Thoughts:
There's Remington M700's in droves capable of shooting well under a half minute. Some are absolute tack drivers right out of the box.
How is that possible when there's an equal (greater?) number that are "minute of pringles can lid" at best when shot from 100 yards?
A broken clock is right twice a day. . .
The easiest way for me to describe this is with drag racing. I give this speech at least 5 times a week so it's well rehearsed.
If we want to hemorrhage money the way the pros do, lets go drag racing in an NHRA Pro Class. Your average competitive Pro Stock guy has around $180K+ tied up in the engine.
If your a true sicko you'll spend another 50-100K and buy camshafts by the chord and spend countless hours on the dyno looking for another 5 or 10 hp. Horsepower that anywhere else doesn't mean a damn thing. You'll never realize it on the street or even on a circle track.
But in a Pro class drag car where both drivers can catch a .405 light and have crew chiefs capable of setting up the clutches well and guessing the weather, you'll be giving everyone a nice view of your tail lights.
They'll never catch you.
The important thing here is that you first spent the $180K to get the 1350 horsepower to even be competitive. Anything less and you leave the car on the trailer. It's a waste of time.
Such is the same in precision gun making and your 1350hp is found with a premium grade barrel. Take your pick as there are several.
Once you have this it should be fitted by someone qualified/educated on how to thread a tennon and cut a chamber well.
The last "5 to 10" hp in a gun is with the accurizing, lapping, bedding, fiddling, etc.
Take the greatest bed job'd, trued receiver'd gun in the world and it'll be an absolute dawg if you have a lemon of a barrel on it.
The random fliers that are off call, the unexplaned elevation, ammunition sensitivity, wandering zeros, etc; these are the things that the little details like accurizing help mitigate.
If your on the fence consider what your free time is worth to you. Take into account the fuel, time away from family (unhappy spouse?), expense of ammunition, time off from work, match fees, hunting/guide fees, etc. . . Factor all this in and bounce off of whether or not your getting the most enjoyment from your hobby/passion.
Many consider the added expense of these kinds of services as a savings/investment because they have greater confidence/assurance that their rifle will provide more positive/reliable feedback when shooting.
I'm not trying to play salesman. It's a personal choice. We've barreled a whole lot of M700's with no peripheral machine work and the results have been overwhelmingly positive. Just know that there may be an unexplained random flier occassionally.
Hope this helps.
Homeward bound. We finally have nice weather!
C.
