Barrett Fieldcraft accuracy
- Thread starter dennisinaz
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I have seen some pretty accurate Howa rifles. I have a Weatherby backcountry (Howa) in .240Wby that is ridiculous. Not a pencil barrel and not $12 a box factory ammo, but a very accurate out-of-the-box rifle for half the price of a Barrett. I think that is the point. A lot of $800 to $900 field rifles will shoot MOA all day long even without the BIC ballpoint load. Maybe .5 MOA is more difficult to come across 
, but you would expect a high end rifle to stand out. That said, it is tough with those barrels with super light contours to them to stay straight for 5 rounds.
, but you would expect a high end rifle to stand out. That said, it is tough with those barrels with super light contours to them to stay straight for 5 rounds.
D
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I have seen some pretty accurate Howa rifles. I have a Weatherby backcountry (Howa) in .240Wby that is ridiculous. Not a pencil barrel and not $12 a box factory ammo, but a very accurate out-of-the-box rifle for half the price of a Barrett. I think that is the point. A lot of $800 to $900 field rifles will shoot MOA all day long even without the BIC ballpoint load. Maybe .5 MOA is more difficult to come across
Right, many factory rifles these days will shoot MOA. However, few factory rifles weigh 5 pounds.
I would wager few custom rifles shoot "consistently under 1/2"
Both my Fieldcrafts in 6.5 x 55 and 7mm-08 shoot right around 0.5-.75 moa up to 5 rounds or so, then they widen since the barrel is very warm at that point, but once cooled for a bit, go right back to that standard. They are both a #1 thin barrels. I would be concerned with groups opening up so big after cooling and trying to shoot them again.
cody finch
Well-Known Member
Question have you cleaned between switching ammo brands? Have you done this 3-5group test with the 1 brand of ammo that shoots the best? Have you tried shooting 1 group a day to see how long that .75 accuracy maintains ? just a couple of things that come to mind. If it holds .75 for 3 grues or so I would be quite happy with a 5 pound rifle that does that. Good luck.
I've read your posts and this thread and I have some follow-up, so please bear with me.
If I'm getting it right, you clean the gun, then go shoot it, and the first group or two is/are good (0.70" to 0.75"). Then the groups start to open up.
Question - if you stop shooting and come back another day, are your first groups "good" again until the gun gets hot?
**If groups are good again, on another day, then it seems your barrel just doesn't like to get hot, and that's okay. It is a very light, field gun.
**If groups are no good after those initial two groups after cleaning, even on another day with the rifle totally cold again, then I'm suspecting either your bore is rough OR the ELD-X bullets are just leaving a lot of fouling in a short period of time.
There was a thread on here many months ago where people were noticing that their guns shot fine with the ELD-M bullets, but fouling quickly with the ELD-X bullets, revealing that there was a difference in the copper jacket 'make-up' between the two and the X bullets were more prone to fouling the barrel. Some people loved the accuracy of the X's, but the fouling was unacceptable so they moved on to a different bullet (Bergers, Noslers, Barnes, etc.)
I just put that out there because if the gun shoots great at first, after a cleaning, but then never shoots good again until the next cleaning, it might just be the ELD-X bullets. And - no - the ELD-Ms are not the same, so those might be fine.
But if the gun ALWAYS shoots the initial groups well, then gets worse after that, it is just a 'hot barrel issue' and...you have to decide if the gun is going to be a one or two shot at a time hunting gun, or did you really want a heavier, more consistent shooting target-type gun.
Something you may want to consider if the barrel is fouling quickly and requiring frequent cleaning to 'maintain accuracy' (regardless of bullet brand) is to shoot the David Tubb FinalFinish® bullets through it to clean up the throat, leade, and rifling
http://www.davidtubb.com/final-finish-loaded-ammo
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I'd say you have a problem! This target is with a 6.5 creedmore Howa heavy out of the box. Scope Nikon FX Black....out of the box ..boresighted at 50 yards...4 left to right tracking shots using 143 eld-x out of the box....the next 6 shots are within the 1/4" of the 1" bull at @100 . I would say something is dramatically loose on your set up!
