single best improvement to a stock bolt rifle

[apache12]

If you owned a stock rem 700, or Ruger M77, Savage 110, etc. what would be the first or only upgrade you would make to improve accuracy? Not incuding scope options. Would you drop in a Timney trigger or make pillar bed the stock?

[123456]

If you owned a stock rem 700, or Ruger M77, Savage 110, etc. what would be the first or only upgrade you would make to improve accuracy? Not incuding scope options. Would you drop in a Timney trigger or make pillar bed the stock?

Drop in Timney is what I did and it improved my accuracy quite a bit. Plus it's easy and just over 100$.

[Chef]

If the trigger is adjustable, take out any creep and set at desired poundage.

If it isn't adjustable and is a bad trigger, install an aftermarket.

 

I would torque all the rifles bolts to spec and check the barrel for clearance

if it is supposed to be free floated. Then I would shoot the rifle with different loads.

 

If it still shot bad, then I would bed it.

[Couzer]

Hand load my ammo!

[firstcoueswas80]

Hand load, trigger replacement/tune, bedding the action (I would bed the action before pillar bedding)

[bustedknuckleinc]

I have a rem 700 in 7mm. I was shooting all over the paper(most likely because my trigger was like compressing a leaf spring) then I added a timney trigged, bedded the action and floated the barrel. I think all together it cost me about $250.00. Now it shoots half inch groups at 100 yards with handloads.

[308Nut]

Any one thing is not going to make a factory rifle a gem. Take the advice of the others. Ammo taylored to that rifle, trigger, bedded stock and free floated barrel. It helps to bed the stock and float the barrel BEFORE you develop a load.

[Becker]

I just went through this with my wife's new rifle. First thing we re-bedded the recoil lug/action, made a night and day difference. I am not sold on their plastic or whatever they are stocks. Kind of cheap. However most of those in my opinion were designed to be a 100 to 200 yard gun which out of the box for that they are great. We like to do some long range shooting though. We also hand load so that helped us out.

[apache12]

So reason I'm asking is that I picked up a Savage 110 laminate stock 30-06 for my 13 year old and he's had some succes with it on cow elk and deer. I put a Burris Fullfiled 4.5 X 14 X 42 and it has teh accutrigger. anyway, I want make a rifle that he can be very cofident with and if he only has one rifle while he goes to college and as a young man he just knows it can do all he needs, so he kinda looks back at his old man as takin care of him. I know he needs a better scope, but I like the trigger. What else could I do to imprive the rifle? Bed the action? Thanks for the advice. Gunsmith in Phx would be great too.

[billrquimby]

Supreme accuracy is not needed to kill a deer or an elk or anything else. You only need the ability to put a bullet into a kill zone the size of a paper plate at whatever distance your skill allows. When shooting offhand or using hasty rests in the field, few hunters can shoot as accurately as any rifle right out of the box is capable of shooting. Throw in the wind factor and an animal that is moving (even just feeding), and it's a wonder that there aren't more misses.

 

To answer the question dealing with just one single improvement to a factory bolt-action rifle one should make, I'd have to say it would be to adjust or change the trigger. It's been a long time since I played with a brand new rifle, but they used to have stiff, sluggish 4-5 pound triggers. I suspect nothing has changed.

 

A better trigger actually won't make the rifle shoot tighter groups as a properly bedded action, a good, free-floating barrel and ammo tailored for that particular rifle will, but it should allow you to put those holes closer together on a target.

 

There is no conflict with that statement. A "bad" trigger can cause the shooter to be inconsistent. It usually is not the rifle or ammo.

 

Bill Quimby

[Airbusdriver]

Move the target closer. Right now, that's all I can afford.

[apache12]

So reason I'm asking is that I picked up a Savage 110 laminate stock 30-06 for my 13 year old and he's had some succes with it on cow elk and deer. I put a Burris Fullfiled 4.5 X 14 X 42 and it has teh accutrigger. anyway, I want make a rifle that he can be very cofident with and if he only has one rifle while he goes to college and as a young man he just knows it can do all he needs, so he kinda looks back at his old man as takin care of him. I know he needs a better scope, but I like the trigger. What else could I do to imprive the rifle? Bed the action? Thanks for the advice. Gunsmith in Phx would be great too.

 

Thats a good point. It shoots pretty tight for him but he's young and his skill is still improving. It certainly doesn't seem like it has any problems. I just thought I could make it better for him.