# .223 Remington 700 VTR



## 10-2 (Jan 30, 2009)

Hey all,

I picked up a Remington 700 VTR in .223 a few days ago. Mounted a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14x42 on it. First impression is that it is better than I had expected. I have shot three different types of ammo through it... Ultramax 5 gr. hp's, Remington 55 gr. hp's and some of my buddy's handloaded 52 gr. hp's. I didn't measure anything exactly, but the Ultramax shot around 1 moa, and the handloads around 3/4 moa, a better rest and better shooter probably would see better results. As for the Remington ammo, it sprayed 5 shot groups probably around 5" at 100 yds... Whats the deal? I would expect there to be some ammo it doesn't like but groups that big? Anyway, I don't have access to reloading equipment at this time, I have always shot black hills and/or ultramax, but then I never got too interested in accuracy until I dropped $1000 on a rifle and scope... It has a 1 in 9" twist, could I expect the best accuracy from a heavier bullet? I'm trying to get an Idea of what it will like to shoot without having to buy one of each box of ammo the gun shop has on the shelf. If anyone has one or can offer some ammo advice or an explanation as to why it doesn't like the remington ammo I would appreciate it.

Thanks.


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## Jiffy. (Dec 3, 2009)

Rifles aint suppose to have triangular barrels......

Some rifles just like certain factory ammo. Plain and simple, you just have to try different ones until you find one it likes.

However, if you reload some 50 Vmax behind about 26 gr. of H335 I'm betting you'll like the results. That load has shot 3/4 or better in every rifle I've tried them in (mostly ARs). I'm starting to think it may be magical....

5 inches at 100 yards??? Are you sure Huntin1 wasn't pulling the trigger? 

Seriously though, that is really terrible. Not sure what happened there.


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## huntin1 (Nov 14, 2003)

Jiffy said:


> 5 inches at 100 yards??? Are you sure Huntin1 wasn't pulling the trigger?


Hey, I woulda got at least 4" at 100 yards. :evil: 

Not sure which Black Hills stuff you shoot, but the match ammo I've gotten from them has always performed excellently. The blue box reloads are ok, they just aren't as good as the factory match ammo.

huntin1


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## 10-2 (Jan 30, 2009)

Yeah I have been shooting the blue reloads, maybe I will try some of their match grade ammo...

The 5" group was almost in a vertical line, Is it possible that Remington had some sort of scale malfunction and the powder wasn't consistent? Oh well, I think I may have lined up someone with some reloading equipment so I will find something that works well.

Thanks for the replies.


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Vertical stringing would make me think that maybe you aren't letting your barrel cool between shots. I haven't looked that close at the vtr, but I have a 700 that had the sps stock on it that is very similar to the vtr's stock. The sps stock is pretty flimsy and has a couple pads that contact the barrel near the end of the stock. I could get the darn thing to be consistent until I got a different stock for it, which improved my groups immensely and made the rifle consistent.


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## AdamFisk (Jan 30, 2005)

ac700wildcat said:


> Vertical stringing would make me think that maybe you aren't letting your barrel cool between shots. I haven't looked that close at the vtr, but I have a 700 that had the sps stock on it that is very similar to the vtr's stock. The sps stock is pretty flimsy and has a couple pads that contact the barrel near the end of the stock. I could get the darn thing to be consistent until I got a different stock for it, which improved my groups immensely and made the rifle consistent.


What kind of stock did you put on your SPS? Did you have to do any modifications to get her to fit?

Thanks!


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## spitfire_er (Jan 23, 2010)

vertical stringing can be cause from several things. Although being that you are getting decent groups with your other ammo, it kinda limits half of them out. One might be as mentioned before letting your barrel get too hot, with this rifle you should probably wait 2-3 mins between shots. Heating of the barrel changes the impact up or down usually and if it is not a floated barrel this can really change things quite significantly. Another problem could be your breathing, but at this short range, and with your other groups, prob not a problem. Make sure you have a constant cheek weld every time too. A third thing which may cause it may be the velocity spread of the factory ammo. This can cause vertical groups, but 5" at 100 is quite a bit unless they really messed up when they loaded those cases. Stock Flex can also add to these problems, but once again....... your other loads shoot good.

Does your rifle have the vents on the top of the barrel?

Do you free recoil the rifle or hold a firm grip and tight against your shoulder? If you don't have a consistent hold this can also cause a problem.

If all else fails, just don't shoot those. Sounds like you have a few other loads that work much better. With your rifle it should have a 1-9" twist which should be able to stabilize up to 70 gr bullets. You can try heavier bullets, but depending on what you want to shoot with it, they may not be necessary. Your problems could be one or two of the above mentioned problems or a culmination of a little bit of them all.


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Adam, I put a Bell & Carlson Medalist on my SPS. The only thing that had to be done was to remove a bit of material from the barrel channel to free float the barrel. The barrel was touching some on the left side. I might eventually get it bedded, but it shoots very well now, so it really doesn't need it. The Medalist stock has a full length aluminum bedding block in it, so its held pretty solidly in the stock.


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