I need some input.

[cajun]

How long are you waiting between shots? I would shoot one shot or two let it cool down and shoot another shot. This will tell you if it's a barrel, heating bedding issue. What is the profile on the barrel?

 

[nicholasjohn]

Maybe your bullets are too heavy or too light.? My 270 does something similar with 180 grain Woodleighs. First shot 4 inches high at 100 then two or three on target and clover leafed. Cold barrel stringing?

Is your barrel clean or fouled when you see this occur ? I have a brand new 280 that shoots one three-shot group of around 3 to 4", and then a pretty little half-inch cluster a couple of inches away for the next 3-shot group. This is identical to what I've seen for years with a 30-06 - a big group that is a couple of inches away from the spot where the next group lands. If I put either rifle away and shoot the next day, each will shoot to exactly the point where the second, smaller group was the day before. For decades, I used a 308 that did this, and I got into the habit of shooting three or four rounds downrange before I even walked down to hang a target. I have had more rifles that behaved like this than I have had rifles that didn't. My guess is that this is fairly typical.

 

[cajun]

Had a friends kimber would put 2 in the same hole but that third shot was going to be 1-2" away no matter what we did.

 

[308win]

Chrono your shots, get Quickload and see where your barrel timing is? Had this exact problem with a M38 6.5x55, thought the barrel was done. Tuned the load to the node, went from 1.5 MOA to .5 MOA. No more flyers

 

[david g ranes]

Chrono your shots, get Quickload and see where your barrel timing is? Had this exact problem with a M38 6.5x55, thought the barrel was done. Tuned the load to the node, went from 1.5 MOA to .5 MOA. No more flyers

How many shells have you ran through the barrel I had a browning xbolt 7 mag that didn't settle in until after about 300 rounds then shot really well If your barrel isn't able to touch and nothing loose may just need wore in a ltitle when all said and done first load I had worked up was the best. David

 

[Warbird2006]

It sounds to me like the barrel is heating up and bending causing the shots to walk.

That's what I think. Give it a 5 min between the shots.

 

[Oldschool280]

I shoot a 5 shot group and let it cool. I have cleaned between sessions.

Some of my rifles, will only shoot two touching, then anything after that the go all over the place. How does it shoot when you wait 10 -15minutes between shots?

 

[dfanonymous]

After all this, it would be stupid if the all that was wrong was the action screws just needed to be torqued down lol

 

[Aled24]

Hi, clean the barrel, get yourself a tympanic thermometer measure the cold bore temp,
fire one shot, clean the barrel, let the barrel cool down to the original cold bore temp and so on,
Torquing the action screw is definitely worth a try,
have you tried it without a mod?
I had a good friend who had a similar problem to yours he tried 3 different scopes then tried a 4TH scope, Problem solved 3 out of the 4 scopes were faulty.
Get a friend to try your gun out with good factory Amo.

Are you shooting off a bipod or a bench?

 

[Jud96]

As others have already mentioned. I would clean the bore very well and get out the carbon and as much copper as you can. Check your action screws and see if they are loose. If the stock has pillars, torque your action screws to 50-60 inch pounds. If it's just wood or plastic, torque them 30-40 inch pounds. Check to see if your barrel is free floating or if the stock has it bound up. Also if the rifle has a box magazine, open the floor plate and reach up in the mag well and see if the mag box moves up and down just a little without forcing it. If your mag box is bound up that will cause accuracy problems too. Trying a different scope is also very good advice. I saw this happen on a buddy's Kimber .204 with a Nikon Monarch scope. Went from shooting bug holes to 2" groups at 100 yards. Tried a new scope and the groups went back to normal. When shooting groups with a lighter weight barrel, I always wait 2-3 minutes between my shots to keep the heat and mirage down.

 

[kyote king]

Bought that gun in a prc, did the same thing. Take it down and you'll find extra epoxy touching your barrel by the recoil lug. My son in law had the same problem too. Hope that helps.

 

[WalksLikeADeer]

I bought a new rifle this year. A factory long range hunting rifle chambered in 7mm mag. I've hand loaded for many years and done very well with sorting out what works and what doesn't for my rifles. I'm perplexed with this one. I can't get a good solid MOA or less with it and when something appears to work when my first two shots are touching all of a sudden the next three climb in a verticle line about 2 1/2 inches straight up. I switched out bases and scopes and it does the same thing. I've tried many different loads, different bullet weights, different powders, different charges, different OAL's. Any Idea's besides I might have gotten a lemon. This is supposed to be a very good rifle.

What bullet are you loading?

 

[Aussie Hunter Steve]

If your rifle can put the first two shots together, it's unlikely that your load or technique is the problem. It's probably capable of putting more in the same spot once the cause is identified. A chronograph will tell if the speed is altering significantly as the barrel heats up, but it looks like a bedding issue. Try checking the torque setting of the bedding screws both before shooting and after it starts spreading to see if their tension is changing...

 

[hunter0528]

My guess confirm bedding and confirm free float from bedded lug forward.

check the Free float before you shoot and then after each shot, to see if it changes.