New guy here, but not to shooting and reloading. Based on reviews and comments on various forums decided to treat myself to a FN M70 FWT in 243. Mounted a Redfield 3X9 on it and headed to the range with a selection of proven handloads. Results were absolutely dreadful. Loads that group 1 MOA +or - in my Rem 700 and 788 were all over the paper. Have tried a number of variations of bullets and powders and still no joy. I am wondering if the free floating barrel is the problem. There is a big glob of bedding compound in front of the recoil lug for about 1/4 inch, the barrel sits in it (can see the impression of the witness mark on the barrel in it)and then a lot of thin, unsupported barrel. A lot of what I have read over the years suggests that the first several inches of barrel should be bedded, and then free float the rest. Even then a lot of sources recommend a pressure pad near the foend to dampen vibration. Is what I am seeing the normal bedding process and it works for eveyone else?

Working up another batch of reloads this weekend, IMR4350 and Hornady 100gr BTSP. Have added a shim of three layers of rubber electrical tape under the barrel just behind the front swivel in hopes it will dampen any errant vibrations.

I am a realist, this is a sporter weight hunting rifle and I don't expect sub MOA groups, but under 2 MOA would be nice. Most groups now are running 3-4 MOA +, barely okay for deer in the woods but not good enough for a deer or coyote at 200-250 yards. Oddly it seems to shoot cast better than jacketed, although only by a small margin.

This is a beautiful rifle, the stock design is great, the action is the smoothest of any rifle I have ever used, and the workmanship is as good as it gets. The fact it won't shoot is giving me fits.

Has anyone else had this problem and what did you do to fix it?

Rich, mine is a 90's claw extract .308 Featherweight made in New haven, but had the same issues. First I dug out the snot that served as bedding compound from the factory and full bedded it with Acuraglass gel. It was better, but still not what I expected from a Winchester. I fiddled around with layers of business card under the barrel about 1.5-2'' behind the for end tip. That combined with careful hand loads gave me sub 1" groups for the first three shots off a bench at 100yds, as the barrel heated past the first three though, groups opened to about 2.5".

I've been playing with mine using cast bullet loads without any real success, (2-3" at 50yds about the best it'll do with good bullets). On the other hand, a custom Mauser I built shoots sub 1" groups at 100yds with cast.

My M-70 Featherweight is a beautiful rifle, and good enough for hunting, but it took some doing to get the accuracy I wanted out of it. If accuracy were to go down hill, I'll send it out to JES Reboring and have either a .358 Winchester, or .338 Federal made of it.

Did a check today using a OAL length gauge. To just touch the rifling with either a 100gr Hornady BTSP or a Remington SPCL OAL would beed to be 2.91. Max OAL for the 243 is about 2.71, so there is a .2 jump to the rifling. Checked my Rem 788 and the diffenece was amazing, much, much less jump. In fact using the cannelure as a guide the bullets had barely a .1 jump to the rifling. According to SAAMI chamber specs the chamber length to the case mouth should be 2.055 with a 30 degree taper to the throat and then 2.259 to full rifling. Don't think the chamber is in spec. I am going to try seating reloads to max OAL and see if things get better, and also contact customer service to send it back. I didn't pay this kind of money for a rifle with an out of spec barrel.

Rifle came back from Winchester yesterday, no work done on it. Included were two groups, 80 gr Federal 3/4" CTC and 95 gr Hornady, .8 CTC. I was amazed, as the rifle hated Fed 100 gr and wasn't too fond of R-P 100gr SPCL. I know rifles prefer some ammo over others but did not expect this much difference. Apparently I am going to have to do a lot of shooting to work up loads to match this, but I know it will shoot with the ammo it likes.

Remounted the scope in Millet bases and rings and tried it. There was nothing with the rifle to indicate they did anything to it but with the same handloads that were hard pressed to hold 3" it now grouped into 1.5", maybe a touch less. Only thing I can think of is they torqued the action screws evenly, or maybe it needed more break in to settle down. I ordered a torque wrench as a precaution. Hopefully we will have a warm spell before spring and I test it some more this winter.