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What would cause a rifle to go all over the place?
bperdue21
Member Posts: 1,457 ✭✭
A few weeks ago, I took out my Savage 110 30-06 that I bought used in December and tested a few loads in it. I found 2 loads that shot pretty well, one about 1.25" and the other was .944". After I got home that day I cleaned the rifle using Butch's and ran a patch of break free through it. I made a few more of those loads and bumped up two more loads to try out. The groups I shot with the original two loads went to probably 5" and the other two loads were even more out than that. I really couldn't think of anything I did that would have opened it up that much and had no trouble grouping another 30-06, 270, and 300 mag that day. I use a Otis gun cleaning kit, if that makes a difference. What could have happened here?
Comments
Did you clean from the muzzle or breech?
Scope mounts loose?
Scope went out?
Rings loose?
cleaned from breech to muzzle
scope mounts tight
scope rings tight
i don't know about the scope. it is a burris so I don't think it would have gone out right after shooting a .944 group, sitting for a month then shooting a 5" group. I don't remember doing anything to it.
How much neck tension on the loads?? were they at .001" or less?? has the brass let-go some of the nk tension maybe because there wasn't much to begin with?
crown dings??
try another scope to be sure.
However, I had an experience somewhat similar to yours a while back. Although I'd been shooting off and on through the winter, spring and summer. When fall rolled around and deer season was about to open, I went to the range. I gave a thorough last check of the rifle that I was going to be using on a deer hunting trip with my son. I did some serious shooting and found everything right-on, hitting where I knew it would, perfect, no problems.
When we went hunting I had an uncommon opportunity for taking an unrushed, calm, close-in shot of a decent buck. I hit him of course, no problem; elevation great, no problem; windage 16-18 to the right, big, big problem!
I checked everything out everything possible with my rifle and found ... nothing! I went to another area to check the rifle with some target shooting and found the rifle right on ... hitting right where it was zeroed! Mentally I brainstormed, for any and all possible problems. I even recreated the situation, the shot, etc. I was unable to determine what the problem had been. Talk about throwing everything in to question and completely destroying one's confidence!
Another day, another buck, same location and similar situation. And me lacking a lot of the former confidence. I carefully took a well thought out shot ... I aimed much further to the left than usual, hit a bit further to the right than normal! My son thought it to be a decent shot. I had compensated so much with the shot placement, that I knew it was way off.
Went home and to the range and found all my initial shots to be on the money, perfect. Kept checking everything I could think of with the rifle. Later shots same day, same site .......... shots were 6-18 inches left!
I did a major disassembly and reassembly ... found that my scope and rings were fine ... stable and tight. However, I fo[und that one of the scope mount screws was loose in such a way that elevation was unaffected and stable. There was absolutely no shot movement to the left. However, shot movement to the right was marked and quite variable.
I had beeen unable to visually determine any problem, even after taking the scope and rings off. The one mount screw ended-up being very much a positional problem. It had to do with the postion that I was in when taking the shots. I'd never had a problem like that previously, nor since.
I've used clear nail polish to anchor or seal screws in position, with success, all of my life. I believe the nail polish had just exceeded it's useful life, it had worn out, and failed to anchor. Since then, I routinely reapply the polish after sighting in at the range each year.
I hope that this or one of the other many suggestions will solve your problem. I hope that you will let everyone know what the problem and solution you find.
Good luck to you!
Could the fact that one range is shooting uphill and the other is shooting flat have anything to do with it? It shot pretty good today at the flat range, where the original testing was done. It did not shoot well at the uphill range.
The up/down factor should only slightly change the impact elevation wise, not open up the group. Now if the slope was causing you to change you hold/rest, particularly if getting in an uncomfortable position to compensate or causing the butt to rest differently that would.
The two times I had a rifle get squirrelly for a reason other than bad reassembly were in fact the same problem. While hunting a leaf apparently caught between the stock and barrel, wedged in tight and broke off where it was not visible, shots flew everwhere, doubt I could have hit a deer at anything over a 100. The other instance was similar, I had wiped down the gun with a paper towel and tore a corner off between barrel and stock. Results were not as dramatic and as soon as I saw 2.5" groups a disassembeled the gun then and found the problem. Other than that it has been forgeting to assemble stock and scope in thier most forward position in relation to action during reassembly.
If you have another scope you can put on that rifle and shoot again, that would be a good test.
If you were shooting from a range at a bench your cheek weld is a LOT different than it would be for shooting prone or sitting. If your scope has paralax set for 100 yards and you change the cheek weld it will make a big difference on the alignment of the scope to your eye.
An example. I can get my 22 shooting like a laser beam off the bench, if I change to prone, off of a different bag, it will shoot almost 1 inch low at 50 yards due to the cheek weld difference.
Just an idea........
I had to sit on a jacket at the bench on the uphill range because it forces my rest up so high. The 50 yard range is flat, then it it tiered up and there is the next 100 yards. I guess it is 10 ft of difference.
I am leaning towards nothing wrong except a cheek weld, it is vital to repeatable results with a rifle. Toss in a touch of parallax and poor feet plant, sitting on a jacket, you have a recipe for open groups that drive you nuts.