Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Accuracy gone bad! What to do?

How were/are your scope mounts/rings??? Did you check them or change them, before throwing a different scope on it?

New tube.

Rings and mounts are tight.

Bummer!

hatari;
Good morning to you sir, I'm sorry to read about your airline baggage mishap and the resulting issues with your rifle.

I'm surmising that the rifle is a small ring 96 action with a stepped military barrel?

If so, I will say that a couple years back I was able to find a military barrel in very good shape for $75 I believe I paid.

Now since the gunsmith was installing it on a 98 action there was a sleeve to be added to the barrel shank which of course wasn't free - but the result shoots very well.

Oh, I wanted the deep grooves and very fast twist that the original military barrels used as they seem to match up to the all copper bullets I've been using extremely well.

Anyway I hope you get your rifle sorted and shooting like it did before. Good luck and all the best to you this fall.

Dwayne

Maybe just worn out. The one Huqvarna .30-06 I had had a lot of rounds through it when I got it. Even so it regularly printed 1 1/2" groups. I put about a thousand rounds through it and when accuracy started to go it seemed like it went overnight. It rather quickly became a 3" rifle. I used copper remover until the barrel was spotless. I switched scope and mounts. Finally I glass bedded it. Nothing helped.

Dwayne,
Right you are about the m96 with the stepped barrel. ?there are some carbine military barrels floating around. I may grab one of them.

Was the POI off when you first shot it after the incident? If the barrel is bent (even a little) it would print noticeably off the original POI. If that didn't happen, the barrel isn't bent and the most likely culprit for damage would be (as others have proposed) a change in the bedding. I would try having it re-bedded first. It could be that the barrel just went away. But if the barrel was a real good one, try everything else first before re-barrelling to make sure that it is the barrel that was damaged or just wore out.

I agree, I don't see a "1/2 moa" rifle going bad over night. Especially to the tune of 3+ inch groups. Something else besides the barrel went awry. I'd check bedding or even re-do it if suspect, check freefloat on the barrel, look the stock over with a fine tooth comb. Change the scope mounts and rings or at a minimum, check to make sure they were not damaged somehow. Maybe a broken base or ring screw etc. A good shooting rifle is all about proper mechanics. I believe Jordan smith gave a good list of things to check. I'd be checking everything before replacing the barrel. JMHO...