Hello fellow Encore shooters:

I know this is not a "pistol" topic but this seems to be where the Encore owners hang out. I have got a serious vertical stringing problem with my new custom Encore from one of the custom gunmakers highly touted on this board. The gun has a 26" bull barrel in 22-250. It has the free-floated fore-arm system and I had a custom laminated stock and fore-end as well as a trigger job done on the frame. The gun has a 4-12 Nikon Monarch scope with Warne Rings and a six hole scope mount base.

The horizontal component of my accuracy with this barrel is awesome. However, the vertical component is another story. This barrel is guaranteed to shoot 1" groups or less and while I have shot some sub-MOA groups with it, even they were vertically stringed.

I broke the barrel in following the custom barrel makers recommendations and have worked up loads from 10% under max to max very methodically in .2 grain increments with H-4895 and Varget using 52 grain Sierra and Hornady match bullets using CCI 200 and Winchester Lr primers. I only changed one component at a time. No matter what combination I try I get vertical stringing so I am going to quit wasting powder until I figure out what is going on.

Any suggestions??? Please don't tell me to check my scope and mounts!! I will contact the custom gun maker on Monday to see if they can offer some advice. I'm sure this gun is capable of some good accuracy, I'm just unsure how to get it out of it.

Oh and by the way, I don't think that it is all me. I have a bolt action .270 that will shoot 1/2" groups in my hands. And if the problem was my shooting I don't think that my windage would be as close as it is in my groups. Thanks for any suggestions guys.

8 Point. This might sound crazy but with one of my contender barrels I used a custom free floated forend and got stringing all of the time. Took me a while but after trying everything I could think of I got some electric tape folded over and put it between the forend and barrel in the front to put some upward pressure on the barrel. When I got the right ammount of pressure by adding more tape my stringing was gone. I put a factory forend on it and it didn't string at all and groups were MOA. Most all my others have the hanger bar on them and they shoot great.

[ 01-19-2003, 00:56: Message edited by: Jules ]

Jules has a point, free floated doesn't mean BEST. Some barrels will shoot better fully beded.

Q. How long do you wait between shots? I have seen what would be super accurate rifles , string because of heating up. Both the owners and I would never have guessed we were shooting too fast, couldn't be. We shot at a "normal", slow rate, it shot nice, but was open in a vertical stretch. When we waited two or more minutes between shots, it would dump them into tiny litlle groups. Shoot at a seemingly normal, slow range pace, and you gut nice groups.. but just nice, no beter.

Your right Cas and I sure noticed that in my semi autos. Might I add to also try snugging a sand bag up against the triggerguard, beneath the back of the fore-end and front of the receiver.

Alright 8point going to ask a dumb question. Did you make sure that the bolt that holds the frame to the stock is tight. I have with certain barrels tightened it prior to shooting only to find that after the range session it had loosened up under recoil.

Most of the time, vertical stringing is a due to a deviation in chamber pressure. If you have a chronograph, set it up and determine your standard deviation. If it's high, then pressure is your problem. If not, if could be forend pressure on the barrel as it heats up.

Another thing to look for is a tight fit to the frame. Make certain that when your barrel locks into the frame it has zero play. Of course, a loose barrel will normally throw them all over the place. It's still worth a look.

Also, if it's my barrel, I'll be happy to take care of it.

Try setting the forend on the bag in the same position, and try to keep the same amount of pressure on the forend. Encores are prone to this problem because you can never truly freefloat the barrel.
I can offer two suggestions.
1. Only use one screw into the forend. I get better accuracy with one rather than two screws.
2. Attach a bipod. This will help by making sure the pressure is on the same point of the forend every time.

I would normally suggest that you check to make sure that the hinge pin is tight. However, I suspect the barrel maker is VVG, and they prefer to have you send it in to them if there is two much slop.

Let us know if you figure it out.

I have a custom maker barrel in one of the 7MM calibers (won't mention which one). I had bad horizontal stringing as the barrell heated up. I sent it to one of the cyrogenic treaters that adv. in IHMSa news.
This solved the problem. I guess it had some internal stresses in it.
Jim

If the case head sticks out of the barrel more than the barrel-to-frame gap measures, the breech face is cramming the case into the chamber when you snap the barrel shut. This puts a "pre-load" on the frame, which is not likely to be consistent from shot to shot, and can cause vertical stringing.

The solution is to adjust your size die so your sized cases do not stick out of the chamber too far. And if the size die will not push the shoulders back enough, then shorten the size die until it will.

I have had situations where cases too long from head to shoulder would string shots at least two feet at about 200 yards. Bumped the shoulders back where they belonged and the stringing vanished.

"Play" at the hinge pin will also let the barrel work up and down from shot to shot.

Two things to look at are Oversize Hinge Pins and my Headspace Indicator. Articles are on www.bellmtcs.com and the red dot "Bellm Store" take you to my online store.

Solutions beat frustrations any day.

Mike

I think that I have found my problem thanks to your suggestions. I took the fore-end off yesterday and shot the rifle with the back of the hanger bar resting on the front sandbag. Now it is hard as heck to hold steady resting only on a 1/2" wide bar but my worst group was 1.3 and my best group was .65" and they were round not vertical. I have definitely got some pressure on the barrel with the fore-end installed.

Thanks for all of your help guys. 8point

8Point,
Make sure the screw that holds the forend to the hanger bar isn't to long. If it's to long, when you tighten it, it's going through the hanger bar and making contact with the barrel. If that be the case, shorten the screw by grinding some off.