no but you can get 2inch groups down to one inch

let some one else shoot it never hurts, but a good scope always helps if u have a junk scope it is all junk far as group go

I know about a hundred long range practical shooters that would refute that statement.

r u saying factory ammo is more accurate than handloads
im saying a 300 dollar walmart gun like you said, will gain more from handloads than a trigger job and glass bedding and stock

if he wants to build a rifle of course the barrell is going to help a ton, with everything else done, but you can get almost all factory rifles to shoot around an inch with handloads

and even then, handloads are going to take that custom rig to the next level

All of these are suggestions. It depends on how much money, time and effort you want to invest on a factory gun to make it shoot better.

For a simple accuracy enhancement, I would (which is what I do on my factory rifles): free float the barrel, get a trigger job, and find some good ammo for it. If you don't have access to someone who can load for you, get 1 box each of about 2-3 different bullets and/or ammo mfg. Go to the range and shoot them to see what shoots the best. Once you find the ammo it likes, go back and buy all the ammo you can in that same lot #. The lighter the bullet, the less it will recoil. The lighter bullets are also easier to get to shoot better in a 243 than the long, heavy bullets.

"All the other stuff does very little"

That's the rub I'm talking about. I completely agree handloading is the first step, and yes it will wring "the" most accuracy out of a rifle. But! The other stuff does plenty to increase accuracy. I didn't spend $600 on a McMillan and $1500 on base rings and a used quality scope because it looks cool. I did it to make the most accurate rifle I could.

Then I had a .8 MOA rifle. I changed out the barrel for another $400 and got a .2 MOA rifle. AFTER HANDLOADING FOR THAT BARREL.

The stock itself does zero to increase accuracy. Good bedding in a factory wood, fiberglass or laminate stock will increase accuracy the same as good bedding in a custom wood, fiberglass or laminate stock.

So don't go thinking a new stock is the cure all, in most cases when folks buy a new stock they have it bedded, and their original stock was not bedded, or not bedded correctly.

Bedding is important, what or who made the stock is not.

Free floating the barrel may or may not help. Before you remove any material from the barrel channel, first as I said earlier try pressure bedding with oil soaked business cards.

DO NOT FREE FLOAT THE BARREL FIRST!

If the bedding's bad it won't shoot the best ammo worth a damn. Sometimes it can come down to how tight the guard screws are. And I didn't see any mention of the possibility of parallax making good groups tough. There's always the loose scope mount to be ferreted out too. And my biggest bugaboo: shooter technique. Sometimes the rifle doesn't like the way I habitually set up my rest and sometimes I'm just not where I really should be as I am pulling the trigger (which begs the question: where in heck should I have been that day nothing would shoot under 1-1/2? ).

That may be true.

But in my case the barreled action was sitting in a Savage Accustock. Known to be a very good and very solid stock. The barrel had plenty of clearance from the shank forward, the recoil lug sat tightly in the stock. There was nothing wrong with the composite stock that the barreled action rode in.

I changed to an A-5 that would achieve all of those important factors as well as give me better ergonomics thereby achieving better trigger control. And trigger control is enormously important.

Oh and neither stock had been bedded, they never showed me that they needed to be.

parralex, man i have seen some scopes that were absolutely terrible, thats a very good point

If this thread shows one thing it is there is no single cure for every rifle when it comes to accuracy. What have we covered so far:

Shooter
Ammo
Scope/mounts
Trigger
Stock
Stock Bedding
Action Screws
Barrel

One thing not mentioned so far that I know of, Is the crown damaged? Have seen a new rifle that after cutting a new crown accuracy improved a lot.

Hmm, lots of opinions here.
Only one I disagree with is saying that my rifle would shoot the same or better if bedded in its factory Tupperware. No thanks, it's just correctly torqued in the McM and shoots darn well.
Of course, it's got all that other "junk" hanging off of it too. Haha
My .02
Cheers

Tupperware isn't the route of all evil.

Any stock can be a shooter, tupperwear is hard to bed as it has a high content of silicon in it, which keeps it from sticking to the mold.

Some tupperwear stocks are excellent shooters from the factory and bedded or pressure bedded.

A stock is the last thing you should change completely.

And if you had your MCM bedded it would shoot better.

Hold it very still on target while I squeezed the trigger.

I would practice shooting more before investing in more equipment. The rifle may just be fine as is; it could be the operator.

I agree with all you about the operator, I certainly need more practice. I think I am going to start with the trigger and bump up to some more premium ammo and see how it goes then "add on" from there. I am trying to build this rifle for my 13 year old daughter to shoot, she is about to upgrade from a .223

yes you can. and the trigger pull is about 4lbs (measured)

My take on this is without these things you will not ever shoot good groups(not knowing your experience level:

A reliable scope. No cheap crap. There are some Chinese scopes that will work but most won't for long. Chinese optics for the most part is the biggest rip-off in our sport. I have a Konus I like but if I had it to do over again I would have used the same money on a Japanese scope. If it has a parralax adjustment learn how to use it.

Good shooting mechanics. Your trigger pull and body position as well as how your rest the rifle can have a huge impact on groups.

With those two things out of the way then you can consider some of the other great advice you have been given. Good luck

what barrels do you like? my 7-08 is stuck around a .8 also, even though thats plenty accurate for hunting.
i was thinking of shilen , theyll do a pre threaded and chambered barrel for 400.00

Body position can be really important. Some of my rifles seem to be very sensitive to how well I position myself behind the rifle. Getting squared up behind the butt stock seems to be a key to eliminating lateral dispersion. My Model 70 seems to be very unforgiving in this regard.

Is your Daughter going to use this rifle for hunting?
If so, 1.5" to 2" accuracy at 100 yards is more than enough.
The trigger WILL NOT improve the accuracy of the rifle. It will only make it more comfortable to shoot. If the rifle is accurate, with the proper trigger control technique, you’ll achieve very good accuracy.
Again, what’s the usage of this rifle by your 13 year old daughter? How much experience does she has? If it’s for hunting, and she’s not yet a top shot, I would use the rifle as is, and as your daughter grows and improves her skills, I would upgrade the rifle accordingly.

Triggers help shooters not the rifle. Bedding will absolutely help but it might be so minuscule the shooter won't notice but it will help hold a consistent point of impact if the barreled action is removed. The only instance bedding doesn't help is if an action is extremely out of spec which is rare. A quality stock usually does more for shooter/rifle fitment which can do wonders they also help when compared to some as they flex a lot less.. Ammunition quality is a huge factor as well is bullet choice or weight, your choice of 95gr should be fine but I would run a patch down the tube to determine twist rate. Scope parallax can do huge wonders as well. One question that was also missed is if you wear corrective lenses and if so do you wear them while shooting this can effect the parallax as well.

The .8 MOA barrel is a factory Savage chambered for .308 Win. It was removed and the rifle turned into a .260

I have a Obermeyer for my .260 and it had been phenominal! But it would require you to order the blank then have a gunsmith thread, chamber, cut and crown it.

I ordered a Shilen for my .22-250 since it is a varmint rifle and will probably be plenty good. I havn't got it screwed to the action yet.