Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles still trying to figure out the A-Bolt

ok i started the post last week asking about the particulars on A-Bolts and i have received lots of constructive comments. at one point however i outlined some of the issues i was haveing with my particular micro and at this time i decided the best thing for me is to start a whole new thread to pick that apart. here is an outtake from my original thread where i outlined my issues. please feel free to explain where i might be wrong in my assumptions and where else i may want to look:

i have a micro in 7-08, picked it up last fall and shot it a little. it's my first A-Bolt and admittedly i am ignorant on them. anyway i was/am haveing a few issues with the groups. i would get a couple shots close then a hard flier to the right then one back with the others basicly giving me two sepporate groups if i shot enough shots (5-6). i checked action screws and i looked at the barrel/stock fit. i determined that the left side of the stock, while not touching was a tad too close so i sanded out the barrel channel on that side and it helped some. the other two things i noticed after pulling the action out of the stock was first there is this tang plate (shim plate?)that fits between the tang and the stock and is not true or flat, it has an ever so slight arch or bow in it. my thought is that as i tighten down the action screws it is imparting stress into the action. second thing i noticed after close look is that the front action screw hole when looked into it with a light shows a bright spot on a couple of the barrel threads that might indicate the action screw is a frogs hair too long and is bottoming out and not fully tightening. this also could in my opinion add a undesireable stress point or mess with the barrel harmonics. opinions from anyone else on my findings. i plan on taking it to browning soon since i'm only 10 min from the repair center here in st. louis. but i wanted all my home work done before hand.
i bought this rifle used and have no issues with what i paid for it. my issue is that i feel i still have a lot mre i can get out of this rifle in terms of accuracy and i want to achieve it. to be honest i get some satisfaction out of tweaking and working a new (new used) rifle to reach it's potential what ever that potential is.

also here is the factory "hotglue" bedding.

no input from anyone?

they figure that the vast majority of people who buy thier guns will never take them out of the stock and couldnt appreciate an accurate rifle. so they play the numbers game... make a chit load of profit and keep thier stockholders happy.

and that helps me diagnose this rifles issues how?
i'm still torn why the washer plate in the tang area would not be true or flat, i have to think that would put some stress into the action.

i'll try to post some pics later tonight or tomorrow but after going through the various owners manuals of the A-Bolt the only pdf version that shows this piece (item PO78740 Stock Washer) is shown in the A-Bolt Shotgun parts list ?? it is not shown or indicated in either of the other two online owners manual that i looked at. any input (constructive would be nice)

I don't know a whole lot about the subject but the washer on the tang is like that on all three of my brownings and if you take it out or turn it over the safety works poorly.

I has similar issues with an abolt II stalker. I added bedding to the lug area, a little in front of the lug and just a skim coat behind the lug and, as did you, opened up the barrel channel. I was not happy to find the tang plate that can come off when the stock is removed but I figure it locks the tang area to the stock. The tang bolt screws into a six sided (or eight, can't remember)recess that hangs below the rear of the action. If you look into that area of the stock, you should see a narrow ledge that all six (or eight)sides of that recess may bottom out on. It is not much of a ledge. I slowly dug material out to widen that ledge and then bedded that area. I don't believe that I bedded underneath the tang plate. With the addition of a 2 lb. Timney trigger spring, that rifle now shoots very well with Sierra 130 gr. Matchkings.

I should add that my stock is the factory synthetic.

I'd bed it, then pillar bed it. Pillar kits are sold on gunbroker for the A bolts.

What corelokt said, or you can pay a good smith to do it. It shouldn't be more than 150-180 bucks. Well worth it to replace that blob you have in there.

That is a crappy bedding job in that pic, I'd send it to Browning with a thank you letter.

Best,

JM.

well that is how the rifle came. i do plan on taking it to browning hopefully at the end of the week. i'll let them do their thing (if they do anything) then i'll shoot it and decide where to go next after that. i'll have to give the tang are a closer look to see what gonetocamp was talking about. i'm setting this rifle up for one of my sons and they don't have to be able to shoot benchrest with it i just want any quirks worked out of it. i am confident that this rifle has really nice potential.

I've seen A-Bolts that had the oversized front action screw you are describing. Some screws are a little to long, most of the time it is the result of to much torque applied.

Combine that with a poor bedding job and accuracy will certainly suffer. If you ever decide to re-barrel that rifle and the screw has flattened the barrel threads, get ready for alot of work.

Get a Smith to trim that front action screw, put in a good bedding job and touch up the crown.

While I was at it, If he can remove the barrel, have him chase the threads on it as well.

I know it sounds like alot of work, but it really isn't for a good smith and you will have eliminated all of the easily fixed issues that contribute to poor accuracy.

JM.

well i'm hoping Browning will fix their own mistakes free of charge on this one even though it is more than 5 yrs old and i am not the original owner. if you look down into the front action screw hole you can see the barrel threads and a couple of shiny marks that indicates to me anyway that the front action screw just might be making contact. by the way and i'm suprised it hasn't been asked yet, i did make sure the mounts and bases were tight and i am using an older but solid B&L 4000 Elite scope on top of it. at one point after cleaning out the side of the barrel channel and shooting it i then placed a piece of dense foam as a pressure pad to see if it helped dampen the harmonics and help groups. it helped some but i still would get a flyer off to the right once in a while but not as far, and after shooting the same target over time i would end up with the same split group just not as far.

buy a limbsaver barrel de-resonator. i have the same rifle in lefthand and couldn't get mine to group at all . with the limbsaver i'm getting 1in groups now. mine is 3 3/4 in from the muzzle ,but yours may take some shooting to find the best spot.
i'm shooting 139grn hornady bullets.

Good to know the threads aren't damaged. Browning may take along time to get around to fixing it and it still may not be right.

They will send it back with a nice note not to remove the action unless absolutely neccessary. You will not know what kind of bedding job they did and if they shortened the front action screw to prevent contact with the barrel threads.

If you want it to shoot, have a local smith do what I suggested and you will be able to go by and check out what is going on with the rifle, if it's not right, you can drive back and drop it off.

If Browning does the work and it's not right, you will be without the rifle for another extended period of time.

Just my 2 cents,

JM

i just can't live with that look even though i know they will work. at least not until i try everything else first. it groups fine except for the way right flier. once i isolate that cause it will be fine.

If I can add a quick question in here, what way up should the tang plate sit?

v or ^ when the rifle is upright?

I've got one, and not 100% sure which way up the tang plate was originally.

Thanks.

+1 on the tang plate issue.
well it's moot anyway as tomorrow i will drop it off at browning in the afternoon and see what (if anything) they do for me. i'll post the results or lack there of once i have it back.

I think V goes away from the tang.