New Fierce Rifle not grouping as expected

packgoatguy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2010
Messages
350
Location
Rigby Idaho
Earlier this summer, my wife surprised me and let me get a rifle I had long had on my wish list. A Fierce CT Edge in 28 Nosler with titanium muzzle break and a March 2.5-25 scope in Talley Lightweight rings. Unfortunately, with work and other commitments, it took me a while to finally get to the range. Even more unfortunately, after multiple boxes of expensive boxes of ammo, I am not getting anything close to the half MOA advertised by fierce for such an expensive (in my book) rifle.

Rifle has shot Hornady ELDX 162 gr, Nosler ABLR 175, and Nosler 160s. The ELDX seems to be the worst, with most groups hovering around 2.5MOA, with the best around 1.5MOA. The Noslers both seem to hover around 1.25-1.5. These are 3 round groups. During the same shooting sessions I am consistently shooting .5-.75MOA with my ultralight braked Kimber Mountain Ascent 6.5 Creedmoor with a Swarovski z5 3-18 (sub six pound rifle including scope), and a braked Ruger American 6.5CM with a vortex crossfire 3x9 from the same rest and position.

I don't profess to be the most experienced of shooters, nor do I know the ins- and outs of the technical aspects of these scopes and rifles. All I know is that I wanted a lightweight half MOA hunting rifle that packed a real whallop, and that is why I picked the Fierce....something seems off with a $4500 rifle that is so picky with ammo, when I can pick up a $400 Ruger off the shelf at Sportsmans and shoot 3/4MOA with anything I put down the tube.

When I contacted John Mogle at Fierce with this story, I got a very terse reply to just send the rifle back to them. No reply on how long that process would take, and I find it unlikely that I would have the rifle back by hunting season. I have plenty of other rifles to outfit myself and the 3 young hunters I will be taking into the woods this year, but its a real bummer to not be able to use a rifle I had looked forward to so long at the performance it should be able to produce.

Does anyone have any insight into what I could try, perhaps a local gunsmith or someone who knows their stuff in the Boise Idaho area who could give the setup a quick once over and see if I am missing something obvious here???
 
Earlier this summer, my wife surprised me and let me get a rifle I had long had on my wish list. A Fierce CT Edge in 28 Nosler with titanium muzzle break and a March 2.5-25 scope in Talley Lightweight rings. Unfortunately, with work and other commitments, it took me a while to finally get to the range. Even more unfortunately, after multiple boxes of expensive boxes of ammo, I am not getting anything close to the half MOA advertised by fierce for such an expensive (in my book) rifle.

Rifle has shot Hornady ELDX 162 gr, Nosler ABLR 175, and Nosler 160s. The ELDX seems to be the worst, with most groups hovering around 2.5MOA, with the best around 1.5MOA. The Noslers both seem to hover around 1.25-1.5. These are 3 round groups. During the same shooting sessions I am consistently shooting .5-.75MOA with my ultralight braked Kimber Mountain Ascent 6.5 Creedmoor with a Swarovski z5 3-18 (sub six pound rifle including scope), and a braked Ruger American 6.5CM with a vortex crossfire 3x9 from the same rest and position.

I don't profess to be the most experienced of shooters, nor do I know the ins- and outs of the technical aspects of these scopes and rifles. All I know is that I wanted a lightweight half MOA hunting rifle that packed a real whallop, and that is why I picked the Fierce....something seems off with a $4500 rifle that is so picky with ammo, when I can pick up a $400 Ruger off the shelf at Sportsmans and shoot 3/4MOA with anything I put down the tube.

When I contacted John Mogle at Fierce with this story, I got a very terse reply to just send the rifle back to them. No reply on how long that process would take, and I find it unlikely that I would have the rifle back by hunting season. I have plenty of other rifles to outfit myself and the 3 young hunters I will be taking into the woods this year, but its a real bummer to not be able to use a rifle I had looked forward to so long at the performance it should be able to produce.

Does anyone have any insight into what I could try, perhaps a local gunsmith or someone who knows their stuff in the Boise Idaho area who could give the setup a quick once over and see if I am missing something obvious here???

You could try Dallas Lane in Pocatello to give it a look see. He knows his stuff. Just an idea.
 
If you want to talk to a local gunsmith, I recommend Norbert Costa in Boise or MCM in Nampa . If you're simply to busy to mess with it , I'm in Weiser and have a range at my house. I'd be glad to give it a whirl and see if I can get any positive results out of it before you send it back to the factory.
 
I would check your scope/base setup. I have NEVER been able to keep talleys attached to a heavy recoiling rifle with a brake. I will never own anything that says Talley again. Every Fierce 28 Nosler I have seen shoots 160 accubonds factory ammo very well. As far as being picky many chamberings are very picky regardless of how much money you spent on it and in my experience the 28 is one of them. I am assuming this 400 dollar rifle you speak of is chambered in something like 308, 223, or creedmoor, all of which are very forgiving.
 
if it were me, i'd try another scope first, then i'd try a new mount/ring. then i'd have someone else shoot it (that knows how to shoot). if it's still not shooting right, then i'd send it back.
 
