Effect of floating barrel without glassing anything

[300winnie]

I have a Weatherby Mark V Deluxe in .257 Weatherby that I can't seem to get to shoot worth a hoot. The consistency is crap. A few weeks ago I shot a group with 110 grain Accubonds and RL25 that breathed new life into me, only to be dashed by further attempts. However, I refuse to believe it is not a good load, I just need to find out what is wrong with the gun...it hasn't shot anything worth a crap since I got serious. I have tried 100 grain TSX's and Partitions, 110 grain Accubonds, 115 grain Ballistic tips and IMR 7828, RL22, IMR 4831 and RL25.

Saturday I went out and it was cold, rainy and humid. My point of impact with the aforementioned load shifted 6 inches to the right.

Got me thinking...I'm going to free float this s.o.b.!!!!!!!!!

Is this a good idea? What about doing it without glassing anything? Still a good idea?

I need help before I go crazy with this thing.

Thanks.

 

[royinidaho]

winnie,

Noting the bullet weight you are shooting I'd consider a thoro cleaning prior to proceeding. First remove all carbon crud then go after the copper.

If the above has already been completed then I'd check all tightness of all screws.

Then I'd check out that load that you know is not a bad one.

Then I'd free float it anyway. Your weather conditions are the pits for a wood stock. After free floating I'd ensure its sealed well.

I have found that when I get "serious" things some times go to hades in a hand basket. Maybe you could back off of the seriousness a bit and go for consistency. Some times we just 'syke' our selves out, which is what I usually do when there's hair or horns in the field of view or its the 5th shot of a nice 4 shot group. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

good luck

 

[James Jones]

First thing I'd do is free float the barrel and pillar bed the action , I say pillar bed because its a wood stock thay move the most with weather changes.
Second , have the trigger tuned down to a chrisp 2-4lbs with as little creep and over travel as safely possable and check the muzzel's crown for any sign of a burr.
third , check and make sure that the action screws are tight and not binding on anything and check all the scope base and ring screws .
Next , clean the hell outof it make sure you get down to the metal then do a proper barrel break in , this is a pretty hot round and the bullets your using have a pretty long bearing surface which makes for a gun that fouls more so them normal especialy in a factory tube.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I had a Weatherby Mark V bedded and free-floated because it shot like crap. The work was done by a nationally recognized gunsmith (won't mention his name). After getting the gun back I found that it shot much WORSE. After trying many, many different bullets and powder combinations I gave up and sent the rifle to Weatherby.

Weatherby said that free-floating was not consistent with accuracy in their rifles and that so much wood had been hogged out of my barrel channel that the rifle had to be restock in order for them to guarantee that it would shoot to their specs. I had them install a new stock with the traditional pressure points. It cost me plenty.

The gun shot about 1.5moa when I got it back. The next year it shot poorly again. Presumably, the wood stock warped, moved or whatever. I sold that rifle and every other Weatherby Mark V that I had and started buying Remingtons. It was the best thing that I ever did to improve my own "on target" performance. Incidently, the Rems seem to shoot well when their pressure points are removed. I'm somewhat surprised that they even use them.

 

[J E Custom]

WINNIE

I know how you feel.

Barrel contours on weatherbys are on the lite side and
most of the Weatherby guys recomend tip pressure,

The problem with tip pressure on wooden stocks is that
it changes with temp/humidity.

If you have or can get a composite or a laminate stock
bed the action,full float the barrel then try it.

If it still doesent shoot then apply tip pressure.

A neat way to find just how much is needed is to remove
the front sling swivel,drill the through the stock from the outside with a small bit,then go inside and open it up to clear the screw,insert a longer screw in the sling swivel sleeve and while shooting adjust the tension very slow 1/4 turn at a time.

Hears the neat part: when you find the sweet spot tape or
lock the screw so it cant move, remove barreled action from
the stock and apply a 1/2 inch strip of beding on area of screw an reinstall barreled action.

After bedihg has cured remove screw an reinstall sling
swivel stud.

I did this to a 30/378 accumark and it went from 1.5 moa
to.371 moa.

Hope this works for you /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

J E CUSTOM