Rem 700 PSS questions....see text

S

steveg1966

Inactive
Hello all,

I was just curious as to which weights of bullets should be avoided in my 700 PSS .308win? What is the twist rate of the barrel? I'm asking because I've been looking into reloading and was looking at a friends reloading books. I was surprised to see so many diferent loads/bullet weight combos!!!! Is the .308win bullet weight to twist rate not as big a deal compared to .223 rem? As far as breking in the barrel, should I fire a certain weight bullet for breaking in?

Thanks and take care,

Steve
 
Rem .308's use a 1:12 twist. I prefer 168 & 175 grain Sierras in the Fed GM load. For reloading, 150gr Hornady's are great in bulk. If you have any 165 grain AP pulldowns, you'll need the 1:10 twist 'cause they're too long for 1:12. Just my opinion and I don't reload.

[This message has been edited by riverdog (edited October 01, 2000).]
 
I shoot 168 gr. Matchkings out of mine exclusively. I just loaded up some 168s last weekend, I was off a bit, but the loads averaged about 1 MOA and under. You won't notice a difference with the heavier bullets until you reach 600 yards or so...the 168s will do your PSS fine.
I would not be too picky with ammo for breaking in the barrel, although I would avoid dirty ammo, corrosive ammo. A simple jacketed bullet would do, it seems kind of expensive using match ammo to do it on your own. Our department uses match ammo to break in our rifles, however, with several thousand rounds they can do that.
To me, a big part of reloading for the PSS is the powders. I prefer IMR 4895, it seemed to be the best, but I ran out and used what I had laying around which turned out to be MR 2460. And match or bench rest primers for the ignition, I seem to remember an article that dealt with shooting reloads and their various primers, in a recent issue of Tactical Shooter. Match primer loaded ammo had tighter groups. Best of luck.
 
I broke in my .308 PSS using Gale McMillan's technique of shooting, cleaning, shooting, cleaning, etc. Remington's done a great job of barrel manufacture with this gun, break in was easy, minimal copper fouling, and plenty of accuracy for an out-of-the-box, sub $1K gun. All I've done is torqued the action screws to 65 inch-pounds and adjusted the trigger, nothing else. I run 168gr Moly-coated MatchKings exclusively in mine, and it will produce 1/4MOA groups like the one here:
http://www.geocities.com/gew98.geo/pssgroup.JPG

Pee Ess: The load data listed at the bottom is for my handloads only, I use Lapua 7.62x51 brass, which is a good bit thicker than Federal, Winchester, or Remington.
 
Gewehr: Three shots do not a group make. Let's see what that baby does with five shots. If it's still 1/4", then you've got a SHOOTER!!!
 
I just finished shooting some test loads through my 700 VS in .308 yesterday. I was using Sierra 168 HPBT Moly Match starting with 41.4 gr IMR 4064 and increasing in .4 gr increments to 43.0 of 4064. I found that the 42.6 and the 43.0 shot the best at 200 and 300 yards (my test data for the day, I didn't care about 100 yards). All of my groups were pretty much below 1 MOA for all of the loads, but I was able to get just about 1/2 moa with the 43.0 grains at 200 and just about 2/3 moa at 300 with the 42.6. I was happy.

The other nice bullet I found are the Hornady 178 gr A-max. I shot those at a 1000 yard course not to long ago and shot a 385 out of 400 at 1000 yards off of the bipod. My scope even ran out of elevation and I had to aim at a point about 10 ft. above the target and adjust from there. Yesterday, I shot the 178's at 600 yards and was very pleased. I had a 1 moa group, two bullets about 3/4" apart and the third shot was about 5 inches to the right.

I think my next investment will be in another one of those 168 500 packs and either some more A-max or I might try the Sierra 175 moly packs. What do you guys think? Hornady A-max or the Sierra 175's? Have any of you tried the 190's?
 
WalterGAll,

I appreciate your concern for the difference between 3 and 5 round groups. Heck, My M14 smith won't call one of his guns accurate unless it groups a 20-round magazine into 1 MOA, with each shot going to one of three different targets. I can understand the benchrest clan and their 6PPC screamer groups, with their different categories of benchrest rigs, up to 50 pounds and then some. For my 700PSS, it's an academic exercise at best, really. Tactical rifles like the 700PSS, M-24, and M-40 need performance from the first cold-bore shot. It's that first shot that counts, the bad guy ain't gonna wait to see if you can get a tighter group come 3, 5, or 20 rounds. If the second lays in there with the first, that's great. The third nestles in, even better, 5 rounds, so forth. When I assemble a new batch of .308 for my 700PSS or M14NM, I "sacrifice" three rounds every time to check the consistency of the ammo, then document it. If by the third round it's pulling tight groups, I've proved to myself that the handloads are tight and the gun's a shooter. If I dump 5, 10, or 20 into a tight group, then I've proved to myself that I'M a shooter. I used to do that with my 6.5-06 Interdiction Rifle, but I quickly learned that if you get your 5-round group, Murphy says you'll pull a flyer on the 6th shot, etc. Would the gun be any less of a shooter at that point? That's one of those chicken and egg arguments, IMHO.

[This message has been edited by Gewehr98 (edited October 01, 2000).]
 
Gewehr: Please not that I didn't man my post to be critical, just interjecting that my experience is that five-shot groups are somewhat harder than 3-shot groups. I'm not one of that 50# rifle benchrest crowd. I shoot rifles pretty much like your PSS. I have a VS .223 and a recently-acquired .243 VLS, which I've bedded and free-floated.

Most of my shooting is done at the range, but I do a fair amount of crowbusting, also.

The chances of my shooting a BG with either of my Remingtons is about the same as the chance of my voting for Al Gore for President.

At any rate, 1/4" groups,whether three-shot or five-shots, are still great groups.The last five-shot group that I shot and measured out of my VS was .246". I don't do a lot of group measuring, but consistently shoot one-holers with my Rems. Shot some one-holers today with my Bushy Shorty, using 69gr. Sierra hpbt match bullets.

As another example of the great accuracy out-of-the box of the Rems, a friend of mine, who's not much of a rifleman, was playing around a few weeks ago with my VS He put seven shots in a group that was about 3"X5" at 550 yds. That's certainly not any kind of record, but then again, he's not a competitive shooter, and mine is a pretty much stock VS.

Several of my shooting buddies shoot PSS's. They all love 'em.

[This message has been edited by WalterGAII (edited October 01, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by WalterGAII (edited October 01, 2000).]
 
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