Vaughng
Member
anything interfering with the barrel will cause vertical stringing.
Vaughn G in OZ
Vaughn G in OZ
Vertical stringing
- Thread starter Joefrazell
- Start date
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Herringbone
Active Member
I have had a very similar issue and it turned out to be the box magazine binding between the bottom metal and the action. Good luck!
greenejc
Well-Known Member
The reason I asked about where your fourth round went in relation to the group is because I have two 300 winmags in Remington 700's which will put three 180 grain Sierra Gamekings into less than 1.5 inches at 300 yards, and this is not a one-time deal. I've had both of them do it repeatedly. However, sometimes when I have to load the fourth or fifth shot, I change the position of the rifle on the rest, and with the same point of aim, it will give me an outlier. I'll get a 2.5 inch group, with the fifth round going back into the original group. I've gotten around this (most of the time) by using a Caldwell bag and resting the rifle close to the action, which seems to stop the problem, as long as I don't get caught by heart beat. I also use a squeeze sock under the butt stock to steady and rest the butt stock with my off hand. I do use a bipod on both rifles, and I re-zero for it just before going hunting, but it doesn't effect group size. Generally on my rifles, it will cause the group to hit about an inch higher at 100 yards, and maybe 4 inches higher at 400 yards. It doesn't effect the rifles with free-floated barrels or my varmint weight barrels, though. Point of impact with them remains the same at both distances, and I center punch steel at 600 yards with them from bags or a bipod. But I have experienced stringing just from a slight change in where the forestock was rested on the bags. It only showed up at 3 and 4 hundred yards, because the difference was so slight.
Have you eliminated the possibility of parallax issues? I've seen vertical stringing with guys who prefer a light cheek weld and forget to adjust the parallax.
Joefrazell
Well-Known Member
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- Apr 29, 2017
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How about you two message each other 
I have checked the parallax before every shot string
I have checked the parallax before every shot string
112Savage
Well-Known Member
@Joefrazell I'm assuming you have done a seating depth test. If you haven't I would highly consider that. There was an article pubished in precision rifle blog talking about consistency in accuracy due to throat erosion. Here he said that due to throat erosion finding a group that maybe wasn't as keen on accuracy would be more consistent. He suggested doing a seating depth test and between 40 and 80 thousandths off he found a more consistent load that would be more consistent as the throat eroded.
I think I would go to a mechanical front rest and rear bag to see if forend pressure is causing problems.
I was ready to send my Tikka 300WSM down the road recently due to fliers and inconsistency until I tried the primer change. I know this is frustrating but sometimes the reward of working the problem is great.
I think I would go to a mechanical front rest and rear bag to see if forend pressure is causing problems.
I was ready to send my Tikka 300WSM down the road recently due to fliers and inconsistency until I tried the primer change. I know this is frustrating but sometimes the reward of working the problem is great.
Stgraves260
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- Sep 1, 2009
- Messages
- 942
Was helpIng the man. People on here can be pretty brutal sometimes. I know you can't all ways help people if they don't want it. I was just pointing out vertical means up. It doesn't mean left and right. I thank thats why he was arguing. I'm good. Like I said. I was just helping the man or boy. I don't know his/her age.
greenejc
Well-Known Member
If the barrel strings every fourth shot and is consistent in where it strings the shot, it isn't seating, throat erosion or bedding. The consistent placement of the fourth shot rules that out. If it was bedding, throat erosion or inconsistent seating, you wouldn't get a distinct pattern with three in a tight cluster and a consistent outlier, which is to the same place, then its probably the barrel heating in a consistent pattern. You might try cryogenic stress relieving, which will cause the barrel to heat evenly instead of changing point of impact as it heats. I have an -06 Ruger m77MKII that will shoot 5 shots into 1" or 3/4 " at 100 yards, but it puts two rounds touching and one about 3/4" right, the fourth back into the first two, making a ragged hole, and the fifth cutting the third about 3/4" right and at the same elevation. All are vertically on line and spread horizontally, but grouped within an inch overall. Basically, I have a group of 3 shots and two shots, each group touching or nearly so, spread horizontally by about 3/4" and vertically about 3/8". The barrel flexes just enough to spread the group horizontally with the same pattern. No vertical spread, but consistent horizontal spread of the same size and pattern from group to group. That is barrel heat changing point of impact slightly. It will consistently shoot the same group pattern with accurate loads and with loads the rifle doesn't like. Group sizes will be larger, but the pattern is the same; a horizontal spread with a smaller vertical spread, and three rounds grouped to the right of two rounds. I'm not worried about the horizontal spread because the Ruger barrel is a pencil barrel and the overall groups are still within an inch, which is 'good enough' for what the rifle is designed and used for. But if you want to know what your rifle will really do, do some 5 and 10 shot strings. See where the barrel hits and how tight the groups are with 5 and 10 shots. This will really tell you if you have a barrel walking problem. Do it at 100, 200, 300 and 400 yards and see what the results are.
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Could it be a neck tension variation? Has the brass been annealed? I had a similar problem so I annealed and it improved a lot. I then tried removing the expander ball from my die and ran the cases over an expander mandrel and the problem disappeared.
Please do inch pounds and not foot pounds..
Regaurdless of barrel brand it very well could be a bad barrel or a bad chamber job. I'd take to another shop for bore scope ect if not already done. I had same kind of issues and did result in bedding and loose scope base screws. loctite them suckers good luck
[QUOTE="Joefrazell, ***
Weird, I sure hope that it's not a barrel problem as it's a bartlein
[QUOTE="Joefrazell, ***
Weird, I sure hope that it's not a barrel problem as it's a bartlein
I had a Parker Hale in 30-06 years ago that was stringing vertical. I had been trying bullets from 150 grain to 165 grain. My gunsmith said try 180's-some guns can be per snickety in the bullets they like. Worked like a charm.
Alex Wheeler
Well-Known Member
Seating depth is either the first or second step in load development. Its as critical as powder charge. If you cant tune out the vertical, try a different powder. Dont try to tune the rifle with some gadget strapped to the barrel either. Put it on to check velocity after load work is done.
