I have a 1970 vintage Remington 700 BDL 30-06. I've hunted with it for years and it's always been a MOA to + MOA shooter. Always thought it was just me. I decide I could make it shoot better. After playing with different loads for 180 and 165 gr. bullets to no avail I deiced a new stock was in order. One week it would shoot 150 FMJBT into a 1/2 hole and the next it was 1 1/2". The "experts" kept telling me 1" to 2" groups out of the old 06 was all that can be expected and that I was wasting time and ammo trying to improve on that.
Well being the stubborn SOB that I am I took the old 06 out of it's original Walnut stock an put it into a laminated thumb-hole stock. I also had a muzzle brake installed. It shot better but still not great. It consistently shot 1 to 1 1/2 but one week it would shoot 1/2" the next 1 1/2". I started thinking perhaps it was just me even though I had shot other rifles a bit better.
I had a custom .308 built (wanted one for a while) on a 700 action and after a little load development realize it wasn't me. With the .308 I could shoot a 1/4" groups, so I was sure it wasn't me. I had tried 180 and 165 gr. hunting grade bullets over the years. After I put it in the Thumb-hole stock I tried the 168 gr. match bullets that the 308 like so much. It hated them!
I hunted a few time with the Thumb-hole and didn't really care for carrying it. It was great off the bench but didn't feel comfortable when carrying. Last month I found and bough a Bell and Carson Medalist stock I though I would like better. (The .308 is in a HEAVY Medalist 5 stock.) I put the old 06 barrel and action in the new stock an torqued it down to 40 In. Lbs.. Couldn't torque it down that tight in the wood stocks. It shot much better than it did in the laminated stock and it felt a lot better. Shot a cold shot... Dead center. Took another cold shot dead center. Took a cold shot... center followed by warm 1/4 right and hot 1/4 low 1/4 left. I was thinking I was on to something. I pulled the brake off and shot two 2 1/2" low 1 1/2 left almost in the same hole. I wrote Bell and Carson asking for their suggested torque. Reply was 50 In. Lbs. It felt so much better in the Bell and Carson I decided to leave the Brake off. I torqued it to the recommended 50 In. Lbs. And cranked the scope up and over. Today I re-zeroed the scope. I took 4 shots with 150 gr. FMJBT. I let it cool then took 2 shots with 150 gr. SPBT. I then let cool again. It/I then shot a 5 shot group every bit as good as the best group the custom .308 has shot. I pulled one 1/4" low left. The other 4 went through the same hole. Seems the "experts" aren't always right.
Well being the stubborn SOB that I am I took the old 06 out of it's original Walnut stock an put it into a laminated thumb-hole stock. I also had a muzzle brake installed. It shot better but still not great. It consistently shot 1 to 1 1/2 but one week it would shoot 1/2" the next 1 1/2". I started thinking perhaps it was just me even though I had shot other rifles a bit better.
I had a custom .308 built (wanted one for a while) on a 700 action and after a little load development realize it wasn't me. With the .308 I could shoot a 1/4" groups, so I was sure it wasn't me. I had tried 180 and 165 gr. hunting grade bullets over the years. After I put it in the Thumb-hole stock I tried the 168 gr. match bullets that the 308 like so much. It hated them!
I hunted a few time with the Thumb-hole and didn't really care for carrying it. It was great off the bench but didn't feel comfortable when carrying. Last month I found and bough a Bell and Carson Medalist stock I though I would like better. (The .308 is in a HEAVY Medalist 5 stock.) I put the old 06 barrel and action in the new stock an torqued it down to 40 In. Lbs.. Couldn't torque it down that tight in the wood stocks. It shot much better than it did in the laminated stock and it felt a lot better. Shot a cold shot... Dead center. Took another cold shot dead center. Took a cold shot... center followed by warm 1/4 right and hot 1/4 low 1/4 left. I was thinking I was on to something. I pulled the brake off and shot two 2 1/2" low 1 1/2 left almost in the same hole. I wrote Bell and Carson asking for their suggested torque. Reply was 50 In. Lbs. It felt so much better in the Bell and Carson I decided to leave the Brake off. I torqued it to the recommended 50 In. Lbs. And cranked the scope up and over. Today I re-zeroed the scope. I took 4 shots with 150 gr. FMJBT. I let it cool then took 2 shots with 150 gr. SPBT. I then let cool again. It/I then shot a 5 shot group every bit as good as the best group the custom .308 has shot. I pulled one 1/4" low left. The other 4 went through the same hole. Seems the "experts" aren't always right.
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It's always been my favorite and now I can brag abut how good it shoots. 
