Frustrating build

[dcederberg]

Well I had a new custom rifle built that I have been wanting for a long time. .243 Remington 700 action blue printed with a Shilen 8 twist barrel, Mcmillan Game Scout stock and a new Timney trigger. Long story made short is it shoots terrible, best groups have been around 2 inches. Trying Berger 105's at different seating depths just like they say, tried 87 grain VMax and factory Hornaday 100 grain. All shoot the same, BAD. Gunsmith made a few adjustments to the bedding and I took it home and tried again, same results. He is telling me that the Game Scout stock is not any good and would like to bed it in something else. I say I payed over 500 bucks for the stock and it should work fine. I think that he needs to man up and fix whatever is wrong at this point, I have shot and tried almost two hundred rounds trying to make this thing shoot. Right now I cant stand the rifle, wished I would have bought a Ruger American! I am sure its not optics or loose mounts, been checked many times. New Burris XTRII and a nightforce SHV 5-20. What would you do??

Ceder

 

[Barrelnut]

Sorry to hear that. I would take the rifle to a different smith (most reputable you can find) and have it checked out.

 

[cahunter805]

+1 I'd have another smith check it out. Could be any number of things. Seems like the guy doesn't want to back up his work!

 

[bigngreen]

If the action is properly bedded into a stock the stock won't magically make a rifle suck, the stock and the shooter may not get along but that can be over come and they'll still shoot if the components are fit properly.

 

[dcederberg]

Well its going back tomorrow and I don't want to see it again until its fixed. I think he will get to the bottom of it but I suspect it is not the stock. He is a good guy and I think he really wants to fix it, I am just very frustrated and it has really taken the fun out of getting a new rifle. We have others that are one hole shooters made by the same guy. I will update when I know something.

 

[PowellSixO]

Do you have a Lock-N-Load OAL Gauge, and Lock-N-Load .243 Modified Case to check your OAL to the lands? All my experience with the Bergers in my .243 and my 7mm required me to get as close to the lands as possible. I loaded all mine .010" off the land and they shot great. They can be very finicky bullets for sure. But once you get them to shoot, they are great. Another thing I found too, was that my max load was NOT my most accurate load. I had to back the charge down a bit on both the .243 and the 7mm to get an accurate load. Hope this helps. I have a hard time believing that the stock and bed job can be the result of 2" groups. There's got to be an issue with your loads, or something else going on in my opinion. But I'm no guru either. Sure hope you get it figured out. Can you post some pics of your bedding job by chance?

 

[dcederberg]

I do have the gauges and have tried anywhere from .010 to .130 off the lands. Also tried VMAX'S at .020 off the lands. Sometimes it will shoot 3 rounds pretty close together and then throw one two inches away. It started out shooting almost 4 inch groups. I read on one site that almost all .243 will shoot the 87 VMax's well, they are supposed to be pretty forgiving. We have also ladder tested with the powder up and down in small increments. I would think that almost any load that you put in it should shoot under MOA.

 

[Scottytuned]

Just thinking out loud, some of it you may have done.

1) What are you shooting off of? Sled, bipod, bag, etc. I would try changing that.
2) What have you done to clean it? Any extreme copper fouling or excessive carbon build up? I would use a solvent and see if that may have something to do with it.
3) Who else has shot it? Can anyone else get better groups? Nothing against you as a shooter, just something that may be accounting for.
4) Try any factory loads? Maybe there is something off in the reloading process. Primers, brass sizing etc since it sounds like you are good with weight and length.

 

[dcederberg]

Shooting off low bipod with rear bag on a bench. My son has tried his best also and he is very experienced, shoots for a living. Yes we tried Hornaday whitetail 100 grain BTSP bullets. Still 2 inches. It did seem to improve a bit with the action screws backed off a little, just snug. They were 60 inch lbs.

Ceder

 

[Hired Gun]

From frustrating experience I would suspect the barrel it self.

 

[dcederberg]

I think so too.

 

[Pdvdh]

... I have shot and tried almost two hundred rounds trying to make this thing shoot. What would you do??
Ceder

Have a 2nd gunsmith - with a bore scope - look it over. If he can't find anything amiss, put a new barrel on it.

 

[Hired Gun]

Those barrels usually look fine. It's the out of round bore on the order of up to .003" is the problem. It is best observed with a long stem indicator in the bore while spinning by hand in the lathe. Oval shaped bullets are hard to get to group.

 

[Pdvdh]

Oval shaped bullets are hard to get to group.

Tee hee...

In all seriousness, that would be a big disappointment. Something to check before the gunsmith mates the barrel to the action - I presume?