760 in 30-06 again

[mmt7714]

Ok, well, after shooting my old 760 a little I have pretty much warmed up to her. She is a pretty good handling little gun even though it will kick your teeth out from the bench. Anyway, this is an older gun gifted to me by my wife's grandfather and to my knowledge he bought it new a loooonnnggg time ago. It still shoots fine but I am having a little trouble getting it to group very good. At 25yds it is grouping good, but move out to 100 yds and it isn't so good. One group will be ok and the next all over the place. This is with 150 gr. core-lokts. Just wondering what the most accurate ammo you guys have found for this gun. I am not blaming everything on the ammo for sure, I know I probably have a lot to do with it, but just wondering all the same.

Mike

[dks7895]

From my experience with older guns, I would clean the bore really well.  Get some foaming bore cleaner and follow the directions.  I have an old Marlin 30/30 that I got from my father in law.  It did the same thing as you described.  After a good cleaning, I shot the group in my avatar at 100 yards.

[Slufoot]

Hello Mike, what are the group sizes you are getting @100 yards?

Slufoot

[Harry Snippe]

I would second the thought on cleaning . Get a good foam cleaner like "Wipe Out" and get the copper out of that barrel .

[mmt7714]

10-4 on the cleaning, I will definitely have to do that. As for how big the groups are, well, we are talking more like a pattern than a group, anywhere from 4" to 6" or up, it is really sporadic. Sometimes it shoots ok, and others it doesn't, I did notice that the barrel will heat up very quickly, usually after 3 or 4 shots, so this may have something to do with it.

Mike

[dks7895]

I had a Handi in .270 that was like that.  First few shots were on...and then it would turn into a pattern.  I thought it was me, so I grabbed another rifle and shot a 5 shot group you could lay a quarter on.  After the Handi cooled, it was spot on again, but after a few shots it was all over the place again.  And yes I checked the scope rail and swapped rings/scopes.  Some barrels are heat sensitive.   

[wsjones]

165 gr. Hornady Interlock and H-4831 was my hunting load for years in a 1980 vintage 760 30-06.  Decent accuracy but not great.  150  gr. Ballistic Tips and RL-22 work better these days.  -WSJ

[searlock]

I have a 760 in 30 06 also a 700 in 30 06. Try seating a bullet to touch the lands. You will find that it is next to imposible. Have heard some say that .100+ jump to the lands doesn't matter. It does in mine. 1" group at 100 yds is the best I have had so far. Tried hornady speer sierra and berger. Six different powders. My brother has a mossberg 100 atr in 06 and he can stick almost anything in it and it shoots great groups. Most bullets at book specified coal are arround .020 to .040 off the lands. Speer bullets usually hit the lands before reaching book coal and most times they have to be deep seated. You might get lucky and find one that shoots good in your remmy and I am positive someone will chime in and swear that their remmy will drive tacks at 1000 yds. Don't think this is the norm though.

[JW/OK]

I recently picked up a 760 that was made in 1953, nice gun. But it had a dark spot in the bore near the muzzle. I got it cheap so figured on making it a carbine length barrel. I shot it first with 150 grain Rem Corelocts and got about a 6" group. Tried 180 grain Rem Corelocts and got a consistant 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards. Might be worth a try.

[gstewart44]

I have only shot 180 gr bullets in my 760.   Of the different brands it hates Winchesters,  shoots well with Remington 180 CoreLokts, and absolutely loves the Federal Fusion 180s' .        I don't shoot anything out of it these days except the Fusions.

[thumbcocker]

Have the crown checked. A lot of old rifles have wear on the crown from a cleaning rod.

[Mikey]

The first thing you need do is clean the barrel - the foaming cleaners work well to help remove copper fouling, so does Windex with ammonia or a 50/50 ammonia/water mix - keep at it until the patches stop turning blue, then the copper fouling will be gone. 

You also mentioned that the barrel heats up pretty quickly after 3-4 shots.... does this have anything to do with its poor groups - oh yeah, sure does. 

Those rifles do not respond well to rapid (continued or sustained) fire.  Every time I have shot one too quickly and heated the barrel, the groups open up.  These are not military actions and barrels, they are light weight sporter set-ups that can and will heat up quickly with rapid fire and can even seize up on you if you pound them too hard for too long.  They are lightweight actions and barrels so as to be carried easily and the thin tapered barrels will heat up quickly after 3-4 shots if you pound the shots out.  If you want to see how it groups, fire one round per minute for a 3 shot group, let cool for 5 minutes and repeat, but let the barrel cool down before shooting again. 

Your problem is not specific to the 760.  Many shooters who purchase light weight bolt rifles, experience groups that open right up when they pound the rounds out.  Even if you think you are taking your time and treating the old gal right, you may need to slow it down a bit.  Try the first two shots from a cold barrel and see how she groups then, you might hopefully be surprised. 

[Muddly]

My buddy has a .35 Rem 760 and it shot crappy until he took it to the gunsmith who tightened up the bar the action bars slide on. Viola! She shoots inch and a half groups at 100 now.I've read that was a trick they used to tune up 760's.

[oneoldsap]

                              Make sure that the action tube is tight !  I have fixed quite a few by snugging  up the action tube ! If the barrel isn't tight it will get worse and worse . A good cleaning never hurts any rifle and it should be the starting point before you shoot it the first time .

[Halwg]

I've found the 760's like heavier bullets.  150's shoot fine in my Ruger M77, but won't group in the 760.  165 gr and 180 gr bullets tighten things up to under 1.5" at 100 yards.