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AAC-SD issues... Upgrade or sell it and start over?

A

AZJonny

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 26, 2013
35
0
flagstaff, AZ
Hello everyone just looking for some opinions, I'm having some issues with my AAC SD. I've had it for about 2 months now and I just can't seem to get this thing to shoot consistently.

I bought this as an entry to the long range scene with the intent to shoot a lot and practice. So far I've spent the last 400 rounds just trying to work up a load. I've shot several ladders and groups using Lapua brass, Varget and 168/175g matchkings. I've shot several sub .5 moa groups but they aren't consistent and these same loads will shoot 1.5 moa on a different range trip. Everything is stock except I've shimmed the stock to free float it per a video I saw on 8541 Tactical. I'm using a bushnell HDMR with nightforce rings and base. I've considered upgrading the stock and trigger but I have a hard time justifying upwards of $700 for a stock for a $600 gun. Then I would need to replace the barrel, true the action and ect... I've read other threads with similar problems and I've heard Remington QC isn't what it used to be. I'm thinking about just selling it before i invest more time and money and buying something that doesn't need so much initial work to shoot well, such as a Howa, Tikka, or FN/ winchester 70. What do you guys think? Is it worth the hassle?

Thanks a lot!

-Jon
 
Guess it depends on you budget. If you are certain it is the gun, not you, and you have torqued everything to spec, and properly cleaned it. I would tell you to have the action trued and a new match grade barrel fitted. About $800 worth of work and you will be good to go.

There is a real likely hood you may not be happy with another brand either, so just fix what you got or sell it, and buy a custom action and build it up.

Or buy an AI or TRG, pretty safe bet they will shoot.
 
My aac-sd is consistently .5" or less and the only real "upgrade" ive done is put it in a bell and carlson A3. Not sure if this helps helps but I didn't bother to mess with the houge stock. Hopefully one day ill have an aics or A4 :D

I also worked up some hand loads with once fired ppu and rem brass, IMR 4350 and win 748, topped off with 178 AMAX.
 
If you're getting .5moa in the shitty hogue I'd say there is no issues. Those flyers are most likely the lack of bedding shifting shot to shot. Put it in a decent chassis and shoot the hell out of it.
 
You can buy a much better stock than that piece of shit hogue it comes with and "probably" solve this problem. A bell and Carlson medalist will run a couple hundred bucks, twice that for the tactical. I would bet 10 to 1 that the inconsistency is due too the hogue. Friend had similar results, cured it with a new stock. Ymmv
 
I agree with the redneck, my AAC-SD is a good shooter and I don't regret one bit dropping it into an AX chassis that cost about twice what I paid for the rifle. That POS Hogue doesn't do the rifle any justice and while it's serviceable it terms of allowing the shooter to hold the rifle to shoot it, it doesn't nothing for accuracy. Your rifle sounds like it is doing just fine so far and I would think that a few upgrades could turn it into more consistent long range rifle. You also don't have to spend more than the value of the rifle on a new stock, a $250 B&C stock is great improvement over the Hogue with the aluminum bedding block and free floated barrel channel. The B&C's are also pretty popular and if you decide you don't like it or finally move up to a different stock you should be able to get close to your money back. Add in an old-style Remington trigger that's pretty easy to tune which are readily available here on the Hide for like $50-60 and you've made some good upgrades for less than half the cost of the rifle.
 
You could also buy a like new HS stock in the for sale section or inquire that you would like to buy 1. I have bought many through the years and they are a great upgrade.
 
Sold the Hogue stock when I purchased mine, literally. All I carried out of the store was the barreled action. A fellow wanted it I sold it! I went home dropped it in my 5R takeoff and first load I tried shot .5 at a 100 and my 11 yr old son was calling shots at 700 yards with the rifle.
42.0 Varget
175 SMK
Lapua brass
Fed 210m
I am sure you have a stock issue, for a couple hundred bucks you can solve your problem and in the rare case it is some other issue you should be able to sell the rifle easier with the upgrade. On another note the rifle shoots just as well with the BC stock it currently wears.
 
I imagine it would be hard to sell that stock. Glad to hear some guys AAC's are shooting well seeing some threads had me worried. Are these the 20" or 16.5" versions? Also is the contour OD at the muzzle like all factory sendero/varmint contours? .820 range?
 
Change out the trigger for a Timney and buy a HS Precision take off stock from the sale section here. $350-$450 investment which you can get most of that back out. If it helps then you have a path to move forward, if not take the gun back to original and sell it, the trigger, and the stock. You could even wait on upgrading the trigger if you choose and save $130-$150.

The consensus is the biggest problem with the SPS line is the stock.
 
I'd buy a B&C for it. If it still doesn't shoot then sell the whole ordeal and start over. Buy an AI or TRG and don't look back, ever.
However if it shoots 0.5moa (though not consistently) with that that horrible POS crap Hogue I'll bet that it's shoots consistently with a stock that isn't made from scrap gummybears.
 
