Help With Inaccurate Rifle

[that dude]

I bought a Mossberg 810a in 30/06 off a member on here a couple years ago and I have never been able to get a good group out of it (was told it shot MOA ). I have put several boxes of ammo through it from 150gr to 180 and have never had it shoot a grouping closer than 5" at 100m.

When I got the rifle, the stock seemed warped and was touching the barrel on one side so I sanded it until it was free-floating and later tried a bedding job on it but have still had no luck getting any reasonable accuracy out of it. I have tried cleaning it with most bore cleaning solutions and let it soak for a while with m-pro-7, and I even got a new scope and new rings as well with no dice.

I am relatively new to centre-fire rifles but I don't believe my shooting is the problem, as I can easily shoot 1" groups with my Howa and can even get better groups at 100m with my .22 than the mossberg!

Any ideas what could be wrong with this thing? Maybe time for a new barrel, or rifle?

[David Henry]

Try introducing a pressure point up near the tip of the forearm. In other words remove the stock from the barreled action and place some stiff card material in the barrel channel, then put things back together. This is just an experiment and may not cure the issue but it won't cost you anything to try it either. D.H.

[fps plus]

I would look to see if muzzle area damaged

[Dean2]

Both suggestions to date are excellent. Other thing you need to check out is the scope and the mounts. 5" is a really bad group, it seems likely there is something loose in the stock, scope mounts or the scope has a problem with parallax, erector loose etc.

[Who Da Fisherman]

Originally Posted by Dean2

Both suggestions to date are excellent. Other thing you need to check out is the scope and the mounts. 5" is a really bad group, it seems likely there is something loose in the stock, scope mounts or the scope has a problem with parallax, erector loose etc.

^^This! When I first got my 7mm, it had on old Bushnell 3x9 scope and for the life of me I could not get it closer than 3"- 4" probably 5". I put it away and used my 243. Next year Basspro had the scope trade in and I bought a Zeiss 4-12 and that old rifle zero's right in.
WDF

[AndrewM]

He said he tried a different scope and rings. Any chance the bases are loose or a screw sheared off?

[that dude]

Thanks for all the replies! I believe the scope isn't the issue. I bought the rifle with a cheap Bushnell banner but replaced it with a Bushnell elite and mounted it with Burris zee rings. I had everything tightened with a torque screwdriver so I believe it is properly secured.

I did fiddle around with a pressure-point, but I didn't see any improvements. It is possible that the crown is damaged, but I did check and I didn't see anything obvious that way. Is there a place in Calgary I could take the rifle to have it borescopes or the crown checked?

[freeride]

I would still check the scope even if you believe its not the problem. Toss on a new scope on the rifle and head out and try it.

I had a scope crap out on me once after being on the rifle for awhile. The internals broke so everytime I shot the cross hairs moved ever so slightly that I couldn't tell. One day my rifle went from great groups to shot gun sized. I swaped scopes and low and behold great groups.

There are some great suggestions on here. Check them all and you will find out why its not getting the groups you want.

[obsessed1]

Action screws tight? Action screws touching the bedding? Mag well touching something? Sheared or stripped base screw? This would be the first things i would look at. Could be a bad crown but usually a group that big means somethings moving. Sometimes oil in between the action and bedding is all it takes to introduce a tiny bit of slip. Same with bases and action.

[lyallpeder]

What does different weight ammo do? 150, 180, 200 gr any differences in the group size?

Did the original owner reload for it to get the accuracy they told you about?

[Redneck 7]

Maybe the action is moving ever so slightly in the stock? Loosen your action bolts and stand the rifle up on the butt stock and let the recoil lug settle back into the stock so it won’t want to move during recoil, then tighten the action bolts and torque to spec.

When ever I put a bolt action rifle of mine back together I always stand it up to finish tightening the action bolts like that. Unless it’s a rifle I’ve bedded the recoil lug.

[fps plus]

I have seen many rifles over the years where the crown is not damaged but 1/8 or 1/4 inch back from the crown the barrel is bulged . This will cause wild groups . You can’t see it externally on the barrel but with a good light it shows up internally

[bsmitty27]

Originally Posted by fps plus

I have seen many rifles over the years where the crown is not damaged but 1/8 or 1/4 inch back from the crown the barrel is bulged . This will cause wild groups . You can’t see it externally on the barrel but with a good light it shows up internally

I had this on a rem 700 in 243 that my father in law gifted me. Couldn't get it to group. Found a bulge 2" from muzzle, chopped it off now I have a quick handling 243 with a 19.5" barrel, that shoots tight groups.

[boah]

Your best option is probably posting for sale.

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by boah

Your best option is probably posting for sale.

Would u really sell a gun that is shooting that bad without figuring out what was wrong or disclosing the defects? The guy that sold him the gun said it shot MOA. Either he was lying or there is something else wrong.

