I'm fairly new to the black powder scene. I bought a Remington 700ML about 6 months ago. It was my first black powder rifle. I've hunted for many years with smokless but not yet with black powder. I like the Remington modle I have but its just a 24 inch barrel. I'm using 110 grain of Hodgdon Tripple Seven. I'm shooting 348 grain Powerbelt Aero Tip bullets. I'm pretty sure the twist rate is 1:28. I have talked to people about twist rates and everybody has something to say. I've only shot a 1:28 twist 24 inch barrel. But what people have told me that with that twist rate I should shoot the higher grain bullets. I've shot 348 Gr Powerbelt and 240 Gr TC Sabots. The 348 Gr bullets seem to have a 3 inch MOA. The 240 Gr aren't that tight. I'm just trying to gather any information about black powder. I really like it much better than smokless. I like the controll over your shot you get with plack powder. I was looking at a CVA Optima Pro rifle. It has a 29 inch barrel and is fairly priced. Any of you guys/gals have had any problems with CVA rifles? I look forward to any of your information.

Sam

Welcome here & welcome to muzzleloading.

A 24" barrel muzzleloading bullet goes downrange just about as far as another 29" barrel muzzy. The difference is insignificant... the 29 driven bullet may be 200 fps faster... which in yards.. is really maybe 10 yards further maximum. You'd be surprised as to how many deer are dropped at 200 yards using even shorter 22" barrels. The rifle you have is sufficient for all muzzleloading use.

The twist you have in that Rem is the kindest, most-friendly twist there is. The 1-28" likes just about anything but roundballs. It'll shoot light & heavy sabot/bullets... light & heavy conicals not quite as well as sabots... but pretty darn good. That's because your Rem bore has shalllow rifling... as do all 1-28" twists -- better suited to fire sabots than conicals.

So you really don't need a new rifle. You need to find the right powder & the right powder grains to shoot your Rem accurately. Your 700 ML has a couple issues, but after you find a load you're happy with, come back here to discuss how to remove your bolt easier for cleaning & how to lessen the blowback that Rem 700 MLs are famous for,

You can go buy a new gun... but I seriously doubt you need a new gun or a gun with a different twist.

You may want to read some of the other posts, such as "powerbelt problems" that discuss working up a load. Using triple 7, I would drop back to about 80 grains and see how you group. Then increase to 85, 90, 95, 100 and see if you can get them to group better. With 777, anything above 80 should give you plenty of power. I would also try some other size bullets and see if they group better. However, 3" at 100 yards with a muzzleloader it pretty dang good! Sure there are guys out there who do a little better, but for most hunting applications with a muzzy, that is plenty good. I personally don't shoot at game beyond 100 yards. Of course, I only use open sights. Good hunting

I use the 700mls and have done so for going on 6 years now, it hasn't caused me any concerns over that time. Accuracy is dependant on finding the right load combo, as suggested tinker with powder and bullet styles and grains. 3" is very acceptable for ML but you can better that if you find what she likes. My set up shoots 1" groups at 100 with 240 hornady xtp sabot and 100 gr pyrodex, when I do my part. I haven't been able to find a equally load for accuracy with 777 just yet but as with finding my original load it takes time and I just have been sticking with what works.

Also I use the cabelas 209 kit which apparently works much better than the remington factory for 777, so that might be something to consider.

T7- is right with the rems you need to put in some elbow grease and keep them clean. I completely disassemble my bolt assembly each time after hitting the range and have other little rituals when caring for my ML.

Best suggestion is to vary both your powder and bullets to try and find the sweet load...although do one thing at time!

good luck

Try 300 grain 44 caliber XTP pistol bullets in a sabot with 90 grains of powder. It's a nice load. Have fun.

well fellas I went shooting today... I took alot of what you guys said to the range. I fired three with 90 grains... WOW what a difference. That group was about 2" MOA. I then fired three more with 100 grains. Those didn't settle as much.. about 3" MOA. So I went back 90 grains fired three more.. All three shots touched eachother!!! Even when I was originally shooting 110 grains I noticed that the more the barrel was fired without cleaning. The better it shot. I clean it EVERY time I get home from the range,,,but once I get to the range and fire three..it gets it done. I've got a question for Triple Se7en,,, I take the bolt apart and its two pieces right? Does it break down further? At the tip of the bolt where the pin hits the primer I can't get clean. I was wondering how you take the fireing pin out to clean. I run my copper brush through the spring to get it clean and Q tips on the top of the pin that I can see. I know there is carbon all down the bolt that I can't get to. And I got a question about cleaning suplies. I'm using TC's Number 13 cleaning solution. It looks like milk to me and it really works. I run patches soaked with #13 till there is no black res.

all shots were at 100 yards..

THANX,
David

guess nobody reads this topic anymore...i wish i knew how to take the bolt totally appart.... :Þ

Sorry Sam for the reply delay!

That bolt will rust without removal. It's tricky to remove. Since I've only read about it, I'll send you to Remingtons website. Scroll down about 1/3rd & there's a link that gives cleaning/removal instructions. Look for the sentence with the "HERE" hyperlink.

Remington ML700 webpage

I like you gun, but its a pain to propery clean, anyway about you loads. I'd step down a little in bullet weight unless you're hunting elk or moose or if you're hunting tight cover where range is not much of a factor. I have a MDM Buckwakka .50 cal I use a 245gr powerbelt bullet with a gas seal and shoots very flat and decent out to 175yd. If I had a good reason I'd be confident but careful at 200yd. I've killed elk with 180gr. so why use 348 unless you're only shooting 60-90 yds and want to hammer something. Another thing, try different loads and settle on a heavy (slower, less range, but tremendous wallop) and a flat shooting lighter load for range. Still plenty of killing power down range....