I was at the range on Father's Day because it was not busy. Took along my .257 Weatherby Accumark for some light load development. I had purchased this rifle new over a decade ago and at first was very disappointed in it - few loads would group under 1.5 moa. I finally took it to a gunsmith who had a lot of experience with the aluminum "bedding block" used in these rifles. He had nothing good to say about that feature, so I instructed him to re-bed the rifle. A week later I received the rifle back and proceeded to put together some of the better loads. Low and behold, now it was difficult to find any load which would group over 1 moa.

That was some years ago, and getting the rifle out again reminded me of that great success story. If your Accumark - or any rifle with an aluminum bedding block in the stock - is not performing up to your expectations, consider having the block milled away and the action 'glass bedded into the stock.

My 100 yard groups on Sunday were all with the Hornady 120HP, one of my favorites, with two different powders and four different charge weights. The aggregate for the four groups shown - fired consecutively with none of that "called shots excluded" BS - was 0.67 moa. The white square measures exactly 1". Four different loads, hard to pick a winner.

Very nice.

My younger brother has the Accumark as well and his was accurate right from the box. Had the trigger adjusted and it was good to go. He loads the Sierra 117gr and 120s as well as the Barnes 100gr bullets. He has taken both elk and deer with his rifle.

I'm glad your brother was lucky with his Accumark. Certainly, many are very good from the factory, but at least for a period of time the stock supplier did a poor job of positioning the bedding block in the stock mold. The result was a poor fit for many of the rifles using that maker's stocks (Weatherby was not the only one who did).

But I could not be happier with the rifle now. It is a bit heavy for some types of hunting, but if a lot of shank's mare isn't required it makes an awesome hunting rig. The longest shot I've taken was 322 yards on a Kodiak Island blacktail. The 120 Hornady did the trick...



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