SmallCaliberCentral

After several trips to the range, I have come to the conclusion that my new rifle is JUNK!!!! This thing will not group to save it's life despite trying the best powders for the caliber and the best bullets. Took it to a gunsmith and his conclusions were: Crown: unpolished!!! Bore: ULTRA ROUGH!!! Other problems of note: With the windage on the elite 4200 cranked all the way to the right, I can just barely get bullets on the left edge of a target!!! I seriously hope they are going to replace it as I am ready to cut the thing into pieces.

Bummer! And I thought Remington had really improved their quality.

What have you done to help the accuracy?

Is the barrel free floated?

ANY sign of copper in the barrel (shine a light at 90 degree angle to the barrel and look for copper)?

What does the fired brass look like? (pictures of the brass from all angles and the primer would be helpful)

Picture of the crown?

Is the scope adjusted all the way against the stop? If so, that is the beginning of the problem. Tried different mounts? Bases? Scope? Pictures please.....

Sorry about your problems but I do have a couple of sugjustions that may help. First try getting the barrel hand lapped to smooth it out, then have the crown recut. If this is to much on the wallet as it is for alot of us you can order David Tubbs Final Bore Finish from Cabellas for $30.00 and fire lap the barrel your self. Now for the crown I have used the finest of steel wool and polished a crown bfore and had excelant results, but if this is to much then trade it off for a good ol Savge LOL!!! Good luck and Ride Up!!!

In answer to your questions: The gun has already gone back to where it was bought so I have no pics of it. The VSSF II's barrel IS free floated and bedded in an HS precision stock remember. As far as the brass and primers go, all is normal, starting loads or max loads made no difference. The scope problem was a very likely result of the holes in the reciever being drilled wrong. You think when you spend $1250.00 on a gun the bloody thing should be near perfect and not require you to return it less than 2 weeks later. As far as remington's qaulity control, the shop I deal with told me of a guy who bought a VTR that did not have rifling to the end of the barrel!?! It was also suggested that the scope issue could be the result of the barrel and action not being straight, I don't know. I am hoping for a store credit so I can go buy myself a pair of savages so I can live happily ever after........

The barrel is very clean, my routine in the past has allowed me to shoot sub 1/3" groups with my method. All I have to say is they better get with the program or I will NEVER buy another remington.

Bummer. I know. I am going through a similar issue with a encore barrel that will not fire consistently. Only the shop I am dealing with does not want to have anything more to do with me. They got my money so it's my barrel and my problem. Guess they don't want any more of my money. Anyway I would call Remington, write a nice letter and send it back. Companies like T/C and Savage want an opportunity to make it right. I never had to send back a Remington. Good luck.

Thanks. Happily, the remington warranty guy lives 20 minutes away and the gun was going out yesterday to him. I told the guy at cabelas what was going on, how annoyed I was and the story behind this rifle and I was assured it will be dealt with.

I'd bet big money Remington will make this right, but it is too bad you have to go through the frustration. I have a friend who sends his 220 Swift back every 2 years and Remington gives him a new barrel every time. I won't say anything about Remington being a Canadian company now. Good luck!

FireBallGuy wrote:As far as remington's qaulity control, the shop I deal with told me of a guy who bought a VTR that did not have rifling to the end of the barrel!?! I

I have Rem 700 VTR in a 204 and I'm very pleased with the accuracy. The rifling stops before the muzzle break. That's the way they're made. Your shop guy is expressing a little ignorance.
Dave

I have the exact same gun, and it took 60-80 rounds through the pipe to get it to settle in. It shoots great now. I hope you cleaned the barrel before you shot it. I've seen dirt and metal shavings let inside the most reputable guns, right off the shelf!

Sure did, took it home and cleaned as if I had been shooting it. Have put almost 200 rounds through it and still the same crap. Am hoping I will get an answer this week as to what they are going to do.

FireBallGuy wrote:Sure did, took it home and cleaned as if I had been shooting it. Have put almost 200 rounds through it and still the same crap. Am hoping I will get an answer this week as to what they are going to do.

Bummer. Another issue I had with mine, was a bone-head move on my part. When mounting the scope bases, I put too much Lock-Tite on the screws and it got in between the receiver and the bases. I had a shifting zero.

I definitely don't want to start bashing Remington, but I do have some facts. Using a Hawkeye borescope at a friends one day he was showing me some barrels. First a custom Gaillard, smooth like a babies bum. Then we looked at a custom Shilen, not as smooth as the Gaillard but real close. Next was a factory Savage, very smooth lands with some tooling marks in the grooves. Then the Remington, I couldn't believe my eye's, honestly. It looked like it was carved out with a chain saw, very bad.
A borescope is a powerfull tool, and not only in terms of seeing inside your barrel either. All barrel manufacturers have standards and tolerances. The first few barrels turned out on new equipment will aways be the best. As the tooling wears you'll get progressively worse barrels. When the barrels being produce are no longer to spec, they replace the tooling (this is costly for a company). Hand lapping (if performed) fixes some of this. When you send a barrel back to Remington lets say, all they do is send you one back from the "firsts" pile. Then you're happy. They are still putting the "lasts" in guns, and hope like heck the guy with a borescope doesn't get "that one". Here's where the power of the borescope comes in. With companies like Gaillard and Kreiger, when you call to order a barrel you tell them that you looked down one of their barrels with your borescope and were very pleased with it, so pleased in fact that I'd like to order one. Then you know darn well you'll get a barrel out of the "good" pile. Those guys aren't stupid, they know which ones turned out "best" (but those ones are ususlly reserved for themselves, friends, sponsored shooters, or high profile winning shooters), but you might get one from the "good" pile.

I love my vssf II shoots well too. It is a shame that a 1200 dollar gun with a defect makes it out more than once. They'll keep on until the get a bad rap for accuracy. I love rems but i would probably buy a savage before i bought another rem. Just a shame. I hope they get their heads out of their rears because that company is capable of so much more.