Ruger frustration

[rfd]

I have to rugers. One 243 and one 308. Both have VERY long throats. The 243 factory bullets are around 2.610 oal. But i set them around 2.810 with 85 gr barnes x and their still jumping to the lands! If you dont handload sometimes the ruger is hard to make shoot factory rounds. My 308 ruger shot 175 blackhills ammo at 1 3/4 moa at 100. But MY custom loads of 175 i got 5/8 moa at 100 yards, thats a big difference!

yessir, without making hand loads, factory ammo is just a crap shoot that might never ever pan out, or maybe ya just get lucky. i don't trust luck, so i hand load. it is what it is.

for all my centerfire rifles, i always use a hornady oal comparator gauge. with my rar .243win, and sierra 60gr varminter boolits, they were touching the lands at 2.614" and i've had best accuracy setting that round col to exactly 2.598".

 

[olympicmotors]

Wow, just checked the thread . A lot of information here, thanks everyone for all the advice. It looks like the common agreement generally is I should try handloads before I do anything else.

I really know nothing about handloads and would be starting from scratch. I was sure hoping to get it shooting well with some premium factory ammo. Norma was mentioned in the thread, that is a brand I have not tried yet.

Also I knew nothing about barrel break in when I first got it, I have just been shooting it and cleaning it after every range trip. I recently learned cleaning the bore so often was maybe not the thing to do.

Also quality rings were mentioned, I am just using the Ruger rings that came with it.

 

[rfd]

Wow, just checked the thread . A lot of information here, thanks everyone for all the advice. It looks like the common agreement generally is I should try handloads before I do anything else.

I really know nothing about handloads and would be starting from scratch. I was sure hoping to get it shooting well with some premium factory ammo. Norma was mentioned in the thread, that is a brand I have not tried yet.

Also I knew nothing about barrel break in when I first got it, I have just been shooting it and cleaning it after every range trip. I recently learned cleaning the bore so often was maybe not the thing to do.

Also quality rings were mentioned, I am just using the Ruger rings that came with it.

i don't see where you mentioned your ruger's caliber .... ?

hand loading ammunition can be as easy or daunting as you like it to be. these dayze, the only real problem with hand loading might be with finding specific cartridge components - primers, powder, bullets, brass. other than that, reloading is too easy if approached with intelligence, focus and respect. and the hand loading buy-in won't require floating a new mortgage if you get someone very knowledgeable in loading to help with the proper, good gear.

most new, commercial assembly line barrels aren't lapped, polished, nor pristine and some folks, like me, spend a bit of time and effort in the process of firing off the first 30 rounds or so for a new rifle or handgun. after each of the first 5 rounds i'll clean out the barrel with jag 'n' patch and whatever bore cleaner handy (i like my ed's red or hoppe's elite). then do the same cleaning, but only after every 5 rounds, for the next 25 rounds. that's make a total of 10 barrel clean outs - 5 for each bullet and 5 for each group of 5 bullets. in doing so, this process can also get a new barrel into "lead/copper fouling equilibrium". in any event, that ought at least help with any new barrel "roughness". can't hurt unless you make a cleaning no-no mistake.

 

[FEENIX]

Also quality rings were mentioned, I am just using the Ruger rings that came with it.

I too am not a big fan of Ruger rings. I used Burris to Weaver adapter for more ring options ---- see the link I provided on my #6 response.

 

[olympicmotors]

i don't see where you mentioned your ruger's caliber .... ?

hand loading ammunition can be as easy or daunting as you like it to be. these dayze, the only real problem with hand loading might be with finding specific cartridge components - primers, powder, bullets, brass. other than that, reloading is too easy if approached with intelligence, focus and respect. and the hand loading buy-in won't require floating a new mortgage if you get someone very knowledgeable in loading to help with the proper, good gear.

most new, commercial assembly line barrels aren't lapped, polished, nor pristine and some folks, like me, spend a bit of time and effort in the process of firing off the first 30 rounds or so for a new rifle or handgun. after each of the first 5 rounds i'll clean out the barrel with jag 'n' patch and whatever bore cleaner handy (i like my ed's red or hoppe's elite). then do the same cleaning, but only after every 5 rounds, for the next 25 rounds. that's make a total of 10 barrel clean outs - 5 for each bullet and 5 for each group of 5 bullets. in doing so, this process can also get a new barrel into "lead/copper fouling equilibrium". in any event, that ought at least help with any new barrel "roughness". can't hurt unless you make a cleaning no-no mistake.