I replaced my hogue stock with a B&C medalist. Not the tactical just the plane jane medalist. I made sure the barrel was floated, bedded the action and scope rail. Did all the work my self. Worked up a load last week with 178 gr amax and 4064 and shot a .464 group at 100. I'm going to verify those results this week. Nothing wrong with buying used and they show up on here all the time. Save your self money and research the hell out of bedding work and do it yourself.
 
AZJonny said:
Hello everyone just looking for some opinions, I'm having some issues with my AAC SD. I've had it for about 2 months now and I just can't seem to get this thing to shoot consistently.

I bought this as an entry to the long range scene with the intent to shoot a lot and practice. So far I've spent the last 400 rounds just trying to work up a load. I've shot several ladders and groups using Lapua brass, Varget and 168/175g matchkings. I've shot several sub .5 moa groups but they aren't consistent and these same loads will shoot 1.5 moa on a different range trip. Everything is stock except I've shimmed the stock to free float it per a video I saw on 8541 Tactical. I'm using a bushnell HDMR with nightforce rings and base. I've considered upgrading the stock and trigger but I have a hard time justifying upwards of $700 for a stock for a $600 gun. Then I would need to replace the barrel, true the action and ect... I've read other threads with similar problems and I've heard Remington QC isn't what it used to be. I'm thinking about just selling it before i invest more time and money and buying something that doesn't need so much initial work to shoot well, such as a Howa, Tikka, or FN/ winchester 70. What do you guys think? Is it worth the hassle?

Thanks a lot!

-Jon
Click to expand...

Your post sounds like I wrote it right done down to the time, except I bought mine 3 months ago. My 20" AAC-SD was all over the place. I did find it liked 180g, hated 168 SMK, but still random with no true consistency. I could not find a load it liked. It hated everything I put in it. I was skeptical, but took the advise of others here and ordered a different stock. I picked up a Bell & Carlson Tactical Medalist Style 4 Series from Stocky Stock for $264 plus shipping. Yesterday it came UPS, bolted on in 5 mins and headed to the range. I didn't even take the time to do any adjustments, fit perfect.

I learned a really great lesson in harmonics and how it can effect the accuracy of a gun. I finally shot my first .5 moa group and it was with the 168 SMK my gun hated so much. By the way, a bonus, the recoil feels about half that it was with the Houge. At least for me, it has been worth every penny for the stock. Now I have a great starting point with consistency.
 
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Moral of the story…Hogue stocks are a turd.

I have both a 20" and a 16.5" AAC-SD and they both produce sub MOA groups. You will notice inconsistent groups with the Houge stock, especially if you are using a bipod. If you shoot the Hogue resting off of bags you get more consistent results, but flex the fore end in the slightest and accuracy starts to suffer.

Drop it in a B&C stock for a quick fix. ;-)
 
Dropped mine into a Manners. But the real problem I found was 3 tenths of an inch freebore. Had .375 cut from chamber end and then rechambered to my handloads with .015 to .020 jump. Shoots great now but I wouldn't call it an honest 1/2 moa rifle.
 
there are so many complaints about that stock i would of told you the same thing even lonewolf tossed that turd out and replaced it . there is a video on youtube of a guy called jcguns he does replaces the stock and even gives it a better thread protector for it with a bigger recese.... got the rifle to shoot pretty well...... im thinking of getting the 16.5 barrel
 
OP, the good thing is your are asking now before you sink any more money into your project.

I think many shooters go through this phase until they realize the futility of throwing money at problems. I think the biggest issue is not setting proper goals ahead of time.

I have two 700's in 308, the first is a sps varmint and it has been through several stocks (walnut m40, B&C, HS, XLR and back to HS LTR). My sps-tac the same but ended up in a McMillan HTG.

Rifles, stocks and trigger alone: SPS-Tac $1300, SPS-Varmint $900. All that and they are still stock rifles.

Years of loading and they will consistently shoot sub moa, but similarly they will have their bad days (or I do). The saving grace was running out of varget and switching to RL15

Looking back, I would have put all that money together and purchased a custom from the get go, or at least had the first rifle trued and rebarreled with a Bartlein, Krieger or Benchmark.


I am content with the SPS-Tac as my focus and goal has changed from punching small paper groups to first round hits at distances up to 700Y. This is a realistic goal for a stock rifle. Chasing bugholes in a Stock Remmy can leave you despondent, especially when (in my case), you go sight in a new Tikka or Fn hunting rifle and shoot cloverleaf after cloverleaf.

Having been there, you have a few options. Get on one of the rebarrel group buys and go full custom with the receiver you have now, Manners or McMillan stock, or just buy a new or used custom rifle. In the end it will keep hair on your head.

Good Luck.


Edit: After thought, to add to downhills comment. I borrowed headspace guages for a milsurp purchase and just for S&G's tried them in both of my Remingtons. They both closed on No-Go guages, plenty of meat for the Field guage, but man these chambers are whores. I had been using a bump guage but never really put two and two together. Just a thought.
 
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Thanks for the input so far guys, I appreciate it.

Sounds like the stock could be the culprit. I'll either buy a bell and carlson or borrow my friends HS stock off of his 700p and test it out. I would love a manners or mcmillan but that's a luxury stock that I wouldn't want to invest in until I sort out some issues.

