Help to accurize my old 700 30-06

I recently aquired my first new bolt gun...it is a Remington 700 30-06 from 1984.
It is old school with a wood stock and a Leupold VX-II 3x9x40.

In an effort to have the most accurate gun I can, please suggest any changes. I assume there is probably some possible changes with the trigger, maybe something internal from a gunsmith. Otherwise, all I can come up with would be an expensive stock change, but I am not sure how much that will change as compared to the solid wood stock that is already on it.

Thank for any help to the new guy.

If you're not set on keeping the wood stock, I would think all the usual modifications out there can be done.

1. Stock change. Either do a chassis system like XLR Evolution, Roedale precision, or AICS products; or a more traditional stock like Manners, McMillan, or B&C. Do a proper bedding job and your'e set.

2. Barrel swap. Keep the 30-06, or rechamber to some other long action. You don't know what kind of life the barrel you've already got has had, so it may not be a bad idea to do this first. Any of the big names will serve you well. Might as well get the action trued up when you do this, lots of reputable gunsmiths out there can do that for you.

3. Trigger.

4. Optics (if you don't already have a good one).

5. Ammo for practice.

Thanks for the info. I would actually prefer to keep the original wood stock and barrel (I did not even think about a new barrel). The gun was made in 1984 but it honestly looks like it came out of the box last week...not a mark on it. Can a wood stock be bedded?
So I guess that leaves me with having a gunsmith:
-true the action
-work on the trigger

The optic appears to be a little older (but I have no idea), but otherwise is is clear.
And I now realize the best thing I can do is buy ammo and shoot.

Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrigandTwoFour

If you're not set on keeping the wood stock, I would think all the usual modifications out there can be done.

1. Stock change. Either do a chassis system like XLR Evolution, Roedale precision, or AICS products; or a more traditional stock like Manners, McMillan, or B&C. Do a proper bedding job and your'e set.

2. Barrel swap. Keep the 30-06, or rechamber to some other long action. You don't know what kind of life the barrel you've already got has had, so it may not be a bad idea to do this first. Any of the big names will serve you well. Might as well get the action trued up when you do this, lots of reputable gunsmiths out there can do that for you.

3. Trigger.

4. Optics (if you don't already have a good one).

5. Ammo for practice.

---

Before you do anything to it, go shoot it, otherwise you have no real basis to judge any work done to the rifle.

Do you reload? If not its gonna be hard to find match ammo in 30-06. What kind of accuracy are you looking to achieve? Usually just a decent bedding job and trigger work will get a normal hunting rifle to shoot well enough with the right load.

Wood stocks are fine, just heavy. Old rem700 triggers can be tuned into a pretty good trigger.

Wood stocks can be bedded, but that doesn't fix the other limitations of wood- mainly moisture.

Wood swells and contracts as it picks up and releases water. Not great for accuracy. It's manageable, but not a simple as other more modern options.

Definitely shoot the piss out of it before you get any significant work done. That wil tell you what you need to prioritize. I, personally, would not get the action trued unless I was getting a new barrel installed. There are others here who can get more detailed about why.

Get the stock pillar bedded, that is the best option for a wood stock. Then have the barrel free floated so that the stock moving due to weather changes doesn't affect accuracy. If the length of pull on the stock is too long or too short have it changed to fit you.

Then have the trigger adjusted for a safe pull weight of about 3 - 3.5 pounds.

Buy ammo and practice shooting.

As said, get the stock Pillar bedded, and get a trigger job. Those triggers are easy to tweak down to 3lbs. And then you will have a fine hunting rifle.

I would shoot it first too, (as said above ) to make sure you are close. Do you own any guns that you can shoot sub-moa?

That gun has the good old style pre1986 trigger so all you need is to replace the spring and adjust it.

Have the stock freefloated and pillar bedded. Have the trigger tuned. I would not have it blueprinted until you rebarrel. At that point You have a lot of options. But thats going to be some coin. That old scope is probably good to go for most us. Marines used these rifles with a lot worse scope to good use out to 1000 yards.
What is the goal? That will help on the long term build.

This may not be the most popular answer but in my experience ammo will make a huge difference. If you know someone who reloads buy the bullets/brass/powder and bribe them to make a couple of loads with various powder weights.
If that isn't an option have an off the shelf training round and a "go to" round.

You have a first-rate hunting rifle on your hands. Once you test it with good ammo, you’ll be able to put a number on how good it really is.

There has been a lot of good advice on this thread, but one thing to remember about wood-stocked hunting rifles is that they don’t need much setup, what they do need is pretty simple, and it doesn’t need much tweaking once it’s done. If a knowledgeable user owned your rifle, it may be good to go already.

I’d start by cleaning the bore with Sweet’s 7.62 Solvent to get rid of any copper fouling. Follow the instructions on the bottle and you’ll be fine. Then make sure that all of the scope mount screws are tight and not stripped, and that the mounts are solid. (Also let us know what type of mounts they are.) Finally, inspect the crown—make sure that it’s free of nicks and dings. If it’s damaged, having a gunsmith touch it up should cost less than $20.

Before you start your test firing, invest in a slip-on recoil pad or a PAST recoil pad--shooting a 30/06 off the bench isn’t much fun and your groups will suffer as the day goes on. Then it’s time to try it with good ammo. I’d start with Federal Gold Medal Match ammo (GM3006M) if you can find it. If not, try anything that has a Barnes TSX, a Nosler Ballistic Tip, or a Sierra Game King, as they tend to be very accurate.

If you reload or can get someone to reload for you, two handloads tend to shoot well in any decent 30/06: 55 grains of IMR-4350 under a 180-grain Sierra Match King or Game King, and 57 grains of the same powder under either a good 165-grain hunting bullet or a 168-grain match bullet. It’s even money on which will shoot best—I’ve gotten remarkable results with both. They won’t be the fastest loads you ever try, but they’ll be accurate, and they'll smack any game in North America right proper.

If you get good groups with those two loads, you can fiddle with the action screws a little bit to improve them. To do that, tighten them both firmly, then back the rear one out ¼ turn at a time and shoot it for groups.

If you hunt in a wet area, at a minimum pull the action out of the stock and coat the inside with Johnson’s Paste Wax. That will seal it and keep it from warping when it gets wet. It's old-school, but it works.

All of that should get your rifle into top shape without a big money dump. Once you're getting groups that are 1.25 MOA or so, the next step is a package of pillar bedding, setting the barrel back a thread and recutting the chamber, facing the action, lapping the lugs, and possibly upgrading the rings and bases. None of this is rocket science--a good smith can do it all for about $300, and you can stretch the work out over a few years if needed. My favorite rifle has gone this route; it shoots .5 MOA with the factory barrel.

From there, the next steps are a synthetic stock and rebarreling. The stock can make your rifle lighter and more weatherproof, but as you’ve noted, they’re expensive. It also may not make the rifle more accurate if you've done your load work and setup properly with the wooden stock. Rebarreling will touch off a caliber war, which means it’s time for a new thread.

Keep us posted on your progress.


Okie John

Wow. Thank you all for the advise.
As you can tell I am in the process of learning a lot. This is my first center fire rifle, so I am really excited about this project. I started shooting a 22 rifle about a year ago and became very addicted to accuracy. I am hoping for even better results from even farther distances.
I got a good deal on the package, and I want to learn as much as possible. I am not too worried about taking it slow...I have not even shot it yet.
It's an older gun with perfect blueing and a great wood stock, so I want to at least keep it looking like a classic (no synthetic stocks on this one at least).
I will keep you all up to date on this thread.
Thanks again.