Remington Model 7 action for a Custom gun?

[1longshot]

I have remington model seven that I haven't been able to get the groups I want out of.  However I really like the action and I was thinking about getting it rebarrelled and buying a new stock.  Is this a good idea?

[riddleofsteel]

This is a rifle I built for my son while my wife was pregnant with him. It is a 6.5-.284 Remington Model 7 with the action trued and squared and the the bolt lugs lapped and bolt faced squared. It has a 20" McGowen super match grade, chrome-moly barrel with target crown. It is glass and pillar bedded in a Bell and Carlson Carbalite stock with intergral sling mounts. The paint job is my own design called "Cedar Shadow" using tree branches as a stencil. It has a Leupold scope base and a set of engraved Millet rings holding a 2.5x8 Leupold Vari X III.
The barrel and action work and stock bedding was done by Henry Ball of Bill's Custom Guns, Greensboro, N.C. (He is the inventor of the smokeless powder muzzle loader. This is the same design that Savage is currently using as its Model 10ML.)

Every time it kicks three 129 grain Hornady Interlocks at 2900 FPS into one ragged hole at 100 yards I remember why I built it.

[1longshot]

Just the kind of answer I was looking for.  BTW thanks for the picture.  Really reinforces the idea of building one.  I am planning on sticking with the .243 win.  I really like the caliber.  I think I will put a krieger barrel on.  Maybe a medium bull.  I noticed on H-S Precision's website there is varmint stock that is produced by them for the model 7 action.  I just don't know wether it has a varmint barrel channel.  I am going to call and ask them.  Thanks again for the pic and words. You are a really great help.

Robert

[Judson]

Before you get going on this custom rifle project you should look at a few things.     First, like many firearm makers, quality control has gone all to hell.    Guns are now checked with a Go gauge and a Field gauge not a No go.    So it is passible that sloppy head space may be your problem.    However before buying a new barrel check the action.    Dry fire it several times watching the bolt and the bolt handle.    If the bolt moves forward or the handle lifts a bit, no problem, however if it kicks to the side then trade the rifle and do not waste your money.    One other way to check is to fire the rifle several times and look at the primers.    If the firing pin is off center on some and not others then you have poor bolt fit and the only alternative is to sleeve the bolt which is costly and not worth the money as a new action would be cheeper.    You can build a real tack driver from a good action but working with a sloppy action is like trying to make chicken salad out of chicken poop.

[1longshot]

Okay,

Here is what I did to check the action,

I dry fired it with a snap cap in and the bolt handle does move upward.
I dry fired it without same thing.

I did not notice any side to side movement of the bolt when dry fireing but I don't know if you are refering to the front or the back.  In either case there was no movement.

I did however notice there is some side to side movement of the bolt face after the fireing pin has fallen and the bolt is more loose in the action.  I have to work the action just right though.

Lastly, I inspected all of my recent fired cases 30 were only neck sized 10 were FL resized.  All of the cases showed pretty much the same off center fireing pin strike.  None of the marks were in the middle exactly and the location of the strikes did not vary by much between shells.

So what do I have? :?

[riddleofsteel]

The first thing to do with any rifle that is not grouping is to check the bedding. Most, if not all factory rifles could benefit from a good bedding job. If you do not like the stock the rifle is in this is a good time to buy one you like. A premium stock like a H&S, Stockade or McMillan is an excellent investment and will be appreciated even if you have to do futher work latter on to achive max accuracy. If a barreled action is placed in a rigid stock with a stress free bedding setup it can shot as good as it is going to.
If it is still not drivng tacks like you want it to the next step is to look at the barrel. The barrel is the heart of any rifle. Again money spent on a premium barrel is never wasted. A premium manufacter like Hart, Douglas, McGowen, ect. is the way to go. This is not an area to save money if top accuracy is the desired result. However, as it has been pointed out here already the selection of a rifle action to build on is an important factor. With every action I have rebarreled I have taken the action to a gunsmith and had it throughly checked out and tuned.
Factory produced rifle actions benefit greatly from having the action trued and squared, the bolt lugs lapped and bolt faced squared. Then when you have the barrel installed you get the max your action has to give.

[manitou210]

You got some sound advice use it and you will not go wrong!!!!!!