[boah]

I would sell it. But I would disclose what I have found. There are 100’s of rifles that won’t give you any headaches. And a Mossberg 810 is pretty much a bic lighter

[Dean2]

Originally Posted by boah

I would sell it. But I would disclose what I have found. There are 100’s of rifles that won’t give you any headaches. And a Mossberg 810 is pretty much a bic lighter

Can't disagree with that. As long as a guy discloses it is all good.

[oilngas]

See what dean say. Time to evaluate $ and time into it vs. what it is.

[warriorboy10]

You may think your a decent shooter but before you do anything outside of making sure all is tight, have another shot it!

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by warriorboy10

You may think your a decent shooter but before you do anything outside of making sure all is tight, have another shot it!

Yes for sure, a known GOOD shooter!
Cat

[Drewski Canuck]

Not questioning your shooting style but are you on sand bags on a bench for your test pattern?

I have to assume so, which leads me to believe that it has crown damage that you are not seeing. Had a Remington with a damaged or worn crown. It was re crowned MAYBE 1/4 of an inch. Brought back its tack driving accuracy in a hurry. Not a time consuming or expensive fix either.

Drewski

[outdoorsman12b]

Assuming everything is properly torqued on your action screws and scope hardware I would assume a bad barrel. Instead of chasing accuracy on this rifle I would just shelve it to send it back to mosberg. Sounds like you have already spent about what you bought it for in upgrades and ammo. No sense in throwing good money after bad. There are plenty of lemon firearms on the market.

[bubba300]

I did some load developement for a buddy with his mossberg 30-06,best it would do with what i had was around 2 in.groups.Another friend has one in 270 that will do around a in group.Should do better than 5 in. thow.I would invest in something better,not a fan of the mossberg's.

[alpineguy]

I had an older 280 Remington model 7400 semi auto and was never able to get it to consistently group. Had an RCMP sniper shoot it, took it to a gunsmith and had it examined by a gun collector........nobody could help with the problem or get it to group so I surrendered it to get it out of my gun case. Thought about selling it but my conscience wouldn't allow it.

[Dick284]

Bedding, oil on the bedding, scope/mount issues, shooter issues, crown issues, bore issues, action screw torque issues, ammo issues. Take your pick.

Trying to diagnose a poor shooting rifle on the internet is pretty danged tuff.

How about meeting up with someone who’s been around the preverbal block and let them take a peek a boo at the rifle.

[that dude]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I am pretty confident that it is not just my shooting, I have shot it from a bench on probably over 10 different outings with different ammo, scopes, action screw torque settings, etc. and still get poor groupings.

I don't know much about inspecting a barrel so if someone in Calgary has a borescope and a bit of knowledge of barrel health I would happily provide a case of beer!

I would like to figure out what is wrong with the rifle before I sell it or give it away, but it sounds like I probably won't have an accurate rifle for this season. Anyone have a lead on a solid (accurate) 30/06 for pretty cheap?

[obsessed1]

I am in GP area but I could look at it for you if you could get it here. If I can't get it to shoot I have a nice older 30-06 I would loan you for the season.

[andy1]

Originally Posted by fps plus

I have seen many rifles over the years where the crown is not damaged but 1/8 or 1/4 inch back from the crown the barrel is bulged . This will cause wild groups . You can’t see it externally on the barrel but with a good light it shows up internally

yup.. can look like a dark ring!

[sailor]

Originally Posted by that dude

I bought a Mossberg 810a in 30/06 off a member on here a couple years ago and I have never been able to get a good group out of it (was told it shot MOA ). I have put several boxes of ammo through it from 150gr to 180 and have never had it shoot a grouping closer than 5" at 100m.

When I got the rifle, the stock seemed warped and was touching the barrel on one side so I sanded it until it was free-floating and later tried a bedding job on it but have still had no luck getting any reasonable accuracy out of it. I have tried cleaning it with most bore cleaning solutions and let it soak for a while with m-pro-7, and I even got a new scope and new rings as well with no dice.

I am relatively new to centre-fire rifles but I don't believe my shooting is the problem, as I can easily shoot 1" groups with my Howa and can even get better groups at 100m with my .22 than the mossberg!

Any ideas what could be wrong with this thing? Maybe time for a new barrel, or rifle?

I have the same problem standing and shooting SKS at 100 m off hand-5” , or if I take few seconds to aim- 4” would be the best group ( no scope though).
In your case I would suggest that crown was damaged by using steel rod while cleaning or shot out. For second problem -Put a bullet of your rifle caliber and turn to see at what distance it willl start seeing scratching... then google what should be for good crown

[that dude]

I checked out the rifle today and I didn't notice any dark rings or bulges, but I did notice what must be pitting in the first 1 1/2" of the bore. There is also a small indent in one of the grooves that looks like a bulge. I think the crown looks OK though.

Do you think any of these could cause the accuracy issues? Should I have 2" or so chopped off an be fine?