down at the range the other week, fella shows up trying to sight in an old '94 winchester (new acquisition for him) in 356win. i shot it a little bit from the bench, as did he. thing wouldn't group worth a lick. he thinks the scope (an old steel tubed weaver) might be the culprit, since it had somewhat lousey eye relief for the rifle, and possibly out of wack from year of sitting in the previous owner's closet.

my question is, for anyone who had experience with this gun and/or round is this typical behaviour for the rig, or could it be that something's wrong either with the gun or the scope? or, since it was being fed an old box or factory ammo, did it simply not like load?

Curtis,

POP in Wyoming has a Winchester .356 that shoots tiny groups with cast bullets, but only AFTER he put a proper scope on the gun.

On the gun you shot, it could be the scope (or mounts), ammo, bore condition, crown, barrel, etc.

George

General Lemay Have your friend take the scope off the 356. Shoot the Iron sights at 50 and 100 yds. This should answer your question, "Is it the rifle or the scope". The 356 should be an excellent hunting rig. If I was going to scope one I would use a Leupold 1.5X5, or a 1.75X6 with the HEAVY DUPLEX. How bad were the groups?

first of all, thanks for your responces guys.

just remembered something i forgot to post, he mentioned the rings or the mount loosening up, but after he'd tightened it, it still shot poorly.

450,
from what he told me, he got decent group with the scope at 25 yds. then the mount loosened. he tightened it, shot a littloe more, got a better group (still at 25 yds). once he moved it out to 100, groups ceased to exist, and a rather nice shot patteren emerged.

my guess is he will probably take the scope off, once he gets more ammo (only had about 1 box of loaded factory stuff that came with the gun)

my main question was whether or not these rigs or the round was known for poor accuracy (such as the old winchester self loaders, which i'd kill to get a hold of) or if it's a typical battle to the death against the accuracy gremlins.

[ 08-04-2002, 00:08: Message edited by: Curtis_Lemay ]

I have a 94 in 356 and have had no problems with how it shoots. Mine wheres a 1.5x4.5 scope and shoots small groups with factory and handloaded ammo.The 356 is a great round, best of luck getting your buddies to group.

have both a win and a marlin in 356 win. have a redfield 23/4 and a weaver 21/2 on them. use the speer max load with h322 and the speer 220 gr flat point. consistant 0.75" groups @75 yds. the early win 94 356 chamberings used a front base with the holes bored radially--not parallel to bore. us repeating arms still has these in stock but you have to argue with them and inform them they exist. stock weaver rings fit a little funny on these early bases--it takes a little fiddling. if this fellow is a hunter, he'll figure it out. if not, he'll find a ready market for the arm.--cb

I recently acquirred a Browning BLR in .358 Win. that would not shoot worth a damn. Scope was an old steel tube Weaver 1.5x4.5W. This scope had a parallax problem you could not believe. I just sent it to the Weaver repair place in El Paso. They ain't cheap, but I liked the scope so I'll pay the freight.
Check out that scope and see if it has a parallax problem. Kind of sounds like you may have had trhe same problems as I did. Those older Weavers were darn good scopes for the money. I still have one that was made in 1948 and other than a lens has opalized somewaht, it still works fine. They were hell for stout.
Paul B.

Yes I do have one and it shoots great. My load is 49.5gr of Win 748 with cci-250 caps and the 220 gr Speer FP. Velocity is 2300+ fps and it will shoot under 1" at 100 yds IF you cool the barrel between shots. Unique and pistol 158gr bullets works great and shoots like a 22lr! Love it.!

I just came accross a NIB Win 94E in .356 today. The owner had a scope mounted then traded it for a Glock, go figure. Anyway the asking price was $195 with the cheap Bushnell 3x9. I'm torn between this and a M96 sweede. I don't really need either but since when has it ever been a question of need. Given it's nice shape I'm very tempted to pick up this Winchester. What do you think? The seewde had a great bore, disk said 6.51 and was all matching cept for the bolt which matched itself. They wanted $150 for the sweede. These are absolute steals in Kalifornia.

Thanks,

Mike

Mike-depends on the mission if versatility is needed the .356 hands down-you can load all the .38 pistol bullets and 180-220 gr rifle,but stock up on brass.
6.5x55 -pleasant,very accurate,performs way beyond printed tables would lead you to believe.Proven projectile and launching platform .-Rawhider