My rifle - why is it treating me this way?

[Nobody]

Brethern,

I have a 264 Sendero II that's been worked over by a very qualified BR mechanic. Action was trued, all the other good stuff. It's sitting in a Bell&Carlson fiberglass stock and it's torqued down correctly. Still using the factory barrel and I've shot probably...400 rds at most out of the gun. ALL of it was simply load development. I've settled on two possible loads - 140 AMAX over 66.0 Retumbo or 140 SMK over 58.5 I4831. I use a caliper and Stoney Point device to measure off the ogive. I won't mention those dimensions but they're accurate. I've chronoed it using a MagetoSpeed and it looks like a little over 3,000.

First shot is typically right on the money. And when I say right on the money, I'm talking about shooting at an aiming point on the target smaller than a dime at 100 yards. I aim small to hit small. Anyway, the second round is usually good. And then...things go crazy. The bullets start dropping and the group opens up. While it varies, I'm allowing between 3 and 5 minutes per 3 shot string - and between those 3 shots I'm allowing a minute. Today for instance, temperature was in the low 50s so I think I'm allowing the barrel to cool adequately. I cannot for the life of me, figure out what this rifle is going to do from shot to shot. I'm going to try to post photos of the targets for your analysis. I could understand impacts rising as the barrel heats up, but not impacts dropping. And it's always been consistent - after the first 2 -3 shots the rest always drop.

So I'm asking you guys, what's up with the drop?

After MUCH experimentation, I managed to get the scans of the groups posted. They appear below. The 140 Amaxes started low and I came up about an inch. That where shot 2 begins. The Amaxes didn't give a bad group. Not a great group by any means but it shows promise. Your learned insight is appreciated.

 

[Barrelnut]

I would take 5 shots, waiting 20 ~ 30 minutes between shots and see what happens. I bet the drops go away. My guess is barrel heat and it may not take much heat if the barrel is not stress relieved well. Rem factory barrels are hammer forged, if they are not stress relieved exceptionally well they can walk badly as they heat up.

Only way to know for sure is to try it. Bring something else to shoot while you waiting for the 264 to cool.

Good luck.

 

[Nobody]

 

[Nobody]

 

[Nobody]

 

[tbrice23]

What scope is on it?

Get a Fat Wrench (torque wrinch) and correctly tighten all scope ,base ,rings ,and action fasteners.

Have someone else shoot it. To see if its you or the equipment.

 

[Barrelnut]

After seeing the groups, I think it's the scope/rings/base too.

 

[Nobody]

Ok, I'll try that. Thanks.

 

[LoneTraveler]

As suggested scope bases and rings could be the problem. That would be the first thing to get seated and torqued to specs. This may be the cure. You never mentioned when the gun was cleaned in the order of shooting. Some hammer forged barrels has rough areas that will grab jacket material and as you shoot it just goes wondering. Clean the barrel very clean and then shoot it letting the barrel cool between shots. After the first fowling shot it should settle to one point and stay there. If it shoots a couple rounds at point of aim then start drifting around may be build up in the barrel. Stop and clean and try again. If it starts drifting after a couple shot it make take some lap work on the barrel to get the accuracy and consistency you want. Good Luck in finding the problem.

 

[jaybo]

As already stated, clean the rifle thoroughly, check all scope screws, and allow 15 to 20 minutes between shots. If it is still all over the place try another scope if you have one. I have had similar problems and once was not being able to get the rifle clean until I tried Wipe Out, which was advertised on this site, the other has been bad scopes. Two scopes were brand new and the others were between 5 and 20 years old. None were cheap scopes, $650- $1200 so don't think just because it is new or high quality it can't be the scope.

 

[Rich Coyle]

As already stated, clean the rifle thoroughly, check all scope screws, and allow 15 to 20 minutes between shots. If it is still all over the place try another scope if you have one. I have had similar problems and once was not being able to get the rifle clean until I tried Wipe Out, which was advertised on this site, the other has been bad scopes. Two scopes were brand new and the others were between 5 and 20 years old. None were cheap scopes, $650- $1200 so don't think just because it is new or high quality it can't be the scope.

If it was high quality it wouldn't fail out of the box or within 200 rounds of .257 Weatherby 100 grainers no matter how much one pays for it.

 

[jaybo]

Well I disagree. It is all relative but personally I don't call a $1000 Zeiss or about a $1200 Swarovski cheap. Sometimes things break or faulty parts slip by, it happens. Apparently you have been fortunate enough to never have it happen to you. I was also lucky for about 30 years then it finally caught up to me. A family member told me a couple of years ago that the FBI was considering switching from Leupold to Night Force due to failures. He did not specify if they were brand new or already in use and I never thought to ask at the time. I have never asked if they switched the contract as I don't see him very often and when I do it doesn't come up. At the time he said there was a 30% failure rate.

 

[Nobody]

The scope is a Loopy MK 4. All mounting screws were checked and were tight. Very frustrating.

 

[jaybo]

Nobody, let me ask you this, are you leaving the rifle on its rest, sand bags, bi pod, or what ever you are shooting off of or removing it after each shot? The reason I ask is because both times this happened to me, if I left the rifle on my bags between each shot it grouped sub MOA. If after each shot I removed the rifle and either stood it on end or laid it on its side my groups drifted. The reason I was removing the rifle was that I was working with several rifles and would swap them out to let them cool between each shot. As I got down to the last rifle I was having trouble with I left it in place and placed a towel over it to keep it out of the sun as it cooled. It then put 3 shots touching. As I tried to adjust it vertically, it wouldn't track properly and that is how I discovered I had a problem. The first time was a similar situation but a gun smith told me I had a busted spring and even named which spring it was. I sent the scope in and it has been fine since. The second time was recent and the scope is still in the shop.