Remington 540X need help with accuracy

[michaelh1951]

Hi all

I have acquired a 540X, and it's not delivering the kind of accuracy I expect. I'm trying to sort this out and would greatly value help. It may simply be what I'm doing, or in the worst case it may be worn out.

Externally it's in pretty good shape, but for all I know it might have been a badly abused high school team rifle. I don't see any obvious damage to the crown, but I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for...

It's giving me typically 3 MOA groups at 50 and 100 yards outdoors. Indoors at 50 feet, I can put 10 rounds in a dime sized hole, but that's still far short of what I expect.

Two important factors: I've got match grade ammo on order, but up to now all I've been able to use is "plinking" grade ammo, both standard and high velocity, so for all I know, this could be a factor...Any advice?

The other thing that seems suspicious to me (and I'd appreciate info from any 540X owner or expert) is that the bolt head has about 0.015 forward and backward play with respect to the bolt body. I've never seen a bolt so loose, but for all I know this might be normal in a 540X. The field service manual doesn't address this. If I pull the bolt head away from the bolt body, I can slip a feeler gauge in the gap.

Obviously, with the bolt closed this play is taken up, but????? I see this bolt has the locking lugs on the bolt body, so perhaps this is part of the design???

Any advice, guidance, help would be greatly appreciated. If any photos or other info helps someone provide advice, let me know.

I also haven't tried scrubbing the barrel, just ran a few wet patches down and followed with a few clean dry ones. I'm holding off on doing a strong cleaning pending advice

Thanks in advance...

[SharedShots]

More than a few rifle teams at the high school and collegiate level cleaned the bores from the muzzle end. I cringed watching Anschutz 1413 Super Match's being cleaned that way although those same rifles would produce 50' pinwheels all the time and they came through with 298/299 and 300s often enough so maybe its all voodoo.

Of all the 540Xs I've seen (not all that many but all with extensive firing history) the two-piece bolt had play although on lock they were tight and shot nicely, not Anschutz level amazing but nice.

Not knowing what ammo was used in it or for how long and how many, no matter what, clean the bore. You're not going after copper so avoid that hassle. I'd patch it, no brush with some good rimfire solvent and you'll see quick if its lead fouled badly or just waxed up. It comes down to the ammo used in it. Now, if someone before you was shooting hyper-velocity copper plated in it (why would someone do that, who knows) there might be some copper but even that is unlikely if it was originally used in comp firing match ammo.

[michaelh1951]

More than a few rifle teams at the high school and collegiate level cleaned the bores from the muzzle end. I cringed watching Anschutz 1413 Super Match's being cleaned that way although those same rifles would produce 50' pinwheels all the time and they came through with 298/299 and 300s often enough so maybe its all voodoo.

Of all the 540Xs I've seen (not all that many but all with extensive firing history) the two-piece bolt had play although on lock they were tight and shot nicely, not Anschutz level amazing but nice.

Not knowing what ammo was used in it or for how long and how many, no matter what, clean the bore. You're not going after copper so avoid that hassle. I'd patch it, no brush with some good rimfire solvent and you'll see quick if its lead fouled badly or just waxed up. It comes down to the ammo used in it. Now, if someone before you was shooting hyper-velocity copper plated in it (why would someone do that, who knows) there might be some copper but even that is unlikely if it was originally used in comp firing match ammo.

Thanks. That resolves my biggest concern: bolt falling apart

Yes, the two piece bolt is totally tight on lock, only shows play when open

I was not aware wax could be an issue, so I'll take your advice and clean it. I looked with a borescope and didn't see indications of lead, but there was something that might well have been wax.

[FeuerFrei]

Any time a get a new to me rifle/pistol I do a detailed cleaning and lube to establish safety and mechanical reliability base line before I shoot it. 22 bores/chambers tend to be grimy.

Get it as clean as possible and retest with known good match ammo. If this is expected to be a precision shooter then don't run value pack bucket o ammo stuff through it.

* I own a Remington M37 Rangemaster. It will shoot 1/4" at 50' with good ammo.

[Calif Hunter]

I would give it a good cleaning and shoot it with match ammo. Cheaper/bulk ammo just has too many variables that produce flyers. You may have to try several brands and lots to find what it likes. My 40X prefers Eley Match or Tenex at about 1058 FPS. I had a Kimber 82G that loved Wolf Match Extra (not Match Target.) At 50 yards indoors, either could shoot 5 shot groups at 50 yards not much bigger than a single .22 hole. Both have extremely light triggers.
Once you find the ammo it likes, I found it best not to clean until accuracy falls off. Then I would have to shoot several rounds before the rifle started doing its best again.

[FeuerFrei]

I would give it a good cleaning and shoot it with match ammo. Cheaper/bulk ammo just has too many variables that produce flyers. You may have to try several brands and lots to find what it likes. My 40X prefers Eley Match or Tenex at about 1058 FPS. I had a Kimber 82G that loved Wolf Match Extra (not Match Target.) At 50 yards indoors, either could shoot 5 shot groups at 50 yards not much bigger than a single .22 hole. Both have extremely light triggers.
Once you find the ammo it likes, I found it best not to clean until accuracy falls off. Then I would have to shoot several rounds before the rifle started doing its best again.

All good ammo choices IMO.

[michaelh1951]

Thank you all for comments!!!!!!! I'll do as you recommend.

Eley Tenex and Match are on order as is rimfire solvent

[RandyD]

I second the recommendations to clean the chamber and bore thoroughly and use quality match ammo. You will never know a rifle's potential until you do the above.

[kendog4570]

Try some Lapua Center X and Norma TAC-22 as well. The latest lots of TAC -22 are not as good as the earlier ones.

[ar15barrels]

I have acquired a 540X, and it's not delivering the kind of accuracy I expect.

It's giving me typically 3 MOA groups at 50 and 100 yards outdoors. Indoors at 50 feet, I can put 10 rounds in a dime sized hole, but that's still far short of what I expect.

Two important factors: I've got match grade ammo on order, but up to now all I've been able to use is "plinking" grade ammo, both standard and high velocity, so for all I know, this could be a factor...Any advice?

You are getting accuracy that is consistent with the quality of the ammo you are using.
Until you try better ammo, you won't really be able to see what the rifle is actually capable of.