I loaded some rounds for my Remington 700 ADL in .270 win. 140 gr. Accubond, 58.0 gr. H4831sc. Got to the range, set up the lead sled and shot a 5 shot group and I use the word group loosely. They were all over the place. The best 3 were 5 1/2" apart the extreme was over 8". The scope was tight. Is it even possible for a load to have that much spread? I'm relatively new to reloading, but I've never had a new load with this much spread. This load was recommended to me so I didn't work up to it. I was hoping it would be close enough to adjust gradually. I've looked at the load in the manual. 58 gr. is the max charge. I'm not showing any signs of pressure. Should I even pursue this load or just let it go?

I'd let go. Best to work up your own load. I know H4831sc is supposed to be the go to powder for .270 but I have .270 that won't shoot any load below a 2" group. It's a sub moa gun with IMY 4895.

I would try shooting the rifle and load off of sandbags or with a bipod and rear bag. I personally am not a fan of lead sleds since one cracked the stock at the tang of a buddy's Ruger M-77 .338 Win Mag. It might be causing the accuracy issues.

For the best chance of finding the most accurate load in your firearm, work the load up with your firearm and components following all safe reloading practices.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

If you want to reload do it right, dont just plug in someone else's magic load and expect it to work every gun is different.

How does it shoot with factory loads? I agree that you should try it off sand bags & ditch the lead-sled. Your load sounds pretty HOT but that shouldn't cause such bad accuracy.

I don't have any factory loads available. I shot some reloads with 130 gr. ballistic tips loaded with IMR 4350 and they shot erratic also. I'm leaning towards a problem with the rifle. And maybe the lead sled.

5 1/2" to 8" groups is 100% a rifle/scope/rings/bases issue. Something is loose, broken, or not working correctly. Start from scratch by taking the scope off and checking the bases and rings. I would also unscrew the action screws and check the fitting of the stock to the action and make sure everything is in place and tight.

I think I found the problem. I tried to slide a dollar bill under the barrel between the stock and couldn't get it past the sling stud. Removed the action and it looks like moisture wicked its way down the stud and swelled the stock so the barrel is rubbing the stock. I'm going to bed the stock and action to eliminate the problem. Thanks for all the input.

Birdog, on a 700 ADL the barrel is not floated. Remington puts a pressure band in the front of the forearm to mitigate imprecise bedding, so there is that. It works to a point. Torque the action screws. Another thing to check on a 700 is the magazine. In the ADL it is a blind magazine. With the bolt all the way back, the magazine should have a little bit of wiggle to it. If it is pushing up on the action, it will not allow it to fully seat in the stock. It will manifest in inconsistent poi. Then work your own load up to find what suits your rifle.

I am betting a scope or base issue, ADLs usually shoot fine with the pressure point. Something else is wrong. That powder and bullet combo should at least shoot 2 MOA in a gun that didn't like it.

Just to say it, I use 58 gr of H 4831sc under a 130 gr bullet. So, using it under a 140 gr bullet might be a bit warm.

As for the rifle, I’d open up the channel in the stock. Then I’d check and recheck all screws in the stock and scope mount. I’d probably swap out the scope with one you trust. Then I’d start load work up nearer minimum.

When problems like the OP’s show up in my life, seems like it’s the scope or scope mount/rings more often than anything else.

But, if the rifle keeps shooting 5” groups, I’d get another rifle. The only time I ever saw a rifle shoot groups that bad (for any reason) was when the rifling in Dad’s 30/30 finally gave it up. Got a new barrel.

What Chad says! Something is seriously wrong with the bases, mounts, rings. Be sure to remove the base or bases, don't just visually check it. Take it off, clean both contact surfaces, put it back on, add a bit of LokTite, torque it to specs, and then torque everything else to spec as you add them to the pile.

Yep all of the above with my bet being the scope itself has gone bad.

That load is the MAX listed in the Nosler manual. I'd back off some.

But that wouldn't account for the bad groups. I don't think the sled sled is responsible either.

Is this an old barrel? I'd suspect that it may be worn out.

Also, is it possible to put the magazine in upside down in this rifle?

Do you have a Wheeler FAT wrench? I'd set the action screws to 35 inch pounds as a safe amount of tightening.

Yep, Occam's Razor Theory. Start with the most likely. Check bases/rings to insure that they are tight. Then pull a known scope off of something else and try it before chasing your tail everywhere else. Groups that size are most likely optical related.

Don't leave us hanging, OP. I wasn't kidding about an upside down magazine box. It's not always obvious which way is correct and the rifle will still assemble with it wrong (at least on some rifles). Checking this will take you 5 minutes.

Ok, here's what I have found so far. I found the right front scope ring screw loose. Completely removed scope, rings, & bases and re-installed from the bases up. Found the action torqued to 65 in. lbs. Loosened and re-torqued to 25 in. lbs. Haven't shot it yet to see if that makes a difference. I plan to this week. Backed the load off 1 1/2 gr. to 56.5 loaded 5 rounds. Upped it to 57 gr. loaded 5 and so on and so forth. We'll see what happens.

So, what was your range session result?