Rem 700, .338 Laupa accuracy

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GTNMUDY

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Ok, someone help me out.

A friend asked me to sight in his Rem 700, .338 laupa today.

Gave me 30 rnds of Sellier & Bellot Match ammo, 250gr.

After getting it zero'd in the best groups I could shoot were 4 shots within a 2" diam circle at 100 yds. the closest 2 shots were 1/2" apart and the others were more.

Now I was really disappointed because I have been told this gun should drive tacks.

I was using a bench rest so I know it was not me shaking or pulling the shots.

After shooting 20 rnds I put it aside and got out my Rem 700, 7mm mag..

Same bench rest and same target distance.

I would put 3 shots in a nickel circle. So i know it wasn't me causing the large groups on the .338.

Has anyone had issues with the Sellier & Bellot ammo?
 
I'm thinking that with most any rifle you really need good quality hand loads to get optimum accuracy. Especially a 338 Lapua. It is such a niche round that I doubt that any of the manufacturers put a lot of time into developing ammo for it. I don't know any 338 lapua owners who shoot factory loads.

Also, the 338 is going to develop 45-50 ft lbs of recoil vs 20-22 ft lbs in your 7 mag. For most of us that much recoil has an effect on how accurately we can shoot even if we won't admit it to ourselves.
 
I purchased some S&B 250 grain Match ammo on sale last year for the brass. This is a 5 shot group at 350 yards. I'm really amazed at the accuracy. I'm shooting a Savage M12. This ammo put quite a ding in this piece of plow steel too. :D

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Thanks for the picture of you shots. They look like mine at 100 yds.

I have posted a picture of my shots.

The first one is the .338.

The second one is my 7mm with my reloads.
 

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Also, the 338 is going to develop 45-50 ft lbs of recoil vs 20-22 ft lbs in your 7 mag. For most of us that much recoil has an effect on how accurately we can shoot even if we won't admit it to ourselves.

Well, I thought it was going to tear off my shoulder but after squeezing the first shot I was amazed how tame it was. The .338 did have a muzzle brake and a additional recoil pad.

So the next 20 shots, flinching was not a issue. Yes it did jump and I found that putting my hand on top of the scope did help keep it down.

It really did not kick as much as my 7mm mag.
After shooting more than 40 rnds my shoulder felt pretty good. :)
 
I have 3 338LM rifles & I shoot factory ammo, Hornady 250gr match, out of two of them, Sako Long Range Hunter & Sako TRG-S M995, Both are submoa. The other is a Sako TRG42 and I shoot 300gr handloads out of that and it is also submoa. I would try some other premium ammo & loose the S&B.
 
Different ammo. I didn't even know S&B made the stuff...
Factory ammo and this chambering aren't really compatible due to cost and accuracy.
Try some FGMM 300's.
Must admit I'm curious as to why he needs you to sight it in...
That's about as far from a "beginner's" rifle as you can get. Is he really planning on learning to shoot at five bucks a round?
 
That was my thinking also, but he has 300 rnds of S&B. :eek:

I told him to try reloading the empties to see if he gets better accuracy.
 
Must admit I'm curious as to why he needs you to sight it in...
That's about as far from a "beginner's" rifle as you can get. Is he really planning on learning to shoot at five bucks a round?

Well, I was going to the range anyway and he has not shot it yet, bought it used, and was afraid that it would kick his a$$ off.

The first thing he asked me was how did it kick. :D

He is kinda skinny and not much meat on the bones, if you know what I mean. :D

He bought the gun, scope and about 400 rnds of factory ammo for a smoking deal. I wish I had the money at the time.
 
Bought it for a "smoking deal"...
Is this rifle used ??

Barrel life is something in the neighborhood of 2500-3000 rounds, more or less depending on ammo used. Any knowledge of the history /round count?

Maybe the throat is "smoked" if it's a used one...buying a used Magnum without a borescope is an exercise in faith.
 
I have a Rem700 MLR in .338 Lapua. I reload for it using Lapua brass, either 300gr SMK or 285gr Barnes TSX bullets over 92 gr of Retumbo. It is zero'd at 600 yards. I don't have any pictures of groups but at the range, it bangs the 600 yard iron with every shot. The longest shot I have taken on a game animal was an antelope at 500 yards. It knocked it backwards 5 feet. I have a Schmidt and Bender 5-25X56 scope on it, that cost more then the rifle. I put a Timney trigger in it @2.5 lbs pull. My next goal is an 800+yard shot on a hog...
 
The normal process for troubleshooting accuracy issues goes like this...

Ensure mounts and rings are tight, degrease with alcohol and some blue loctite helps here.
Run the scope through a box test, if it fails replace it.
Check the free float of the barrel, relieve any contact points.
Ensure parallax adjustment for the scope is adjusted to the range you are shooting.

I'd expect even S&B ammo to be a little tighter than 4" at 100, but any of the problems above, loose mounts or rings, bad scope, improper parallax adjustment, bad barrel float, can cause open groups.

If all of the above tests good, then the rifle might not like that ammo, or the barrel might be wonky.

Jimro
 
"...asked me to sight in his..." You cannot sight in any rifle for somebody else.
"...Different ammo..." Absolutely. If he's not reloading(and he will be) he'll have to try a box of as many brands as he can to find the ammo that rifle shoots best. Price means nothing.
"...Bought it for a "smoking deal"..." Likely due to the cost of the ammo. That S&B stuff is the least expensive .338 Lapua Midway lists at $30.99 per 20. Does use a Matchking though. Everything else starts at about $60. Federal Match stuff runs $105.99.
 
I'm on my 3rd reload with the S&B brass. So far no splits or problems. I handload to save money but it's hard to beat the accuracy of the S&B match ammo. At least the 250 grain I purchased.
 
You cannot sight in any rifle for somebody else.
Click to expand...

Not a completely true statement, but mostly true.

If you discount a mechanical zero, rifles are zeroed to an individual shooter at a particular distance. As such you can zero a rifle to yourself, and it will be zeroed. When some other shooter picks up the rifle, it will still be zeroed, just not to that shooter who has to actually shoot it to confirm that they have the same or different zero. It isn't impossible for two shooters to have the same zero, and with properly adjusted scope parallax, it is more often the norm than not.

Another way to sight in a rifle is to "boresight" zero the rifle. This mechanically aligns the scope to the bore, regardless of load used so a final sight in with a particular load will be required.

So you can sight in a rifle for someone else, but that's to get them on paper and close to zero at a particular distance whether you did the sight in using ammo to get a zero or boresighting to get scope/bore alignment.

Jimro
 
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