Posted this on the medium bore forum too.....

One of my hunting buddys bought a single shot Rossi in .243 Win for his son. I have done all the usual, checked the bases, mounts, changed scopes, etc. and all is OK in those areas.

Despite best efforts and several (5) different loads, the damn thing won't shoot any kind of a pattern, it's all over the place! I haven't ever experienced anything like it, and normally have a plan of attack at this point. The only thing I could come up with, is sanding the channel out on the fore-end to float the barrel, although this rifle is the type where the sling swivel screws through the fore-end into a 'lug' that is integrally welded to the barrel, and holds the fore-end on that way.....

It has one of those barrels that will detach if you remove the fore-end, and I have heard that the 'ears' of the fore-end can impair accuracy if they are binding on the receiver, but we arent' talking about going from 1 1/2 MOA to 1 MOA, were just trying to get a pattern! 2" at 100 would seem like an accomplishment with this thing at this point.

One last thing, the rifling looks to be polygonal rifling, but I'm definitely not sure about that, it looks kind of odd to be honest, but long story short we have given the barrel a good scrub, and that didn't help either!

Looking for help!!!
Thanks--Don

The forend attachment sounds the same as on a Handi-Rifle. If that screw is real tight it will bend the barrel a little. Then, as the barrel heats with each shot, the point-of-impact will change. Try a few shots with that screw real loose. If things improve at least you will have a "starting point" for correcting the problem.

Jon, thanks, that make some sense, and we didn't try that-- we will!

Regards--Don

Did you check the crown? If it is bad that would give you headachs. When you were shooting did you rest on the forarm or the barrel? If it was on the barrel that could do it. Always rest on the forarm. How windy was it when you were shooting? Did you try removeing the sling altogether and shoot it?