Troubleshooting Accuracy Issues
Yesterday, I helped a young friend get his rifle ready to hunt.The rifle was a hand me down from his grandfather, and had seen virtually no maintenance, and Cabelas had mounted the Vortex scope, and he wasn't happy with the accuracy. After getting 2-3" groups at 100m, I did some troubleshooting. The barrel was filthy, the action screws were loose, and the base screws were very loose, and the scope was canted. The trigger was 4-5lbs, and the factory loads had very flat primers after firing. After cleaning the barrel and torquing the action and base screws, and removing the scope cant, I discovered that the trigger could not be adjusted lower, so now he is going to pick up a different factory load for the next range session.
I am actually surprised that the rifle did as well as it did given the issues. The young man knew very little about rifle set up and maintenance, but now he has at least a basic understanding of things, and hopefully, he can avoid some of the issues. That just leaves the questionable factory loads, and the young man is going to contact Browning with pictures of the flat primers and lot numbers, as they are Browning brand factory loads and the rifle is an old A-bolt. |
Well with all the adjustments etc sounds like he is in good hands to dial this rifle in.
Many times I tell people when not hand loading to buy various brands in the same bullet weight just to see what the rifle likes, expensive, you bet, then when you find what it like a buy a few boxes if you can now a days, the rest are for range days just to have fun. Nothing is cheap anymore but great mentors are worth their weight in gold:) |
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What caliber is it? My Brownings liked Hornady factory ammunition. Was the scope tightened down properly? Sometimes even 'smiths' don't do scopes properly.
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I had an issue at the range yesterday with my new rifle.
First shot, bullseye Second shot, 4” high but centre Third shot, bullseye Fourth shot, 4” high Fifth shot, either bullseye or 4” high. Turned out I had a loose action screw in the front. It was about 1 rotation out from being tight. When I got home I removed each action screw one at a time, cleaned the threads and added a dab of blue loctite. I then torqued the action screws to 60 inlbs and that should take care of that issue. Now to load more and redo that ladder |
The issues that I found, are actually more common than they should be. Many people never check action screw torque, and many have scope bases and rings that aren't torqued properly. And many people have never properly cleaned the barrel, because they don't even know what products to use.
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Loose screws, over tight hardware.
Oil in the bedding. Oil under scope bases. Lubricants in the bolt internals. Carbon and copper fouling through lack of maintenance, or crappy cleaning regimes and tooling. It’s so common, I sometimes feel I’m in the minority……… |
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We shot the rifle before skeet yesterday, and groups with two different factory loads were in the 1-1/2" range, so much better, especially with the brutal trigger, that felt to be at least 5-6lbs. However, we discovered another issue , that being the Vortex Diamondback scope, which was totally unpredictable. The crosshairs wouldn't move at all for several clicks, then it would jump 2" when moved another click. My bore sight had it within 1" at 100m, but trying to fine tune the poi was frustrating. The scope will be going in for warranty after the season, and hopefully the poi will remain constant until then. The young man plans on purchasing a new rifle/scope for next year, something with a much better trigger, and hopefully a more reliable scope.
There were a few other people sighting in rifles yesterday, and most seemed to be having issues , one in particular used at least a full box, firing one shot, then adjusting the scope, chasing the poi around the target, until he ran out of ammunition, and then declaring it "good enough". |
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I took a few rifles down to the range to confirm zero, and there was a fellow there with a Vortex scope having the exact same issues you described. Warranty be damned, far too many Vortex scopes having all sorts of issues, has me totally staying away from that brand. I know of one fellow who had 5 Vortex scopes crap the bed on him, he’s now an anything but Vortex guy.(what took him so long) Oh ya, back to my day…… Everything was where I last left it. One has a Bushnell 4200(REM 7600), the other a Zeiss Conquest(7-08 REM 700). |
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I love that you took the time and helped this person out. We all have to learn and sometimes people are doing what they know best. Anytime we can share knowledge is a good thing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Browning and vortex….kid never had a chance :lol: need new spring or new trigger all together in the off-season as well.
I worked on a pile of rifles for friends and family members this year. Without fail, every one was exactly as dick described. But truth be known, I’ve also been that guy chasing the group around the target and swearing the whole time, and threads like this are what got me sorted out. Gotta help each other as much as we can. Good job boys. |
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Some people welcome some assistance, and some don't, so I ask if they would like a hand, and if they decline, I respect their wishes and leave them to their own devices. |
I'm at the Range quite a bit this time of year, checking for guest passes,making sure the rules/cease fire, etc. are being followed. I know from experience when I see a guy with a wood block and folded towel or blanket they're likely not knowing what they're doing, usually I'll wait to see his progress then offer to help.
Aside from the obvious there is also the low power scope factor, can't see the holes, and wants a cease fire every 3-5 rounds to walk down and examine his target, have a confab with the other guy with no holes in the paper doing the same, holding up the rest of the shooters who actually know what they're doing. Just makes the day run more smoothly.:) |
I have started to set up one of our Shotmarker E targets at 100 yards for guys wanting to zero that do not make regular visits to the range- saves a lot of time having them walk down to check there targets, get the danged thing on the target ( our frames are very large and will register a hit anywhere in the 5'X6' target) and generally they leave satisfied.
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And yesterday the young hunter used the rifle to fill a deer tag. One shot, no issues at all. He arrowed a mule deer and a whitetail last month, so his deer tags are filled, just his moose tag to go. He also did well on waterfowl and pheasant, so a great season so far.
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So what's a guy supposed to if he follows all these steps and has a gun that still won't shoot? All but one of my rifles shoots well and and it seems no matter what ammo I feed it it will never consistantly shoot under 3 moa. I'm probably into 30 different handloads for it by now. Any way to diagnose a faulty barrel?
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The rifle has had 2 different scopes on it that are known to be good on other guns. This is the first thing I do on any rifle for load development after I go through the rifle mechanics. The rifle is a kimber, and has particular sentimental value to me due to its history. I would never have chased accuracy in any other rifle to this extent and would have given up long ago if it weren't for the sentiment. In fact have sold and disclosed 2 poorly shooting rifles in the past. Every step mentioned in the original post has been performed on this gun, and each lead to a slight improvement, and the sum total of all these improvements brought it down to a 3 moa gun. I guess I am just irrationally hoping that it can be made to a shooter, again due to it's sentimental history.
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First thing i would look at on a kimber is bedding ( they are bedded to a sample action so tolerances can vary), mag well ( when assembled it should be free floating a smidg), and crown. Have a look down the bore and leade with a borescope just to rule that out. Older kimbers also suffered from short firing pins that can cause erratic primer strikes.
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Having had a number of Kimbers over the years, I agree with what Obsessed1 has said. There has to be a wee bit of clearance between the bottom of the mag box and the mag well. Just a touch so it moves and the mag box ain’t binding anywhere. That is where I would start. Crown would be second. I wish you luck, buddy. Hope all is well in your world.
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Was just sent a picture by the young hunter, he just put his antlered moose down, so four deer and a moose for him this fall. The rifle has done fine, since I sorted it out.
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