SmallCaliberCentral

First post, I was hoping to brag about my new Rem 700 LVSF .204, not going to be the case.

My rifle arrived 2/14/07 and I was impressed with the rifle. I wanted a light carry varmint rifle and considered a Kimber, Cooper, Tikka or even an ugly Savage as my dads is extremely accurate. I elected to go with the LVSF.

On 2/15 the barrel was cleaned, bore guide and dewey cleaning rod. Leupy bases and rings installed properly and lapped. Leupy 4.5X14 installed. fourty rounds fired with complete cleaning between each shot for
barrel break in. I was a little concerned with the initial groups during break in but just figured maybe the .204 doesn't like a slick tube.

Yesterday, I was unable to go to my long range but I have a bench behind my house with a 75 yard stop. I had numerous boxes of Hornady 32's and 40's and a box of Rem 40's to see what my gun liked. At 75 yards I was grouping 1.5 to 2" groups with three round groups, I let the barrel cool and another round of groups. This is the most inaccurate rifle I ever purchased!

Into the house we go. I removed the the barreled action and free floated the barrel by removing the pressure bedding pads. I work the trigger down to a crisp 2.5 pounds. I reassemble the action and torque the screws back to spec. The barrel gets another proper cleaning including JB bore paste and sweets 7.62. The scope came from a custom 300 mag and has no issues. The mounts were re-checked.

Back on the bench, no groups under 1.5 inch with any load. The barrel was allowed to cool between shots. Weather conditions were perfect and wind flags were used even with a slight 5 MPH breeze.

I have a long history of shooting and reloading and my shooting skills are not in question. I was nervous about buying an off the shelf rifle as my last few have been custom or semi custom. I am kicking myself now for not going with a custom as I feel I just pissed away $850.00 My 20 year .22 mag will shoot this rifle to shame at the same range.

I called Remington and they will pay the shipping back to examine the rifle. I told them I don't even want it back but I don't expect them to keep it as I modified the stock.

Thanks for the opportunity to vent. I was so looking forward to give a positive review. I will be glad to email photos of the sorry excuse for groups if anyone is interested.

No more Remintons for me. (maybe)

wade

Sorry to hear about your initial experience with the new rifle, Wade. Are you going to send it off to Remington so they can look it over?

If you decide to swap it out for a different rifle, I'd strongly encourage you to look at the Coopers that you mentioned. Mine will absolutely drive tacks and I have yet to hear a single person voice disappointment in owning one of these fine rifles.

Best of luck,
Mike

My brother just experienced the same thing as you with a .221 fireball. He is a gunsmith, and was planning a build which is done now, so basically bought the gun for the action. He did shoot the factory rifle for a bit after installing a Jewell trigger, but the barrel was a joke. Looking through the bore scope there were large parts of the lands that were completely missing. The throat looked like a war zone. He trades with a smith in CA who is a rifle guy named Tom Miller. Tom was one of the original R and D guys for RCBS. He put together the custom rifle for my brother and said the factory tube had the worst chamber he had ever seen. I feel sorry for you, and even worse for the guy who saves his hard earned money and buys into this junk. I really think a Savage would be a better bet than a Remington.

Should have bought a ugly Savage. Hope you get it shooting. welcom to the site

I suspect I'll be screwing a Lilja into the action after it gets trued. I'm too honest to sell this rifle to a stranger. I would've been happy with a MOA shooter.

I'll keep you posted on Remingtons actions.

Wade

I'm truly sorry to hear of your bad experience with your Rem light varmint in .204. I bought one two months ago, and have been very satisfied with it in every respect. Please keep us posted re what Rem has to say about the rifle.
I'm posting only to make the point that there are decent LVSF's out there, and I'm thankful that I happen to have been blessed. But, there's no excuse for every Remington rifle not being right the first time. It'll be interesting to see how they respond.

Best, George

What the heck has happened to Remington quality control the last few years..

Should have bought a Savage. A pretty rifle that won't shoot is less gradifying than an ugly rifle that will. Beauty is only skin deep and that barrel is killing you.

