Try bedding the rifle...
I had a pair of Ruger 77s that shot real lousy groups... was about ready to either dump them in the river or rebarrel them...
one last load jumped out at me from an old Hornady Manual...
40 grains of 3031, with a 175 grain RN...
Turned 5 inch groups into 3/4 inch groups...
thought something had to be wrong, so I went home and loaded some more... same results....
Tried the same load with 160 grain bullets, 154s, 150s, 140, 139s, 145s.. ALL gave the same results...1/2 to 3/4 inch groups...
anything else, 3 to 5 inch groups...
sold one of them to a forum member who wanted one for his son..., still have the other, and it still gets fed 40 grains of 3031..... although I later found the rifle likes 140 grain ballistic tips with 44 grains of IMR 4895 or 4064 or RL 15...
go figure...
