunting season, this is as good as its going to get.  I think I am pretty much dead on at this point, I don't see any other reason for my shots to be an MOA high.

[jaymark6655]

I recommend a Xtreme Shooting Products trigger, make sure they give you the same spring that goes in the MK13 (3.5 to 4.5 pounds) or you will get a very light trigger pull.  It is two stage.

Also sometimes preloading the bipod can cause the stock to twist which would open up groups size.  I was getting over 3MOA on a 700 with the cheap plastic stocks until I switched.  I can still twist the solid stock I have now so I make sure not to preload too much or use a level on the scope to make sure I am not twisting.  The rifle not being held level will only be magnified at longer ranges.

[kbrowne14]

The gun comes with an aluminium bedded bell and carlson stock.  I just put a bubble level on it.  I don't think the stock was twisting, I think the gun was kicking back into me at different angles because I wasn't taking the recoil correctly.  As far a triggers go, I will go with a Timney.  I have a Timney on my other gun, and it works great, I love it.  I like a 2.5 to 3 lb trigger pull.  The ground I was shooting on was also very hard, and thus caused the gun to jump a little, it was very unforgiving to shoot, all my mistakes seemed to be magnified that day. 

[kbrowne14]

I took this thing out hunting in the fields of Colfax.  You can get some long shots over there.  This rifle did exactly what it was supposed to do.  I dropped a big buck in his tracks at 680 yards.  I am glad I bought this rifle, I would not have been able to do this without this rifle setup. 

[longrangekiller]

have u shot it much more latley? still like it?

[kbrowne14]

I have not shot it since I shot that buck in October.  Like I said earlier.  There are things about this gun I like and things I don't like.  The kick, and the trigger are things I don't like.  I think if I fix those 2 things, I am going to love this gun.

[Bofire]

  I am abig time and long time 300WM fan. I hope yer gun turns out great and bet it does. There is no position more punishing to shoot then prone. sit-up where you can flex, use good rests, the recoil will not be so bad.
Carl

[kbrowne14]

So, I have been shooting this gun a little bit.  I made up another load:  208 A-Max, Lake City Brass, 76 grains H1000, stretched to 3.600.  It is moving at an average of 2907 with about a 18 fps spread.  I was shooting groups with them at 100 meters.  I did the best I could given the recoil, and I did a couple 1 inch groups.  I really think that the problem with this gun and this caliber is the heavy recoil that causes the gun to jump around. 

I replaced the trigger with a Timney 510 and set it to 2.5 lbs.  That really seemed to help.  I am saving for a muzzle brake at the moment.  I really think this gun will group nicely once I can keep the muzzle under control.  But for all you guys "thinking about picking one up,"  know that the recoil on 300wm is pretty significant, not that it hurts, but it causes the gun to move around to much and messes with your follow through.  When I pull the trigger, no matter what I do, I come off my target a bit with the recoil, and more importantly, I come of my target differently every time. 

I will say, that at least for my gun, I have not been able to say that this gun is an accurate gun.  However, I watched my father in law shoot a Sendero in 300wm, and had the same problem.  He put a trigger and brake on it, and he was sub moa all day long, same load, same everything, just a trigger job and brake. 

I am not giving up on the gun yet, but I am not going to shoot it again until I put a brake on it, waste of time and ammo.  I'm trying to give whoever is reading this as complete and unbiased review as I can. I will update again, after i get a brake.

[jackelope]

Are you flinching due to the recoil? I've got a couple .300wm's. One with a brake and one without and i don't think there's a difference in accuracy between the 2 relative to recoil. 

[kbrowne14]

I checked my flinch, I don't think I am flinching.  Every time I pull the trigger, my scope comes off target in a different direction or place.  I just want to state that I shoot other bolt guns at work and I have no problems, and can hold sub 3/4 moa groups consistently.  I think this gun is capable of shooting better, I will never blame a gun for accuracy, and I am in no way saying that a muzzle brake will make the gun more accurate.  I am saying that what I think is happening is, the recoil is so heavy that every single mistake that I make is amplified.  I believe the accuracy issue I am having is solely on the shooter here, and I know this because I have had someone else shoot it, and group it better than me, but he has a lot more experience shooting than I do, and is a better shooter.  I think a muzzle brake will make the gun a little more forgiving to shoot and help me with being more consistent. 

[coop2424]

Why don't you load your reloads down if it is a recoil issue?  Seems that is a pretty heavy gun from what I remember when I held it and has a good stock.  The recoil or jump should not be that bad..  Now if it was a factory sps stock I could see recoil being an issue.  I am waiting on a stock for a 300wm before I do anymore shooting with it but I have shot factory loads through it and the recoil was really not anything that would cause bad tendencies.  I also think this 300wm is lighter since it is just a sporter barrel with crappy stock.