27 August 2002, 12:31
Greg KFrustration - A long story
I've been working on getting an accurate load for a 250 Savage 15" Encore for close to a year. Been getting good three shot groups but for five shots, two shots from the group seem to go off by themselves. Best groups have been in the 2-3" range at 100 meters. I had a Burris 2-7X on it.
I decided to remove the scope, and mounted it on a 14" 44 Mag Contender. Got sighted in at 25 yds. with about 6 shots, then went to fine tune at 100 meters and on about the 10th shot the scope went blurry, now it looks like something came loose inside the scope. So off to Burris it goes tomorrow. My question to you guys....could this scope have been my problem all along?
I have an identical scope on my Virgin Valley 13" Encore barrel and I'm getting the same type of groups. I'm loosing confidence in the scope.
Now I'll admit I'm not Annie Oakley, but I had a 260 Rem 15" barrel on this frame with a 4X Leupold and would keep inside 1.75" all day and be on a gallon milk jugs out to 200 meters every time. Unfortunately I sold this barrel for the custom one. And I shot into 3.5" for three shots at 150 meters with my 357 Max 10" barrel with a 2X Nikon the same day.
I have the factory rubber forend on the Encore and I've tried resting the gun differently, but no change. (Point of impact does change though).
I've narrowed down the cause to the forend, the scope, or me. I don't think the barrels are the problem. I've seen a guy at the range shooting his TC's with the barrel on the rest. Should I try it this way? Any suggestions? I'm about ready to quit on the Encore (and Burris).
Greg
I'm going through that same problem and idea with my .17 AckBee. Three tight, two wide. Starting to suspect the scope. It's easy to figger out I guess, check each shot through the spotting scope. (can't see .17's through the 6x) Check and see if they go one in, one out, one in.. and so on. My problem is I havn't been shooting much. Shot this barrel three times in 5 months. I keep forgetting to shoot the groups this way!!! (My practice is to NEVER look through the spotting scope between shots, when shooting for groups)
28 August 2002, 15:44
Greg K[/QUOTE]
My first guess would be the scope or mount/rings that is causing the problem.[/QUOTE]
I've triple checked the mount and rings. The Virgin Valley barrel has one of their six screw bases and I'm using burris Z rings. I'm thinking it's the scope.
Greg
Mssmag... conversly... I did once blow a world record type group because I didn't look through the spotting scope. Shooting my 309.. I fired the first four.. but saw one hole. Figured my scope was way off and that I was off paper. So I pulled the 5th shot (and last loaded shell) way off to the right on purpose. Nearly died when I walked down and saw the first four had all just about gone in the same hole. Doh!
30 August 2002, 10:01
Rich JakeGreg
I have been in contact with cas in his situation I think it might be the scope.
Are the rings holding onto the base tight enough?
Is the base attached to the barrel well enough?
I had a problem a while back & couldn't figure it out my point of aim kept changing. I'd zero it in & the next time I try it, the point of aim changed again. I kept checking the scope in the rings. Turned out the screws that held the base to the barrel were backing out. I had lock tighted them in, couldn't under stand it. After taking it apart to fix it. I found out the things I was using to clean the exterior of the barrel was getting in the holes & freeing the screws from the lock tight.
Have you tried a different scope or sights on it?
These are the only things that I could think of off the top of my head.
Rich Jake
30 August 2002, 10:15
JulesGreg, Make sure the grip and forend screws are not comming loose. I have had this happen to me a couple of times. But ya can't over tighten them either.
30 August 2002, 10:25
GeorgeSGreg,
Here's a few more things to consider:
- if shots 4 and 5 are the fliers, it may be that the barrel is heating up and 'warping'; wait 1 minute between shots.
- your rings are not aligned properly; lap them and see if the problem disappears.
- your barrel sucks, or it wasn't chambered/crowned/welded correctly; return it to the customizer/manufacturer (what sort of accuracy were you led to believe you'd get?).
- it's you; have someone else shoot the gun (preferably someone who doesn't rest their barrel on the front bag!
![[Eek!]](images/icons/shocked.gif)
). - it's the scope; the new/repaired scope should do better.
- it's your loads; change primers, brass, bullets, weigh, segregate, and detail your brass and bullets, weigh each charge instead of throwing them with a measure.
Are you getting double grouping? Vertical/horizontal/diagonal stringing? How far away are those two errant shots? Do they always land in the same place relative to the other three shots?
George
[ 08-30-2002, 01:35: Message edited by: GeorgeS ]
30 August 2002, 14:18
Stan DebickGreg,
GeorgeS gave you some good advice on the previous post. I would like to make one additional suggestion - check your forend screw(s). When the forend is snug, do the screws actually make contact with the barrel? I had one barrel that shot great with a Pachmyer forend on it. Put the wood one on, and all bets were off. I screwed around (no pun intended) with it for weeks. Finally, I noticed that when the screw bottomed out on the wood forend, it would still "rock" back and forth the tiniest amount. The movement was barely perceptible. I realized then that the screw was going the whole way through the lug and bottoming out on the barrel. I ground about an 1/8" off the end of the screw and cleaned it up with a die. I reinstalled the wood forend, went back to the bench, and the problem was gone. Its definately worth a look, and is cheaply fixed if it is your problem.
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