30-06 grouping issues

[Maghunter]

I am having trouble getting tight groups on my 30-06 Remington 700. 3" groups is the best I can shoot on bench rest.
I have checked the scope, barrel and clearances. I have tried IMR 4350 and IMR 4831 powders and 180gr Accubonds and Interbonds.
Has anybody tried RL 22? What are some other setups have you used?

[catnthehat]

I would look at adjusting OAL and maybe changing bullets before powder.
With3” groups there is a more predominant issue than the powder , as long as your form is good and your equipment is solid and in good shape .
Cat

[Battle Rat]

By checking the scope, do you mean that you swapped scopes and tried a different one?
That's a pretty big group to be caused by a load.

[58thecat]

Had a buddies 06 do the same thing, moved down to 165gr hornady's
BTSP and I think I started at 56 gr and worked up, 1/2" 5 shot groups at 100yards.

[fps plus]

Switch bullets and try a flat base bullet

3 Bs for accuracy
Barrel
Bullet
Bedding

[sns2]

Switch to 165 Hornady or Sierras. Preferably flat base. 56.5 - 57.5 gr of IMR4350. If the gun will not shoot with the above load parameters then just sell it. Serious. Lots of guns out there.

[303carbine]

Originally Posted by Maghunter

I am having trouble getting tight groups on my 30-06 Remington 700. 3" groups is the best I can shoot on bench rest.
I have checked the scope, barrel and clearances. I have tried IMR 4350 and IMR 4831 powders and 180gr Accubonds and Interbonds.
Has anybody tried RL 22? What are some other setups have you used?

I have always had good luck with Remington 700 series rifles by first taking the pressure point off the front of the wood in the barrel channel and free floating the barrel right down to the recoil lug.
The Remington synthetic stocks don't have the pressure point, but they do benefit from bedding the barrel channel under the chamber and the recoil lug and the same for wood stocks.
I have found that the whole action does not need to be bedded to really improve accuracy.
IMR 4831 and IMR 4350 are classic and very good powders for the 30-06, I found R22 to be somewhat sensitive and velocity was lower than the 4831 or 4350 types.
If you like you can personal PM me and I will walk you through the process if you are interested.

[elkhunter11]

How many rou8nds through the barrel? What do you use to remove copper fouling?

[Coiloil37]

I’ve only owned and worked up loads for six 30-06 but none of them liked 180 accubonds. I’ve had good luck with 165 and 200 grain accubonds.
My preferred load for the last twelve years was IMR 4064 and the 165 accubond, h4350 and re22 came close on speed and were both accurate but could never break 3k fps like 4064 with a book load.
IMR 4350 was very accurate and fast with 180 Barnes.

This year my little kimber montana is shooting 130 Barnes with W748 for 3300+ fps into cloverleafs.

Try a different bullet. If your around red deer I could give you some to try.

[bubba300]

Like Elk said,probably getting copper fouled,time for wipe-out.My 30-06 's liked 180 gr accubonds and imr 4831,H4831 and both 4350's.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by sns2

Switch to 165 Hornady or Sierras. Preferably flat base. 56.5 - 57.5 gr of IMR4350. If the gun will not shoot with the above load parameters then just sell it. Serious. Lots of guns out there.

Play with powders, seating depths too.....your reloading attempting to find the pet load....fun times ahead especially when you walk down range to see one ragged hole

[graybeard]

Originally Posted by bubba300

Like Elk said,probably getting copper fouled,time for wipe-out.My 30-06 's liked 180 gr accubonds and imr 4831,H4831 and both 4350's.

I am with Elk and Bubba......X 2 on the cleaning....

[GrandSlam]

I always found H4350 performed the best in any .30/06 I've loaded for.

[spurly]

Have you checked your guard screws for tightness?
Also check your base screws, sometimes base screws are different lengths, if you have a screw that is a thread or 2 too long it will bottom out. The screw will be tight, but will not hold the base secure.
Just a thought to be considered.

[oldgutpile]

My pet load has been 165 gr hornady with H414 powder. My gun (blaser R8) didnt like the 180 grain pills I tried. I wrote it off to barrel twist. Every 06 I have owned performed better with different bullets. One old p17 preferred 200 and 220 gr bullets, while the voere inherited from my late father, liked 180's.

[6.5 shooter]

RL 22 ? I used it in a Rem 700 with 180 gr. Nosler partitions....3/4" groups. worked up the load in late summer, early fall. Went moose hunting, cold, snowy got my moose but just barely, brought the rifle home headed to the range, 500 fps velocity differences between rounds. RL22 sucks as far as I am concerned as a cold weather powder.