I purchased a Remington 700 LS 221 Fireball rifle a few years ago. To get it to shoot under one inch groups I glass bedded the action , free floated the barrel adjusted the trigger down from 6 Lb to 3 Lb and had a gunsmith lapp the bolt locking lugs. The face of the luggs were concave and only one lug showed the it was contacting the action.I have to trim the case length close to the minum length or the mouth af the case is damaged. I called Remington and was told that since I had adjusted the trigger and glass bedded the stock I had voided the warrenty. When a Remington rifle shoots pore groups -Send it back -dont work on it. Good luck

wadevb1
Sorry to hear you picked up a Remington lemon. However, and maybe I'm just lucky, I bought a Rem 700 VLS in .204 Ruger last fall. All I did to it was float the barrel and adjust the trigger down to 2.5 lbs. With my handloads (and when I'm shooting good ), it will shoot Hornady 40 V-Max's into 1/4", 5 shots, 100 yds.
I guess the bottom line is, they're not all bad. But, I do agree, their rifles should all shoot with an acceptable degree of accuracy (1 MOA) right out of the box.
One other note, it did take about 150 rounds to get my rifle to settle down and shoot really good groups. I followed the Remington recommended break-in procedure. I guess it takes a few rounds to get the tube smoothed out.
Good luck with the folks at Remington. Let us know how they respond. If their customer service sucks, then, I for one am changing brands.

Rgds, Gerry

I called Remmy and informed the call taker that I free floated the barrel. I asked him if they would still examine it and he said yes. (I brought the trigger back to spec.) As a new person here, I'm not going to bash Reminton, at least not yet. I've been reading this board and numerous other sites and seen many members reporting .5 groups. I hope the rifle I recieved was a "monday" rifle. I will admit, the representativer was very professional and lessoned my worries.

I also examined the lugs and they were tight even with bolt grease. I noticed they were wearing evenly and they did start to loosen, as my groups. I suspect I could shrink my groups with handloads but I own several wildcats (22PPC/6BR) and would like one rifle I could buy ammo off the shelf. Of course, I really didn't explore the cost of loaded .204 ammo. (wow.)

Thanks....Wade

That's a right sad story, Wade. Especially as I am a Remington man reading it. Keeripes, that sux. You may be right, a Monday rifle, that was started on Friday afternoon (by an apprentice). You probably did get a barrel like the 221 fireball mentioned above. Maybe a custom barrel if Remmy can't make it shoot, but I hope they do!.

As I said, I'm a Remington man, but thanks to all the glowing reports on this 204um, I just ordered a CZ527 Varmint in 204, and not a Rem, though I did consider the Savage, too.

Best luck in getting the gun sorted out!

ETB

I hate to say this, but put some more rds thru it. When I bought my Savage VLP it didn't shoot for crap from the get-go. It took something like 100 or 150 rds and then it started grouping, I was ready to give up on it.

How's the copper in the barrel?

Hi Wade!! Welcome to the Forum.

My RemADL wouldn't shoot the 40's at all. But it shot the 32's with a vengeance. Maybe it needs shot a little more. Remington barrels have been getting worse over the past couple years but they can still be made to shoot. Sadly enough tho it takes more hard earned cahs to get them there. Good Luck & keep us posted!!

I feel bad for ya...my new rifle's not doing so hot either. I had a rem 700 .270 that was shooting 8" groups off of a rest at 100 yards. The actio almost took two hands to operate...I was tempted to throw it in the dumpster behind the range, but instead I took it back for a full refund.

I appreciate the input guy's. I'll continue shooting tomorrow to see if the bore improves. I expect a package from Midsouth to be on my step with four new boxes of ammo. I did notice the best, lack of a better word, groups came from the 32gn's. I thought the 40's would be the more accurate with the 1-12 twist. I just finished a three page kiss butt letter attached to the work order. After speaking to the Rem rep, I feel they will stand by their name.

Thanks...Wade