I fiddled around with my stock, using tape to tape the fore end down the way that Stick did, and saw the vertical dispersion tighten up a bit, but not enough to my liking. I got some epoxy putty and bedded the shank just past the forward lug the way that a few guys have done, described in the Long Range forum. Haven't gotten out to test it yet. Been a hectic time. Hoping next week. My nephews need to get out too.
As far as my results with 68 Hornadys, the best of my tests was CFE for accuracy. I didn't run them over a chrono, but should be around 3k. Settled on 26.0gr, and .025" off lands, with Fed205M. Can't find my shooting notes for that day right now, but I recall that H4895 and Varget ended up getting more and more accurate the more I leaned on them. I liked the groups I got at the top, but the primers got very cratered, and the CFE was more accurate w/o pressure. I could likely load over 26 gr, but I only wanted about 3k fps.
Have moved on to working up for 75gr Amax. Having had such good experiences with CFE, I'm starting there, and seating at the lands. Hoping the stock fix tightens up the vertical!
An update on the Ruger American white-trash gunsmithing: the epoxy putty bedding did a fine job of getting rid of the vertical dispersion I was seeing. Took it out today and was getting five-shot clusters 3/4" and under with a few different loads and bullets. Of the loads I'd already worked up, no group was bigger than 3/4". I am very, very pleased with this $5 and half-hour fix!
It makes me giggle like a kid at Christmas thinking that a $350 LH rifle with a $250 scope ended up being such a shooter! Now to see to purchasing one or a couple extended mags...thanks again for the loan, Seafire!
