1/2 MOA Rifle Report Part 1

by J. A. Smith

Several times my shooting buddies and I, who most are also into
performance cars, have always wondered why none of the gun magazines
have ever published a running report on a rifle. One that involves step
by step accurizing and testing of each service.

I subscribe to several car magazines, mostly Mustang oriented ones,
that do this all the time. So I thought I'd try this for myself, and
after talking to Bill at CenterFire Central, we decided to run a series
in this Ezine.

Choosing a rifle for a base was the first step. I thought about this
for a second, that's all it took, I couldn't think of any better one
then a Remington 700. The VS is the most appropriate to me because with
a little work on the stock I really wouldn't need to replace the stock,
and that is the other half of the equation, doing this on the cheap.

One problem I didn't want or need any of the caliber's it is available
in from the factory. The short action Rem. VLS (Varmint Laminated
Stock) comes in 6mm Rem. That was the one, I have a warm place in my
heart for the 6mm and so came the problem of getting one in the VS
configuration.

No problem I asked my local dealer and he obliged after almost no arm
twisting. We just swapped stocks now I have a Rem 700VS in 6mm to work
with.

Next installment I will break the barrel in, to fireform the cases and
shoot some groups for a baseline with factory ammo. That should suffice
till I decide on a dedicated scope for this rifle. Then I will do some
load development followed by glass bedding and trigger work. So see you
all next time with some baseline groups and maybe if I am lucky groups
with handloads before and after glass bedding and trigger work. Take
care and happy shooting.