Help to accurize my old 700 30-06

[okie john]

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

[readyme]

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.