I have recently worked on two rifles with similar results. Neither were $4500 rifles but still a new rifle should shoot better than 3-4" groups at 100yds, even with factory ammo. This was even with hand loads.
The first was a .308Win. A Savage M12 barrel but a model 10 action and it would not shoot under 2.5" at 100yds. I tried numerous bullet/powder/primer combinations through Lapua brass. I bedded the HS Precision stock and that helped a lot, as in got it down to .75". At this point I felt I didn't have a lot to loose so I tried the brass screw with valve grinding compound to smooth out the crown. Silence......cricket chirping....you have got to be kidding me! I could not believe it, I was very surprised with the results.
I cleaned up the barrel and tried the very same load I had just gotten .75" from, three more stacked on top of each other! I went back inside and loaded 5 more and they, combined with those first 3 went in to .4".
I ran over 200 rds through that barrel before I tried this trick. It may not work for everyone and I don't blame you if you don't want to try it on your expensive, custom, high dollar rifle but I can attest that it worked for me.

Just last week a cousin of my wife brings me his new Browning Bar III, .270 WSM with Leupold Vari-X III, 3.5-10X50 asking me to take a look at it and see if I can get it to shoot any better. He indicated with his hands that it was shooting saucer (4-5") size groups at 100yds. He had shot several different brands of factory fodder with not a lot of hope.
My first group with his Browning BXR 135gn ammo printed 2.5" from my bench. He was surprised and pleased. Then he confessed all his "patterns" were with a Lead-sled. I've no experience with these contraptions so I can speak either way.
I loaded 3 130gn Ballistic Tips with IMR 4955/CCI 250 and they printed a 4" group at 100yds. Did the brass screw/lapping compound trick last night, cleaned up the barrel and first light this morning that same load printed a 1" group (averaging 3185fps)! No load development, just the first load I came up with (65gn IMR4955/CCI250).
I plan to load a few more with increasing charges up to about 67.5ish and see if it gets any tighter.
Total cost is less than $5, more like $3. YMMV

 
If you want to talk to a local gunsmith, I recommend Norbert Costa in Boise or MCM in Nampa . If you're simply to busy to mess with it , I'm in Weiser and have a range at my house. I'd be glad to give it a whirl and see if I can get any positive results out of it before you send it back to the factory.
That would be fantastic! I have to make a trip to Weiser this week anyways! I will PM you. Thanks!
 
How many rounds do u have down the barrel? The 28s I have loaded for won't shoot well if they are dirty. They all needed to be cleaned every 30 to 40 rounds. But it sounds like the gun has never shot well from the beginning
 
My Fierce 28 Nos seems finicky too. It hasn't really liked any factory ammo but the 175 ABLR shoots about 1-1.25". I tried one hand load and was getting the 2+1 grouping for about 1.5". I haven't played with it much at all though. Supposedly they have a fairly tight chamber and shoot much better with once fired brass. I've accumulated a decent amount of brass now and will start handloading some more to see if I can reach its potential before I contact Fierce.
 
Earlier this summer, my wife surprised me and let me get a rifle I had long had on my wish list. A Fierce CT Edge in 28 Nosler with titanium muzzle break and a March 2.5-25 scope in Talley Lightweight rings. Unfortunately, with work and other commitments, it took me a while to finally get to the range. Even more unfortunately, after multiple boxes of expensive boxes of ammo, I am not getting anything close to the half MOA advertised by fierce for such an expensive (in my book) rifle.

Rifle has shot Hornady ELDX 162 gr, Nosler ABLR 175, and Nosler 160s. The ELDX seems to be the worst, with most groups hovering around 2.5MOA, with the best around 1.5MOA. The Noslers both seem to hover around 1.25-1.5. These are 3 round groups. During the same shooting sessions I am consistently shooting .5-.75MOA with my ultralight braked Kimber Mountain Ascent 6.5 Creedmoor with a Swarovski z5 3-18 (sub six pound rifle including scope), and a braked Ruger American 6.5CM with a vortex crossfire 3x9 from the same rest and position.

I don't profess to be the most experienced of shooters, nor do I know the ins- and outs of the technical aspects of these scopes and rifles. All I know is that I wanted a lightweight half MOA hunting rifle that packed a real whallop, and that is why I picked the Fierce....something seems off with a $4500 rifle that is so picky with ammo, when I can pick up a $400 Ruger off the shelf at Sportsmans and shoot 3/4MOA with anything I put down the tube.

When I contacted John Mogle at Fierce with this story, I got a very terse reply to just send the rifle back to them. No reply on how long that process would take, and I find it unlikely that I would have the rifle back by hunting season. I have plenty of other rifles to outfit myself and the 3 young hunters I will be taking into the woods this year, but its a real bummer to not be able to use a rifle I had looked forward to so long at the performance it should be able to produce.

Does anyone have any insight into what I could try, perhaps a local gunsmith or someone who knows their stuff in the Boise Idaho area who could give the setup a quick once over and see if I am missing something obvious here???

A 28 Nosler can shoot around 600-1000 before wearing out. Which makes it a hunting weapon that lasts a lifetime, or a season for a shooter to the target.
 
My fierce fury in 300wm was doing similar results.
Called fierce and they suggested cleaning it again before we took any other steps. That seemed to help the first 3 shot group, but then it went back to what it was doing. Was getting real frustrated.

but kept trying different ammo along with fierce's suggested Barnes 180 ammo. Then one day, Bam. Now consistently get 1/2-3/4" groups. This all came about the 200 round count.

it definitely doesn't like anything less than 180gr.
So if fierce used the 175 in its test of your rifle, you may want to stay about that range or higher and try the Barnes ammo. Pretty sure that's what they suggest for their rifles.
 
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