[reactionkilla]

Got an old 700 BDL in .308 from either '77 or '94 (their serial stamping method seems a bit questionable ), with a 1-piece Weaver base, Weaver rings, and a Tasco 6-24 target scope (I know, I know). I went out and put about 20 rounds downrange today and have some questions.

The big thumb stud screws holding the rings on to the base backed off and I didn't notice, leading to pretty poor accuracy. I obviously tightened them back up, but should this screw be Loc-tite'd? I put some on the screws that hold the base to the receiver, but wasn't sure if it should be done in that spot as well.

For the first few rounds it shot well, but afterwards it wasn't ejecting as well. The handle would rotate correctly up until it had about 1/3 of an inch left til it was fully up and ready to pull back, and it would get pretty hard to push up the rest of the way. Is this normal, or should I look into something? The ammunition was actually labeled 7.62x51 and not .308, and I've heard that though they are safely interchangeable they are not identical rounds, so could this be part of the problem?

Before shooting I ran some Remington solvent cleaner through it on a brush a couple of times, then patched til clean, ran some Kleenbore 3 through on a mop, patched clean, and put a light coat of normal gun oil on the bolt surfaces. Good cleaning procedure? I'm used to shotguns which you can basically not really clean at all, but rifles especially in this larger caliber makes me think I should be a bit more diligent about it.

I think thats it for now, obviously a nicer scope is in order but I shoot roughly once a month at an indoor 100yd so I'm not going to break the bank just yet, I'll probably set the knobs back to factory center and rezero it again but thats about it.

Any other suggestions? Clever methods that you can't read in a book or online? I'm pretty green in the bolt gun topics, anything helps at this point.

 

[jerrschmitt]

First the scope: There are better scopes out there as you well know but, my neighbor has that same Tasco scope on an old Remington 722 in .222 Remington and he regularly kills Prairie Dog at 400 yards with it.

The rings: Don't use thread lock on the big screw that holds the rings to the base. There used to be a special screw driver for those screws but a coin will work.

The Ammo: I presume that since it's marked 7.62 it is surplus Military ammo? That could be your problem. The last bit of bolt lift cams the fired round out of the chamber. What does the fired case look like? Any signs of pressure? Could also be a rough chamber.

Cleaning: Everybody has their own view of how to clean a rifle. Just make sure that you run a few clean dry patches through it before you shoot it.

Tips: I don't use surplus Military ammo ever. Start looking for reloading equipment.

 

[reactionkilla]

Yeah, the scope and rifle combo will out shoot me, but I need to get it sighted in correctly.

The ammo looks normal, the neck and shoulder and about 1/4 inch down the body is darker than the clean brass. It is military surplus I believe, or tactical ammo at that. Its Turkish made. I don't think its the chamber, it cycles the .308 snapcap and a Brown Bear round marked .308 fine. Must just be the ammo, good thing I only had 20 rounds.