[303carbine]

Originally Posted by 6.5 shooter

RL 22 ? I used it in a Rem 700 with 180 gr. Nosler partitions....3/4" groups. worked up the load in late summer, early fall. Went moose hunting, cold, snowy got my moose but just barely, brought the rifle home headed to the range, 500 fps velocity differences between rounds. RL22 sucks as far as I am concerned as a cold weather powder.

I agree, R22 is better suited to large cases like the 300 WM, 7 RM , 300 Weatherby etc.
it's a bit too slow for the 30-06.
Any of the 4350, 4831, 4064 etc are better and yield higher velocities.

[Carts27]

Shoot....clean.....shoot....clean..... its kind of like your vehicle, it works good then it runs outta fuel, as soon as I put fuel in it its back to normal. Im not a 30-06 guy but like any other rifle I would try cleaning the copper first before you go changing a lot and only change one thing at a time so you know whats going on. Nothing sucks more than not knowing what it was but whatever it was is fixed, I like knowing haha goodluck man.

[Maghunter]

Thx for all your suggestions. I'll give a few tries and see what happens. FYI the barrel is clean, scope has been changed and is tight. I will try some other bullets and see what happens.

[Xbolt7mm]

Lots of good ideas here, has the gun ever done better than that, might not be a gun issue

[ontario gunner]

My 700 in 06 loves 165gr accu bonds or interlocks with 56.5gr of h4350 behind it.

[Maghunter]

I have shot animals up to 250 yds with it before. I haven't used last year due to it wouldn't group for some reason. I replaced the scope, set the OAL, shot 5 different cartridges and 2 different powders to no avail. I know it's not the shooter because I shot two other guns and grouped tight numbers.

[CranePete]

Nobody mentioned it yet, but my ‘06 is a 5 shot 3/4” @ 100 yard gun using 165 grain Grand Slams with IMR 4350. Old school, perhaps, but works for me.
CranePete

[fps plus]

Originally Posted by Maghunter

I have shot animals up to 250 yds with it before. I haven't used last year due to it wouldn't group for some reason. I replaced the scope, set the OAL, shot 5 different cartridges and 2 different powders to no avail. I know it's not the shooter because I shot two other guns and grouped tight numbers.

Are you saying it used to be accurate and lost accuracy? If that is the case and you have checked scope and screws and clean I would suggest the muzzle has damage. Sometimes it can be ever so minor it’s hard to see. I have seen guys in your situation with the same problem that tell me their bore is fine and I find the muzzle has been damaged.

[bubba300]

What are you using to clean it,a barrel can be clean but still copper fouled.

[Nyksta]

Originally Posted by bubba300

What are you using to clean it,a barrel can be clean but still copper fouled.

unless there are actual rust and pitting issues, the accuracy of a barrel will not be noticeably worse from copper fouling unless there are thousands of rounds down it.... focusing on copper fouling is not the road to this accuracy problem. either there is something physically bent in the barrel from dropping or hitting the gun, the stock is not consistent, the scope is loose, its a poor ammo choice, or the shooter is not consistent. Making sure all the screws are properly torqued and then changing the ammo and the shooter is the quickest things to check.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Nyksta

unless there are actual rust and pitting issues, the accuracy of a barrel will not be noticeably worse from copper fouling unless there are thousands of rounds down it.... focusing on copper fouling is not the road to this accuracy problem. either there is something physically bent in the barrel from dropping or hitting the gun, the stock is not consistent, the scope is loose, its a poor ammo choice, or the shooter is not consistent. Making sure all the screws are properly torqued and then changing the ammo and the shooter is the quickest things to check.

Depending on the clambering and load, a few hundred rounds can significantly effect accuracy. I know of a 7mmstw that was supposedly shot out after around 300 rounds, and Barnes CR-10 brought back the accuracy. I also know of a 22-250 that required copper removal every few hundred rounds. And when the original Barnes X came out, I could see the accuracy begin to degrade in less than 100 rounds, in multiple rifles.

[Nyksta]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Depending on the clambering and load, a few hundred rounds can significantly effect accuracy. I know of a 7mmstw that was supposedly shot out after around 300 rounds, and Barnes CR-10 brought back the accuracy. I also know of a 22-250 that required copper removal every few hundred rounds. And when the original Barnes X came out, I could see the accuracy begin to degrade in less than 100 rounds, in multiple rifles.

This is 3006. It will not be shot out in a few hundred rounds.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Nyksta

This is 3006. It will not be shot out in a few hundred rounds.

Neither was the 7mmstw.

[Nyksta]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Neither was the 7mmstw.

Overbore 7stw is nothing like the 3006 for barrel life and fouling. We dont need to derail the 3006 accuracy conversation.