What in general would cause the horizontal dispersion of a rifle fired from a bench rest to be double the vertical dispersion? The rifle in question is a new Remington 700 with synthetic stock in 30-06.

Clemson

Without a history of what the rifle likes there's no telling what it could be.
Meaning if this is the first time rounds have been put through it. Then maybe a change in ammo is what is needed.

But it could be a pressure point on the barrel. Loose guard screws?

But If it was my rifle I'd try some other ammo to see if it likes something else better

This is usually caused by bedding issues. Pressure at the forend, or, the barrel bouncing off the stock. If it's that cheap tupperware stock, then I would recommend cutting everything away from the barrel so it floats, and floats by a large margin. Those cheap plastic stocks have way too much flex to be much good.

In one instance I was able to trace such a problem to loose scope mount screws.

As said...it's more than likely a bedding issue!

Does it move in a certain horizontal direction as the barrel heats and then back the other way as it cools? If so, I would agree that you look in the barrel channel for contact points and relieve them. It might also be a barrel that was not properly stress relieved.

If it is random horizontal dispersion, I would look at the ammo, scope mounts, scope "innards", crown, and lastly bench technique.

And if you don't mind, get back to us with what you find is/fixes the problem so we all can learn something.

In general terms, horizontal stringing is normally the result of operator error.

quote:

Originally posted by Clemson:
What in general would cause the horizontal dispersion of a rifle fired from a bench rest to be double the vertical dispersion? The rifle in question is a new Remington 700 with synthetic stock in 30-06.

Clemson

Wind drift.

There are two pressure pads in the forend of the molded stock right at the tip. Those pads prevent the barrel from free floating. Ill try removing them and see what happens. I have fired the gun with two military (M2 Ball) loads and two handloads. The basic pattern is the same with everything I have shot. Scope is a brand new Redfield 3x9x50 in Leupold mounts. At 100 yards I am seeing about 3/4 inch high by around 1.5 inches wide groups. Thanks for the suggestions so far!

Clemson

I just went through this with a friend and his rifle. We were at the range shooting groups at 200 yards with our individual rifles. His rifle had been previously reworked and tested to hold under one MOA. We were shooting in little to no wind yet he was stringing badly. His groups were consistently spreading no more than about one inch vertical, yet were consistently spread out several inches horizontal.

I checked the scope mount and found nothing loose so I took the rifle and shot a group myself. The rifle shot a very small and uniform group under 3/4 MOA. Trying to figure out what he was doing wrong to induce the stringing, I found that it was his grip around the wrist of the stock. He was shooting free recoil off a sandbag and using his off hand to clutch a small sandbag at the toe of the stock. The problem was that the stock of his rifle did not fit his long reach which caused him to apply torque on the rifle without him realizing he was doing so. Even when he dry fired the rifle and he thought everything was lined up and he was applying a proper grip, proper cheek weld, and was applying proper pressure on the stock butt; when he relaxed, the rifle moved half the target width off to the side. To fit the stock, he was torquing his wrist almost like Popeye The Sailor twists up his forearm before throwing a punch. This alone acounted for approximately 3 inches of horizontal stringing at 200 yards on a rifle that easily shoots under 3/4 MOA.

He can now alter his hold on the rifle to eliminate the stringing, but the bottom line for him is that the particular stock is a bad fit and needs to be altered. This may or may not apply to you. You may be doing something as simple as canting the rifle to different degrees each shot, you may be dragging wood, or you may be changing the balance and pressure point on the rifle each shot. Find someone who is a proven hard shooter and have them test the rifle for groups. If this rifleman can shoot uniform groups, then it is clearly something you are adding to the equation. If you eliminate this, then look at the rifle followed by the loads.

Good Luck