gjmon Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm a Newbie to this forum and have been reading your comments concerning R1 accuracy. I just bought one, followed the barrel break-in procedure for the first 10 rounds, then shot 2 successive 3 round groups. The first was a 3/4" group with Remington 150gr Pointed Soft point Core-Lock. The second was with Super X 150gr Power Point.....1/2" grp...all three touching. This is all at 100yds. I have worked my trigger down to a crisp 2lbs 13oz also... Mounted a Burris Fullfield Ballistic Plex 3.5-10X50mm on Weaver Quad Rings..... I'm really liking this rig for quick follow up shooting in the deer woods..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted February 7, 2007 Share Posted February 7, 2007 Very nice! Remember to deduct the bullet diameter from the overall group size to compute the true group size. If you haven't already done so, disassemble the gun and re-assemble, then test for zero. A lot of R1's would lose zero when taken apart and put back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjmon Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 Technically, my group sizes posted earler were (measured center to center) .780" and .435". I completely disassembled the rifle for cleaning---I am a nut about cleaning---so I will be sure to report any point of impact change with the PowerPoints. The Rem 150gr PSP printed roughly 2" higher and 1/2" left of the PowerPoints during the first grouping session...... Has anyone got any reloading tips for the R1?......I've never reloaded for semi-auto rifles before. Have had good success with 7mm mags, 22-250's, .308, 30-06, 338 Rem Ultra mags but all in my bolt guns.... This is my first auto.. Wouldn't even consider one until I heard about the R1's accuracy potential. (and I've testified to its truth) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjmon Posted February 7, 2007 Author Share Posted February 7, 2007 I'm using .308 Forster bench rest dies for my R1 reloading. I crimped my first few test rounds with a Lee Factory Crimp die. The overall length, with the bullet seated about .010" off the lands, was considerably longer than I expected. 168gr TripleShocks and 150gr Ballistic Tips both grouped poorly over 45.5gr of Varget with GM210M primers and Hornady full length sized brass. As stated earlier, both the Rem & Winchester Wal-Mart 150gr low-tech ammo grouped wonderfully. I guess I should be satisfied...and am, to a degree. I would just like to load up a bunch of the components I already have and maybe get a little better downrange performance from the newer line of bullets....Accurately. It don't count if it won't go where I tell it to go...... Anyone got some helpful information for me or know of any links to the R1 .308 reloading data.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim630 Posted February 9, 2007 Share Posted February 9, 2007 Pretty nice gjmon. In fact really nice. I have a R1 300 WSM. I have had problems getting to 1.5" consistently..... Even went as far as sending the gun back to Benelli. I have begun thinking it was something I was doing, and have an idea or two. Anxious to get back out once the temps become reasonable. Here in WI we have been struggling to get to 10 during the days. Way....to cold for me. Congrats on your groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joepepito Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Hi GJMON can you give me part numbers for you Weavers and the Burris scope?.. I am not in the USA and I am trying to find a rig that gives me those kind of numbers.. Thanks a lot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tucker301 Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 Weaver rings Burris Scope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjmon Posted February 16, 2007 Author Share Posted February 16, 2007 I shot a few more groups with my .308 R1 this last weekend after giving it a thorough strip down sure 'nuff barrel cleaning to remove all, and I mean all, copper fouling. I was interested to see how, and where, it grouped after such treatment. Right off the bat it shot about 2" to the left of its previous zero with group sizes near 2". After several rounds it, once again, settled back down (still to the left though). My last 4 shot group size was right at 1/2" with a Barnes 168gr Triple Shock handload of Hodgdon BLC(2) and GM210M's. I guess a thousandth of an inch here and there (where the components are trying to resettle to each other) matters. I'll be shooting again this coming weekend after a normal cleaning...with no disassembly involved. I will see how only a modest barrel cleaning affects things...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smong2000 Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 I haven't been shooting my R1 very much but noticed similar behavior after really cleaning the barrel in my '06 and attributed it to my form or trigger pull. Mine settled back to about 1" (with Winchester 165 Walmart ammo) after 2 pretty sloppy 2-3 inch groups. I am really interested in what you did to your trigger and how complicated it was. Mine went back to service and they said it was in spec. (under 6.5lbs?) but seems lighter than when I sent it in. I have degreased it, exercised it extensively, and then molycoated whatever was exposed and this smoothed it up but it still is heavy to my taste. I haven't ventured to disassemble anything yet for warranty reasons but your results tempt me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjmon Posted February 18, 2007 Author Share Posted February 18, 2007 I have mixed feelings about discussing trigger related issues. Some people need not mess with them at all. Someone can really be hurt by another's quest for that perfect trigger. I will however say that I have worked on the triggers of virtually every gun I own...except my shotguns. The R1 trigger design doesn't lend itself to much possibility of aftermarket drop-in replacements to lighten them up. Because of liability exposure, modification of (or replacement of) springs and the "significant" removal of metal...beyond polishing to smooth out surface roughness....is inadvisable. I will tell you that on my personal R1, doing the work myself and for only myself, I completely disassembled my trigger mechanism and made some SUBTLE and completely reversible changes. Where the most progress toward lightening, and smoothing, things up was in the polishing --- making the things that were supposed to slide against (and inside) each other do so, and smoothly. Look at the assembled trigger mechanism from the side. Notice how the sear contact portion of the hammer, when it is reset upon firing (or here, cocking by hand) pushes between the spring loaded safety catch area (which prevents fully auto fire) and the sear catch area, temporarily spreading them apart as the hammer's sear notch passes by them. These two parts pivot, one inside the other, under spring tension that acts to keep them "closed" on the hammer's sear notch. When I removed those parts from mine I found that, even with their spring removed, they didn't freely pivot one inside the other. There was enough side surface contact between them that the spring was needed just to return them to the closed position after the hammer notch passed between them. Here I used 1000 grit wet-or-dry wrapped around a flat file and polished the inside surfaces of the one and the flat outer sides of the other until they moved freely on the pivot pin in my hand. Combined with a 2000 grit "touching up polishing" on other contact areas...bringing them to a mirror like polish....slicked my trigger right up. I did not remove any metal....only polished. Now my trigger movement has to only overcome the spring pressure of the "first stage" of travel (movement before the actual contact with the sear) and then the smooth crisp "second stage" release of the sear. The design of this trigger system is pretty slick. It works just fine without the hair-edged sear contacts of other designs. Trigger travel is smooth, not excessively long and controllably crisp. Again, trigger work is delicate and needs to be done only by qualified individuals. Done correctly and with absolute safety is paramount. Hope this helped........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smong2000 Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Thank you, excellent advice. I always touch up my triggers and may take this one apart some day, but not right yet. I'll degrease again and see if I can detect resistance in those bearing surfaces. There's probably some Moly bonded in there now and I can't 'wear them in' anymore but if they are stiff enough to merit it I can put some jewler's rouge or other metallurgical abrasive in and work it smooth that way. I agree with you in that 90% of trigger issues can be addressed by simply polishing up the contact surfaces and lubricating them so they stay that way. I guess I was hoping for a 'magic bullet' that doesn't exist. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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