Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Question: to picky?

I bought a 300 wsm ss vangaurd bansher stock luepold scope 6x here on the campfire..i love the rifle,but..
It will put the first 2 shots touching or almost touching everytime from a cold barrel..3rd shot opens it to 1 1/2 to 2'' low and left ..im pretty sure its the barrel..
I AM IN NO WAY COMPLAINING ABOUT MY PURCHASE i love the rifle..but its driving me nuts trying to decide if i should rebarrel it because i love everything about it or should i just be grateful i can count on 2 shots to almost touch at 100 yds?
ive never shot anything more than once..and very few times had to fire twice..most game here is GONE after the first one if you miss..i havent killed alot of big game but varmints galore and still its rare to get 2 shots at fleeing game..and then im left to wonder if the NEW barrel will be as good with the first 2 as this one is..any opinions?

and of course i ment to post this in hunting rifles and didnt..but i still value any input

A new barrel may help... but if the gun isn't bedded adn floated to start with, it may not....

Its your call on whether to live with it or not... first 2 shots, realy first one, is the most imporant, but I missed the first one the other day... 252 at a head shot and misjudged the wind enough to miss... glad the gun shoots the all to the same POI at times...

What agbout mulitple pig or yote targets then too....

If you know somebody else who is a good shooter, get them to try it and see if they get the same results...That will eliminate one major variable ie you!

If the results are the same, I'd be checking the obvious: bedding, crown and if a free floated barrel, make sure it has enough clearance from the stock...It wouldn't harm to check your action and scope mount screws are tight either...

i will have someone else shoot it..i have not ruled out a flinch or poor technique,because its in the SAME spot..would bedding result in an exact same repeatable point of impact on the same 3rd shot from different range sessions?

free floated to 1/4'' in front of the scope (checked with a dollar bill)then the bill binds..that mean something?

Could very well do exactly that, depending on the problem...



First, a dollar bill thickness doesn't really cut it IMHO...On a free floated barrel, I like to be able to have say clearance equivalent to at least a couple of business cards, perhaps a bit more if I am going to shoot off a Harris bipod.

A bind 1/4" in front of the scope is wrong...as the barrel warms up and expands, that bind is going to apply different pressure to the barrel and could hence could very well cause the flyer you are getting..

If the rifle has been free floated and glassbedded, it can be done a few different ways..

Many people will also glass bed the first 1 1/2" of the barrel (ie under the chamber) so it is in full contact with the stock.

From that "pad" forward to the muzzle, there should be a good clearance and the stock should not touch the barrel at all.

In your case, I would lift the action out of the stock and remove that point of contact...A piece of course wet and dry wrapped around an appropriately sized "form" will do the trick...Once you have removed it, finish with a couple of grades of finer wet and dry to get a nice finish.

While the barrelled action is out of the stock, I'd generally sand the barrel channel and just open it up a fraction to make sure I had good clearance all along...On a free foated barrel, proper clearance is a good thing...

Pete,

Not disagreeing with you at all on the clearance idea. One thing I've tried to do is keep the the clearance a little tighter around the action and gradually taper it with more clearance as you go towards the end of the stock. It's worked out well for me on a couple of rifles.

A way to check for potential bedding/action stress issues is to see or feel if the stock/action/barrel is moving as you torque the action screws down. It should have very little movement (almost imperceptible) and preferably none as the screws are tightened. If it's moving around then you very well could have bedding issues.

The easiest thing to do is just epoxy bed it and eliminate the possibility.

JD,

I don't mean to sound doubtful about your findings but have you shot it enough and not just a few three shot groups to really confirm what you're seeing? What about the 4th, 5th, 6th shot from a hot barrel. Do you still get good groups by letting the barrel cool between shots? Have you shot five shot groups with a cool barrel. Is it truly consistent? The reason I'm asking is it might have something to do with the load. If you've nailed it down to a hot barrel then just ignore this part of my post.

ive let it cool alot..and it will stay close to the 3rd shot..(shots 4 and 5) if i let it cool a little..they are a 2 close(first 2) and 3 low left..and 4 and 5 are 1 1/2 away from 3 and like 3'' almost 4''away from 1 and 2..which is what made me think it was a flinch maybe..but the first 2..like 5 range sessions from a cold barrel are right on the money almost touching same place every time...

I could live with that approach...The main problem I see with freefloated barrels, particularly with cheaper tuppaware stocks, is when a bipod or tight sling is used.

Although nominally free floated, as soon as any force is put on the forend of the stock, it twists enough for it to touch the barrel, causing flyers...When the pressure is removed, the stock shifts back away from the barrel, leaving the shooter scratching his head over the flyers...

The cure? a stock with good stiffness in the forearm, and "enough" clearance...

ive tried 2 different bullet weights 180 is whats its sighted in for..and ive tried 150's yes all factory..the 150's put 2 like 1/2'' not quite as good as the 180's to a different point of aim..but then it opens a little more randomly than the 180's like 3 or 4 inches..

I like a $5 float,as a minimum.

Hint................

I could not objectively weigh a rifle's inherent performance potential,via canned fodder.

You've lotsa loose ends..................

thanks stick...so tell me..i have dies ..came with the rifle..give me a list of basic handloading gear and i will remadly the factory stuff by learning to load...what are my other loose ends? and how do i tie them up?

'19,W/W hulls,250's,168X/A-Max and a kiss. X for tags,'Max for everything else. You'll boast POI/POA intersection and schit'll get easy and fast.

Thank me later.................

Stick, What are you getting for speeds with the 168's? i finally finished off the IMR powder i was using up and am moving on to RL19...

I think I can know,but am not certain,as I'm at work and awaiting a King Crab/Lobster/Filet Mignon Feed. 3200fps+ though.

Truth is,I hardly shoot any 300 Whizzum anymore and MUCH prefer to 7 Whizzum/162..................

I see similar questions posted here all the time, and the responses are mostly the same.

I often wonder if some of the issues folks are seeing is because the barrel is not truly 'broken in'. I've shot a number of rifles in my life, both new and 'used'. Almost always I've been able to tell when a barrel 'breaks'. I've had 'used' barrels 'break' in the middle of a range session. Some barrels just take longer than others, and I doubt that most folks buying a gun off the shelf take the time to break the barrel in. Whereas someone that has taken the time and spent the money to rebarrel a rifle is more likely to follow a break-in sequence and benefit from the process.

Just my $.02.

Few are more staunch in their Break-in regimen,than I.............

It takes alotta time,dedication and very Specialized Equipment too.


Link............