It is a 300 win mag.

 

[rfd]

It is a 300 win mag.

may i inquire, sir, what is your background with firearms use? how long have you been shooting, how many other guns do you have or have you had?

 

[jsthntn247]

I have a beautiful short story about Ruger rifles. It goes like this... "I bought a Ruger once then I sold it, the end".

 

[rfd]

I have a beautiful short story about Ruger rifles. It goes like this... "I bought a Ruger once then I sold it, the end".

excellent! that sure sez a lot ... about you!

 

[mtwarych]

I have a ruger hawkeye in a 257rob that just went crazy last year.
I started by cleaning the rifle to metal,oiling torqueing everything to make it right.
No improvement. Started working on the factory stock, free float, bed etc.
no improvement. Bought a boyds laminated stock, glassed it in and started new load work ups.
No improvement. I tried several different powders,bullets,primers and found no improvement.
Most people would be done with a rifle by this time but it was my favorite rifle.
I did a lot of reading and searching about the subject and the only thing I didn't do was to try the barrel chalk at the front of the rifle.
I dremeled out a 1 by1 square out of the boyds stock, filled it with bedding, put my action into the already upside down stock and hung 8 pounds of kitty litter on the barrel near the stock and tightened everything up. Waited 24 hours, took the action out of the stock and cleaned up the barrel chalk with the dremel.
Just to see what happened, I loaded 10 each 100grn,110grn and 115 grn over 46 grains of H4831 and went to the range, all slugs were loaded 0.015 off the lands.
Minor improvement with the 110 and115's. the 100 grain nosler ballistic tips shot a 10 round group just a bit bigger than a quarter at 200 yards.I could not believe it so I reloaded the same set of rounds and did it again. I don't know if an 8 pound chalk is right for your rifle, but you could start there and work it out. The barrel chalk made all the difference.
Good luck with your rifle. If it comes to the point you have zero confidence in your rifle, sell it and find something that works for you.

I wish my old phone didn't die or I could post the pictures of the 200 yard groups.

 

[Timeout]

Lots of sound advice already posted. Where are you located? A mentor to walk you through proper reloading and load testing would shorten your your learning curve. I shudder to think of how many $$$ I wasted on bullets and powders while trying blindly to achieve satisfactory accuracy. I'm retired and would be happy to help you if you are somewhere close. Will a factory rifle shoot? Sometimes. If you were already knowledgable in handloading & load testing, I would advise you to have a custom barrel installed. Problem is that on a rare occasion you run into a custom barrel that won't shoot. Should you get unlucky and draw one of those on your first try, you'll probably give up shooting!

 

[Tnwhip]

I Like Rugers. I have Rem700s, Mod70 and Rugers. They all have there ups and downs. Most any rifle can be made to shoot,After a little bit of tweaking my Old Ruger, my low budget built is doing pretty good. 280 Ackley. After lapping the Douglas barrel she started to shoot and not foul up. I went with a Boyd laminated stock.

 

[hybridfiat]

You said you haven't tried Norma yet. I find them to be very consistant although I use them in .223 they are good in any caliber. I was stunned when I tried a few and they matched my reloads. I'd originally only bought them for the brass.
It will enable you to eliminate a variable in the quest for accuracy.
I still say hand it to a reputable gunsmith and have them fit a new match barrel. I know you can get good, really good barrels for 1/2 what we pay here in Australia.
Another tip when you have the barrel and ammo is to beg borrow or steal a REALLY good scope and try that.