I would probably sell it before I replace the barrel or true the action. I would rather use a better action for a base for a custom build then do a complete overhaul on this. If I can get it to shoot around .75 moa consistently then I would be happy.

Maybe my expectations are too high but an accurate gun sure helps your confidence at long range. I use to have a savage that would commonly shoot under .5 with all kinds of loads and it's certainly not the case with this rifle. I'll swap the stock and see how it works out.

Also I've heard from a bench rest shooter that the barrel might have carbon fouling build up, what do you guys think?

Thanks guys!
 
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I think you should swap the stock and shoot it. About the only thing that POS hogue is good for is some black smoke out of the fire pit. It's not the action, it's not the barrel, it's not carbon buildup, it's the shitty stock.
 
AZJonny said:
Thanks for the input so far guys, I appreciate it.

Sounds like the stock could be the culprit. I'll either buy a bell and carlson or borrow my friends HS stock off of his 700p and test it out. I would love a manners or mcmillan but that's a luxury stock that I wouldn't want to invest in until I sort out some issues.

I would probably sell it before I replace the barrel or true the action. I would rather use a better action for a base for a custom build then do a complete overhaul on this. If I can get it to shoot around .75 moa consistently then I would be happy.

Maybe my expectations are too high but an accurate gun sure helps your confidence at long range. I use to have a savage that would commonly shoot under .5 with all kinds of loads and it's certainly not the case with this rifle. I'll swap the stock and see how it works out.

Also I've heard from a bench rest shooter that the barrel might have carbon fouling build up, what do you guys think?

Thanks guys!
Click to expand...

Borrowing your buddy's stock is the exact right thing to do(with a couple of boxes of GMM to take out the other variables). But on the action don't kid yourself, a Remington 700 will shoot as good as any once it has been cleaned up and a match barrel fitted(heck, many custom actions are clones of it made under tighter tolerances and a few step up features) YOu could end up with problems with almost any of the other high production actions as well, and have fewer resources in the aftermarket to fix it with. Just friendly advice. Now if you want to sell it off and build one out of a custom action, that would be the very best way to go, but it can be more expensive (from an all at once standpoint), and very time consuming(To the point I would look for a used AE or TRG (with a couple of test targets)and call it a wash once your time is factored in). I guess what I am saying is selling a mass produced action to replace it with another mass produced action, may not get you where you want to be, but it could. Just no assurances.
 
Everyone has said it already it is most likely your stock. So test with a better stock first and foremost if you are sure everything is torqued to spec. I am in the Phx area along with many other members here. I am sure someone would let you barrow a stock for testing and even be a second shooter to double check the rifle. The AZ group, great bunch of guys that have more knowledge then one could hope to gain in a lifetime, have a upcoming long range class. I think it is $40 for the class and is a 1/2 day. I think that fee also gets you into there monthly match the following day. I have shot that a few times and let me tell you I gained more the 2 times I shot it then reading and shooting gave me in 1 year. I spoke with Steve, Tim, Scott, and Matt at the matches and learned so much about my shooting and they have always helped with questions or guidance. Might be worth checking it out to make sure you are forming good habits and pushing the rifle to its limits.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/AZ-Long-Range-Precision-Rifle-Shooting/164398953597150?ref=br_tf

Found the post

"Alright boys and girls, we will be putting on a 4 hour clinic on Saturday December 21st (8am-12) and our match will be on Sunday December 22nd starting at 8am. Cost is $40 and it covers positional shooting off of most of our props (scrambler, play set, roof tops, rock, barricade, t-post) with 1 or 2 instructors per area, dope gathering, and your match fee for Sunday if you choose to shoot it.(Highly recommended). Plan on bringing 100 rounds of ammo for Saturdays clinic and 50 rounds for Sundays match. Sign up here, clinic limited to the first 30 people. Phoenix Rod and Gun club in the wash behind the practical pistol bays, targets out to 420 yards."
 
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I traded my Houge stock off to my LGS along with a no name bipod for a Harris Tilt model bipod they had taken in in trade...... the money didnt even get close to being even but I still feel like I came out better on that deal.

I droped mine aac into a HS I got in trade from a member here and could not be happier ...... well except if it was a folder.... :)
 
I have a small pile of Tupperware stocks from the Remington 700s I own.
When I was selling some of the take off parts (trigger, bottom metal) at least one Hider offered to buy the stock... I suggested to him that he could have it but it probably wasn't worth what it would cost to ship IMHO. He just wanted to be able to drop a barreled action he had sitting around in something so he didn't care how bad it was, but found something locally instead. I could not in good conscience "sell" one of those stocks.

My AAC-SD (in an HS Precision Police stock) shoots sub MOA with FGMM 168 and some loads I've developed for it, but at one point it was shooting really bad regardless of what I fed it.
I got somewhat aggressive cleaning the barrel and the biggest pieces of copper fouling I've ever seen came out all at once. Without a bore scope I can only guess, but that guess would be the rifling finish leaves a bit to be desired, so now I stay on top of the copper fouling.

OP, keep your eye out for an HS Precision stock off a 5R, they come up for a reasonable price. It will most likely turn that barreled action into a consistent good shooter.

Joe
 
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