Ok guys... Lets hear how accurate, and PLEASE be honest, are your factory, non modified,Remington CDL's, XCR's ect... and the Savage 114's and 116's you love soooo much.
Remember, to include loads and yardages. And PLEASE, let us NOT turn this into a chevy vs. ford vs. dodge type of debate!
As we all know, or should know, most if not all of these fine factory firearms are accurate enough right out of the box.
Here is a picture of 3 groups fired from my Remington 700 LSS 257 Wby Mag during a load workup. The group on the right is the best group, and all groups with this rifle average right at 0.79". These are handloads with the components noted on the target, and the range was 95 yards.
Here is a picture of a pair of groups from my Savage 111GCNS in .30-06. These were shot with Winchester 150 grain Power Point factory loads. The accuracy with the Win PP's was around 1" average. Accuracy with Remington 150 grain Core-Lokts runs right at 1.25" average. These were shot at 100 yards. The smaller of the two is the best group, which is a little under 1/2" center-to-center.
It should be noted that both rifles have had their triggers adjusted, by me, to break lighter. The Savage has the Accu-Trigger, and is adjusted to the minimum pull weight which is about 2 lbs. The Remington has the X-Mark Pro trigger, and the pull weight screw has been adjusted to break at about 2-2.5lbs estimated. The sear engagement and overtravel have not been adjusted. Otherwise, both rifles are in their stock, out-of-the-box configuration.
I had a 130 grain Ballistic Silvertip load worked up for my 270 Remington 700 CDL. I shot at 200 yards and had about an 1.5. not bad, i was satisfied with that. But i was rummaging through a box in the gun room and came across a box of 140 grain Hornady Interlock boattails. I was curious and so i got a load worked up for and shot it at 200 yards. First group was 7/8 of an inch. I decided after repeated inch groups that this was gonna be my deer load.
Â* You just HAD to say "factory unmodified". That lets me out.
Yeah, but I played fast and loose with that "requirement"!
Who in their right mind just tolerates a crappy factory-set lawyer-proofed trigger? Certainly not me! If it's adjustable, I'm going to adjust it. If I can't adjust it myself, I'll pay a pro a nominal fee to do it for me (I'm pretty handy with firearms, but there are certain things best left to those with the right tools and experience to do it right).
If that isn't "factory unmodified", then too darn bad!
Besides, I'd love to see some of the results of your work. I'm sure you have a few Browning tack-drivers in your safe.
Mike - I am going to be totally honest. This is a touchy subject for sure. For years I was a Remington fan. I had 700s in several chamberings and a bunch of shotguns.
However, in the past 4 or 5 years I've been gradually switching over to Savage. Now don't get me wrong, my 700s shot good. But only 2 have been outstanding. One was a heavy barrel 7-08 and the other a .270. I still have the .270 and it still shoots consistantly under 1" even though its about 30 years old.
Right now I have 2 Savage rimfires one in 22 LR and one 17HMR that will punch 1/4" groups at 50 yds. I also have 2 model 11s (a .223 and a 7-08) and a model 116 (30-06). These rifles will shoot easily under 1". The 7-08 has shot 5 shots into under 1/2" a few times. And this is a youth model I got for my grandson. I have several targets but unless you absolutely need to see them I won't dig them out. As for loads, like any rifle, it has to be tailored to the specific rifle. Some will shoot several loads well and others may only like one.
I know my Rem 700 loves Nosler 130 gr bullet pushed by 55 gr of IMR4350. The Savage 30-06 likes Sierra 180 gr Game Kings on top of 49 gr of IMR4064.
As for the 223 and 7-08 I don't know off hand unless I look in my loading records.
__________________ PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE RISING COST IN AMMO PRICES I WILL NO LONGER BE FIRING A WARNING SHOT.
A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.
I'm not as good as I'm gonna get - but I'm better than I used to be. "Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."
Remington 700 SPS Stainless .270 shootsunder 1" and have not yet done a trigger job on it. Used to shoot about a 1.5 with 130 CL cheap ammo....
About 2 years agostarted playing with some different factory ammo and got the group down quite a bit with some different loads. Tried Winchester Super X, Federal Power Shock, Remington Core Lokt, Federal Fusion, and Hornady SP all in 130gr. Shot all of the rounds fairly well for hunting purposes.
The rifle really liked the Hornady rounds the bestand grouped them in about the size of a quarter at 100yrds. Shot perfectly at 12' o clock 1.8in high. I figured it was more human error than the rifle, fairly certainI was flinching slightly and sureI wasnt holding the rifle EXACTLY where I was on the previous shot.
Started shooting and hunting the Hornady 130 SP and that was the real selling point. I have dropped 3 deer since and none have left my field of view once I pulled the trigger. I have harvested my largest 8pt buck who dropped in his tracks even while my heart was jumping out of my chest.
You need a little confidence in your hunting rig out in the field. You never wantto second guess your gun or ammo. Yes the Hornady bullets are a little more expensive, but they make me a little calmer whenI go to pull the trigger. Ive never owned a Savage, but Im very happy with my Remington 700.
__________________
CB
www.GreatLakesGuideOnline.com - Lake Erie Forums Admin
I am a huge fan of Remington and they produce very good rifles...killed my first deer with a Remington 742 in .30-06.
My two hunting rifles are both Savages (w/o accu-triggers)...M116 in .270 and a M110 in 7mm Remington Magnum.
The M116 .270 consistently shoots 1-1.5 MOA with most ammo. Best is with the Federal 130 grain Hi-shok bullets (right at 1 MOA).
The M110 7mm Remington Magnum shoots sub-MOA with all ammo except Remington Core-lokt (about 1.25 MOA). Best is Winchester's Supreme CT 150 grain Ballistic Silvertip (0.5 - 0.75 MOA out to 300 yards...easily knocks over steel targets out to 500 yards)...I have a 3-9X50 IR mil-dot scope on top.
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Second best 7mm load in this rifle is Federal Premium 160 grain Nosler Partition (0.75 MOA out to 200 yards...not tried beyond).
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Remington and Savage Accuracy
