Ruger Hawkeye stainless 264 mag accuracy problems

[Hespco]

This past winter I bought a NIB ( new old stock ) Ruger stainless 264 mag Hawkeye from a dealer. I have tried Nosler 120gr Solid base , Hornady 129gr bonded, Sierra 140 SBT, & Nosler 140gr partition to no avail. Bullets seated to different depths. I made sure the barrel was free floated . All actions screws tight. Shooting from my own range with cool high 30's to low 40's temp. Never more than 3 rounds fired with out letting the barrel completely cool. Some times I will get two shots close together then a third will hit out to the right 1 1/2" to 2 1/2". I have used two different Leupold 4x12 scope's & the Ruger factory & Warne Quick detach rings. No matter what I've done I get the same negative results. Ruger sent ma a return label. Shipping out tomorrow. What do you think? Might note my son has this same rifle & his shoots great.

 

[Barrelnut]

Well, it's gonna be interesting to hear what Ruger finds. Especially since your son has one that shoots much better. Hope they can fix things for you.
Really just tagging in. Please lets us know results.

 

[Hespco]

Don't know how long to get rifle back. Will post here when this is figured out.

 

[MagnumManiac]

How tightly have you got the centre screw done up?
I had a MKII that would shoot tiny groups with just about any load, but if you snugged that centre screw much past finger tight, it would shoot 2 close then 2 out and so on.
Have seen the same with another MKII, mine was a 300WM, the other rifle was a 7RM.

Cheers.

 

[Hespco]

I have attempted to snug down the rear trigger guard screw & the front action screw equally. This has been my procedure on my other Ruger rifles. They shoot just fine so tightened. There is no pressure bearing against the barrel. My son's rifle screws are tightened this same way & his rifle shoots tiny groups. When talking with Ruger on the phone they asked me if the action screws were snugged down.

 

[MagnumManiac]

This may help, no matter the outcome with Rugers answer.
I put a depth gauge on the middle of the action, with it in a fixture for milling the ring mounts off.
Upon tightening the middle screw, the action visibly bends and the mag box binds.
This was repeatable and the 2 touching and 2 away some distance was also repeatable when the middle screw was tightened to 40inch/pounds.

Cheers.

 

[Hespco]

Thanks so much for your input. I've always been aware of the sensitivity of the middle ( front of trigger guard ) screw & have always made a point of just barely tightening it so as to not affect the action. The rifle has been shipped to Ruger so will wait to see what they say. The problem with this particular rifle has not been a problem I have had with my other Ruger rifles. Again thank you for your info.

 

[Canhunter35]

Sounds like a bedding job is needed?