Send it back! No need to waste ammo if you are certain it's the rifle.
Springfield Waypoint bad groups troubleshoot help?
- Thread starter TurboD
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Starbuck
Well-Known Member
Learned over the course of similar problems I've encountered over the years:
What kind of scope, rings, mounts? What is your mounting procedure?
Did you take the action out of the stock to make sure nothing is adversely affecting the rear of the action?
Check torque on action screws.
After confirming the rings and mounts are solid and not placing any torquing or pressure on the scope, and that nothing is wonky with the stock around the action and recoil lug, the next thing I'd do is pull the scope and put a known performer on it. Likewise, I'd mount the questionable scope on a known performer rifle.
I know this has been covered extensively through the years, and it's not my intent to derail the thread, but I can't say I'm surprised by the results of the gentleman with the Leupold VX5. I have multiple similar experiences of my own to report.
What kind of scope, rings, mounts? What is your mounting procedure?
Did you take the action out of the stock to make sure nothing is adversely affecting the rear of the action?
Check torque on action screws.
After confirming the rings and mounts are solid and not placing any torquing or pressure on the scope, and that nothing is wonky with the stock around the action and recoil lug, the next thing I'd do is pull the scope and put a known performer on it. Likewise, I'd mount the questionable scope on a known performer rifle.
I know this has been covered extensively through the years, and it's not my intent to derail the thread, but I can't say I'm surprised by the results of the gentleman with the Leupold VX5. I have multiple similar experiences of my own to report.
Jon Bischof
Well-Known Member
I just looked up the Waypoint and read all of Springfield's claims about this rifle. I also took note of the price. Send it back to Springfield. Those LEMON groups are NOT to be blamed on the ammo, the scope, the lead sled or your own marksmanship as you proved with the SCAR. Send it back to Springfield. If it were me I would ask Springfield to send me a check instead of sending the rifle back.
I sure hope you did not purchase this rifle at the recommendation of a LRH member. The one thing about LRH that really irks me is the prevalent belief that one has to pay well over $1200 to get a rifle that will shoot and well over $2000 to be sure to get a rifle that shoots. And I'm being conservative and kind. It is almost a mental disorder with some. Anyone who wants to spend more than that, I'm OK with that. But telling folks they can't get a rifle that shoots SUB MOA for less than several thousand...well, that's just not true.
They often counter that by saying that if you buy a rifle for less than $2,500 that it is just the luck of the draw to get a good one. That depends to a large extent on which rifle you buy.
I sure hope you did not purchase this rifle at the recommendation of a LRH member. The one thing about LRH that really irks me is the prevalent belief that one has to pay well over $1200 to get a rifle that will shoot and well over $2000 to be sure to get a rifle that shoots. And I'm being conservative and kind. It is almost a mental disorder with some. Anyone who wants to spend more than that, I'm OK with that. But telling folks they can't get a rifle that shoots SUB MOA for less than several thousand...well, that's just not true.
They often counter that by saying that if you buy a rifle for less than $2,500 that it is just the luck of the draw to get a good one. That depends to a large extent on which rifle you buy.
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Ucsdryder
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- Jan 23, 2016
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Hard to disagree with this. There's a decent cost and hassle associated with sending it back so I'd make sure it's not the scope or shooter.
Well I have run into a lot of grouping issues over the years, mostly with a barrel not liking the cannon fodder that you are feeding it.
Then again if it doesn't like anything you feed it you need to look elsewhere. What is the barrel twist rate compared to the bullets you are shooting? If the barrel is not properly floated it can cause issues. Do the dollar bill check to make sure that the barrel is not hitting anywhere along the forearm. If all of that checks out then I would begin to suspect that there might be a scope issue. They do sometimes fall apart no matter who makes them or how expensive they are. Not long ago I was playing with my Tikka T3x in 30-06 which regularly shoots 0.6 inch groups. It was shooting fine then suddenly there was a flier 1 foot right and 2 feet high? The next round was 1 foot low and 4 inches left, third shot was off paper. Going from 0.6 to off the paper told the tale, that there were issues. Called the manufacturer and they recommended taking the scope off and remounting, bore sighting and seeing if it didn't cure the issue. Took the rifle and scope to their manufacturing facility where one of their technicians checked it out and found that the parallax adjusting mechanism had fallen apart internally. They replaced the scope for free on the spot, even mounted and bore sighted it. The rifle is back to 0.5 to 0.6 inch groups shooting Nosler Partition 165 gr handloads. People do not want to blame the scope for accuracy issues when they are quite often the real issue not the rifle or ammo.
TurboD
Active Member
I don't think it's a scope issue. The glass on it is a Leupold Mk5 with a Spuhr mount. I mounted it using the Spuhr recommended torque sequence. Further, I tried out a known performer off another rifle and had the same results.
I took the action out and it doesn't seem anything is adversely affecting the rear of the rifle. I hand tightened the front action screw and wiggled the action to see if the rear was jiggling—it was rock solid. Nothing raising a red-flag in the recoil lug department.
I'm calling the guys at Springfield today to figure out what they can do for me!
Keep us posted on how it goes. I'm interested to see how their customer service is.
I think we need more info. Carbon barrels are supposed to be more immune from heating warp or whip. I would definitely contact Springfield and have the plan of action in place if it comes down to returning it. What is the barrel length? What is the barrel's twist rate? What taper? What bullets were in the loads, cup and core, mono, bonded? I would try to sand down the spot on the fore end that appears to be touching the barrel. Use very fine grit paper and only do a little at a time. Wrap it around a wood dowel that approximates the diameter of the barrel where that spot is. If this spot is rubbing a dollar bill should not slide past it. Does the first shot go where you want it? While the rest walk away from original point of impact?
Jeffrey Van Zandt
Well-Known Member
I would just do it myself I do all of mine so I can run a hankdown and back to clean out any crap that might drop in there
Jon Bischof
Well-Known Member
When you try 2 different scopes and 2 different ammos, the barrel is floated and the stock is torqued properly and the rifle won't shoot anywhere near MOA, it simply is not rational to say, "Might be the scope" or, "try more ammo, different load, bullet etc. ad nauseum".
Reference question by Jud96, how often (how many shots fired between cleanings) did you clean it during those first 100 shots? If you did in fact clean it, did it come clean fairly quickly or not? If you can slide two bills between the barrel/stock, then it should not be a free floating issue. Before you go sanding on the stock and such and possibly void your warranty, I would send it back to Springfield.
epoletna
Well-Known Member
A shooter whose opinion and experience I respect once told me not to use a dollar bill for the free floating test. He said use a $100 bill instead. That way, you are about 1/4 on your way to a new stock if that's the problem.