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I have tried several brands of ammo and even mixed up bullet weights and they seem to shoot to almost the same point of impact, which I guess is more typically of a full length bedding job. I only use handholds these days because I am getting some really small groups for such a light weight rifle. I do not clean between groups or at all until I see a drop off in accuracy, I think i cleaned my 7mm-08 once after around 150 rounds. I still haven't cleaned the swede. I have not fired a once a day group, but I have shot the rifle about 3 times a week for a few weeks when I first got it. Now, I don't shoot much for groups anymore, since it is a hunting rifle. I use a cold bore shot at 100 to make sure nothing shifted and then straight out to 400 yds for a 6 inch steel plate. The only reason to go back to groups would be to try a new load, my current loads place three in a clover leaf that I can hide under a dime, more accurate than needed for hunting deer. Maybe I'll try some new loads when the weather stops being hot enough to fry the last brain cell I have.
I tried to find the thread where people where discussing the ELD-X fouling their bores quicker than the M, or other bullets. But just searching for ELD-X in the title and the search function comes up with 5,438 results. Uh...that's just too many for me to wade through to find that old thread. Hopefully you'll just take my word for it that it was/is a "thing" with these X bullets.
For what it is worth, I feel your pain. You buy a high quality rifle for a decent amount of money and it isn't performing the way YOU want it to. And now you are faced with a decision on what to do about it. I guess a lot depends on how much you love/want this rifle in your life. If it's your "dream gun" then there are things that can be done to help it do better. If you can live without it, perhaps sell and find a gun more in line with your expectations (i.e., something with a heavier barrel that won't heat up and lose accuracy so quickly.)
For what it is worth, I feel your pain. You buy a high quality rifle for a decent amount of money and it isn't performing the way YOU want it to. And now you are faced with a decision on what to do about it. I guess a lot depends on how much you love/want this rifle in your life. If it's your "dream gun" then there are things that can be done to help it do better. If you can live without it, perhaps sell and find a gun more in line with your expectations (i.e., something with a heavier barrel that won't heat up and lose accuracy so quickly.)
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Agreed, not many 5 pound rifles and rifles under 6 pound are much more difficult to shoot well besides. The custom rifle discussion is for another thread. It would seem these days that anyone with a gun vise and a limited knowledge of applying Cerekote is putting out "custom" rifles.
Want to trade one for a 30-06 fieldcraft?!?! Nah just joking but I wish I went with one of those calibers instead. After having one I don't think I will buy another one. A little more and I could had gotten a Christensen Ridgeline or another Fierce Rifle.
I had a 30-06 fieldcraft and found it to be a bit much in the recoil department for bench shooting, I'm sure shooting at an animal would be fine, but working up loads was tougher. Thats why I went with those calibers. They are a completely different experience.
dennisinaz
Well-Known Member
I guess I wasn't clear or there is a general lack of reading comprehension here.The rifle shoots good for 5 or 6 shots after it's cleaned. After that it goes to he11
I've cooled it completely cold between shots, makes no difference.
There is no "best " ammo.
This rifle belongs to my buddy who has gotten out of hand loading. I do a lot of rifle work do he have it to me to figure out. His groups were worse than mine.
As far as 143 ELD-X, I use therm in my 6.5-284, they shoot sub .75 MOA. I can go 50 shots between cleaning. This Fieldcraft won't shoot Sierra or the 120 ELD-M either.
My Tikka T3 shoots all the mentioned ammo well under an inch for 5 shots. We don't want a rifle that has to be cleaned every 6 shots. I'm just trying to decide if we get another Fieldcraft or just scrap this and get a Tikka. We really like everything else about the rifle
With respect to the the Fierce rifles My hunting partner bought 2 in 300 WSM. Those rifles have never shot a 1" or better group. We even tried the supposed ammo used to shoot the "test" group.
Biggest disappointment ever
They just sit in the safe.
I've cooled it completely cold between shots, makes no difference.
There is no "best " ammo.
This rifle belongs to my buddy who has gotten out of hand loading. I do a lot of rifle work do he have it to me to figure out. His groups were worse than mine.
As far as 143 ELD-X, I use therm in my 6.5-284, they shoot sub .75 MOA. I can go 50 shots between cleaning. This Fieldcraft won't shoot Sierra or the 120 ELD-M either.
My Tikka T3 shoots all the mentioned ammo well under an inch for 5 shots. We don't want a rifle that has to be cleaned every 6 shots. I'm just trying to decide if we get another Fieldcraft or just scrap this and get a Tikka. We really like everything else about the rifle
With respect to the the Fierce rifles My hunting partner bought 2 in 300 WSM. Those rifles have never shot a 1" or better group. We even tried the supposed ammo used to shoot the "test" group.
Biggest disappointment ever
They just sit in the safe.
