What is going on???????

[Creedmoor shooter]

Hey guys I have a problem. Over the summer I built a 6.5 Creedmoor on a Savage action. It has a Criterion 26in varmint contour 1:8 twist. The stock is a HS-Precision M24. The gun was shooting great, anywhere from .1-.3 with the 143 and 140 eld-x and eld-m with rl-17. Now I'm getting really weird groups like 2 in one hole and it throws one. I've attached a pic of my groups today. The top one was a clean barrel. The top 2 groups was a previous 140 Amax load that shot very well at .25 moa. The bottom is a 140 eld-m which shot in the .3s previously. I've checked all my action screws and scope mounts and it's all good. Can someone give me some insight on what's going on? Thanks in advance. Sorry the pic rotated and I can't seem to fix it but the ones to the left are the top ones. These were shot off a bipod

 

[gohring3006]

Maybe the powder is more temp sensitive than I thought.
I don't notice it in my 30-06, it may have something to do with capacity, for instance after you put so much of it in a case, it lights off with so much heat that the sensitivity is less..

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I thought about sensitivity to temp but my dad shoots it in has Creed as well and he still shoots ragged holes. I do have some H4350 I could run through it

 

[Gunpoor]

I can't tell you why, but I can relate experience I have had. I have had rifles that shot very well every time I shot them off the bench and then on another range trip it would shoot like you are seeing, and I have gone home frustrated and returned another day and it would shoot back to normal again. This has only happened with two rifles that I can remember and only one time each but if you figure out what causes this please let me know. And, BTW, it didn't have anything to do with ambient temp, or elevation, but might have been the phase of the moon. He11 if I know!

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Just off the top of my head:

need to foul the barrel.
too much shoulder pressure.
your natural point of aim is off.
bad scope.

 

[Barrelnut]

My crude tests with RL-17 showed about 1.5 FPS per degree of temp change. Since your up in NH, colds temps might knock you off the node.

Add maybe a squeaky clean barrel that needs fouling and too much coffee to stay warm, and suddenly your in that realm of *** is going on here.

Coffee is my big problem.....

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

It's a proven scope nothing wrong there. I did develop my loads in the summer time and have noticed my loads went from normal, to .5-.6, to what I'm seeing now. The temp today was about 10 degrees. As far as the barrel fouling I've cleaned it a few times now and the first shot was off but after that it was fine. Nothing has changed with my technique or the way I do things. I always shoot prone off a bipod and rear bag. I'll run some H4350 through it to see if that makes a difference.

 

[elkaholic]

I would lean towards it getting off the node. Try bumping it up about a grain and see what happens. You probably lost enough velocity/pressure to make a grain difference. If it still shoots poorly, don't rule out carbon in the throat even though the rest of the barrel may be clean.......Rich

 

[toddc]

This is why I chrono EVERY shot I shoot unless chrono is broke, too dark or I'm shooting a critter. And don't laugh but I have shot critters thru a chrono lol.

If you are 50 fps low and ES is thru the ceiling.....there ya go.

Also Savages can be very sensitive to action screw torque.

And last, I cant personally shoot a Harris style bipod under .5MOM. That's minute of moose if you are wondering.

Bags or a F-class style pod and I'm in. Atlas, Harris or other.....crapshoot.

I would guess node, action screws or bipod issues. Being CONSISTENTLY good on a bipod is a lot of work and I see a lot of guys who do real well one day and then have issues the next, especially when going from shooting in a shirt to a heavy coat. Different bipod pressure etc with heavy clothing.

Just a few ideas.

 

[AZShooter]

How about some controls?

Shoot with bi-pod then with bags. I have had two McMillan stocks that had the barrel sufficiently floated when built somehow begin to move closer to the barrel. Be sure you have enough clearance. The issues don't show with bags but did with a bi-pod.

Do you have an alternative load you have used that is also accurate? If you do, try it.

What products and how are you cleaning the barrel? Quite a few guys at the range have talked to me about their lost accuracy. When we viewed their "clean" barrels through my Hawkeye we found otherwise. Perhaps you barrel is just dirty?

If all the above issues are resolved then I would agree with the other posters to work up a winter load.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

As for cleaning products I use butches bore shine. I just find it odd that it will literally put 2 in the same hole then throw one 1.5 -2 in off. I've been watching my accuracy fall off over the past 2 months. I shot it mid November and it had opened up to .5-.6 then I took it out last week and got similar results to what I had yesterday. I thought may even my barrel was alittle dirty so I did run a bunch of patches and made a pass with the brush. I can try a more thorough cleaning to see if that helps. I should probably mention my round count is 172. I went 79 rounds in between my 2 last cleanings. Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

 

[AZShooter]

It wouldn't hurt to run a few tight patches of Iosso, JB or Rem's 40X.

How is the barrel channel clearance?

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

It wouldn't hurt to run a few tight patches of Iosso, JB or Rem's 40X.

How is the barrel channel clearance?

There's alot of clearance in the channel. I can fold a paper 3 times and it still fits no problem. The stock is very stiff I don't believe it's flexing. I'll check my clearance again when I get out of work today just to double check. I'll try shooting off bags but it's hard for me as I don't have a range to shoot at so I always shoot prone with a bipod in a open place.

 

[bill123]

As for cleaning products I use butches bore shine. I just find it odd that it will literally put 2 in the same hole then throw one 1.5 -2 in off. I've been watching my accuracy fall off over the past 2 months. I shot it mid November and it had opened up to .5-.6 then I took it out last week and got similar results to what I had yesterday. I thought may even my barrel was alittle dirty so I did run a bunch of patches and made a pass with the brush. I can try a more thorough cleaning to see if that helps. I should probably mention my round count is 172. I went 79 rounds in between my 2 last cleanings. Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

Only 172 rounds? If you did load dev wa new barrel, the velocity probably increased as the barrel settled in and you're now out of the node.