Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Am I Overthinking My Elk Rifle?

I couldn't sleep at night if I didn't clean the gun when I was done shooting it.

I know this, because one time I forgot to do it. At 2am my eyes popped open, and I remembered I didn't clean the gun. I got up, cleaned it, and then slept like a baby.

Overkill? Yes, of course, but it's how I am. If you ever buy a gun from me. The bore will sparkle.

Dang Mauser Hunter, you are one dedicated rifleman...waking up in the middle of night and all. That's good to hear though; a lesson many of us, including myself to learn from

I've decided to start some of the accurizing items mentioned. With the holidays upon us, it may take some time to get started...but am planning on moving in that direction with at least 3 items:

1) Determine actual OAL and seat bullets accordingly. I'm already reloading so this should be easy.

2) Free float the barrel. Looks like there is only a small area on the laminate stock near the front of the forearm to contend with. Unless someone advises otherwise, it doesn't look like that big a deal.

3) Glass bed the action..not sure how far forward to bed yet? There is a thread in the Hunting Rifles forum with the same gun so between that and watching a few Youtube videos, the process looks relatively easy and cheap too.

Of course, I'll be overthinking each of these. Hopefully not overkill but want the job done right the first time. This will be my first rodeo through this process. Any words of wisdom?

If there is a pressure point at the front of the forearm, it is probably there for a reason. Many rifles come with a pressure point there to make them shoot better. Best to shoot it first before removing that particular area, you may find it shoots just fine the way it is.

If you are going to glass bed the action, usually the action, recoil lug (rear of lug only), and about 1" of the barrel shank forward of the action that needs bedding if you are going for a free floated barrel.

Seating bullets to depth is pretty easy. I first find a powder charge that gives me the best accuracy with a rough seating depth close to what I need. Then, I usually use a Sharpie marker and mark the bullets. Seat them intentionally a bit long, then try to chamber one. You will see how much the bullet is marked by the riflings. Adjust almost this much and try again. Repeat, adjusting just a small turn of the seating die until the riflings don't mark the black on the bullet. Then I measure with a micrometer and adjust about .005"-.0010" more and shoot a few. This usually is pretty close to the sweet spot, IMHO.

Bob

yup

Yeah, good luck ....Just kidding, here are some pics to help you out:

Bedding is a must:





Bed it tight (don't put anything on the front of the recoil lug on a Ruger 77)....

Leave the speed bump until after you have shot it after you have properly bedded it,or you may end up doing this (OOPS!!!!):

[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/017-2.jpg[/img]

However, sometimes you need to freefloat them. Just make sure you seal up the barrel channel when you are done:
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/004-46.jpg[/img]

I'd love to show you pics of how all these rifles shoot, but they limit me to just 10 pics per post but here are a couple:

M77 MKII 338 win mag:
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/Image023-1.jpg[/img]

Tang safety round top M77 270 win:
[img]http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x401/chiefbsa/005-53.jpg[/img]

Pretty easy to make these Rugers shoot, just takes the right amount of tender loving care....Now you have somthing else to "overthink" about

Thanks guys. I'll wait on free-floating then.

Your pics are worth a thousand words BSA! Thank you for posting them. Hopefully my final groups will look half as good as yours.

After seeing the myraid of bedding materials available, I felt overthinking would be inevitable. However, I intentionally limited the search to about 15 minutes and made a decision. How bout them apples!

Devcon 10110 is pretty easy to work with and very strong. Good luck with it sir...

Use Brownell's Acuglass Jel for the bedding. Everything you need is in the kit for $20-$25.

Before you get too involved in finding the optimum seating depth, check the length of your magazine box. Many times that is the deciding factor of COAL. You want the rounds to be .020-.030 shorter than that box length to insure easy loading and feeding when hunting.

The number of bedding choices mirrors that of most things. Lots of choices! Anyway, here's what's in the mail:



I read mostly positive about Brownells Acraglass gel and only a few negative...even though I didn't see negative opinions substantiated with actual evidence. Nonetheless, the only negative I found for Devcon 10110 was cost. Got lucky though and scored for the same cost as Brownells.

Have some Johnsons Wax and Hornady One-Shot laying around too.

A little nervous but anxious to get started too

Thanks for the heads up on this Saddlesore. Will have to check this out.

Just use plenty of release agent where needed, don't get in a hurry, sometimes when its cold out it helps to let those devcon containers sit in hot water. You can use the Johnson's paste wax on the outside of your stock as well and the bedding won't stick to it. PM me if you need any extra help, I have more pics to walk you thru the process..

Will do BSA. Thanks for the guidance

You better shoot an elk after all this.

You ain't kiddin Mauser. 16 pages in and the trip is still more than 10 months away! Wonder if threads are shutoff after say 500 pages?

Overthinking can be a good thing but it's been my downfall sometimes too. Oh well; I really do enjoy the learning curve

I do all my bedding with Devcon Steel. The unsaid benefit of Devcon is that it does not shrink, (or, not enough to worry about) meaning accuracy does not go off after a few years. Some of my rifles were bedded 20 years back and still shoot very well.

Also tried Devcon Aluminium and it was just as good but naturally you get the silver finish where Devcon Steel comes is black.

John

you're not overthinking your rifle.

we're ALL overthinking your rifle.

I'm overthinking mine too... thats what God made the off-season for, it seems.

10-4 on the extra weight shooting. I have a weatherby ultralite in 300 wby mag and one in a remington 700. The remington weighs a couple of pounds more but is more enjoyable on the range. the wby is great to carry but sighting in is a pain. Both have killed elk and deer. I can't tell the difference when shooting an elk or deer between the two.

Today was the day to establish a baseline for the 77 prior to bedding, trigger adjustment and OAL seating/reloads. A few issues sighting in today (had to remount scope and add blue loctite) but eventually zeroed in. Sunny, 20F and no wind.

Shot two 3-shot groups at 100 yards from a lead sled using factory Remington Core-Lokt 150gr. PSP. First group measured 1.19" and the second measured 1.83". Are these groups typical? Seems like getting under 1 MOA won't be an issue...hopefully.

The Devcon arrived and hope to bed later this week. Busy time of year of course...not sure I'll finish before Santa arrives

Bwinters,
I fully agree with your post, it speaks experience and wisdom.
There is also the opposite of over thinking our big game rifles, and that is under thinking.
The ultimate in stupidity I read in "ask the gun writers" go to "mule deters opinion on the .243". What started initially as an OK post with shooting deer with the .243 under controlled conditions, detoriated in infamy and idiocy of long range plinkers using it on elk and recommending the .243 as a good cartridge for elk definitely out to 600 yards shooting 105 vld's, including photos. They even show pics of dead elk killed with their .243 over 700 yards and one just over 900 yards. That is if one believes what they are saying. However I do believe there are naive idiots that want to see how far they can stretch marginal deer calibers such as the .243, just to prove it "can be done". IMO it is criminal to mutilate and maim beautifully big game animals for no other reason as caressing some a....hole's ego.
I admire those long range target shooters for what they can accomplish from the bench.
But please do not practice on big game. They deserve a fast mercifull death. They are not military enemies.

Shrike,

I dont think what you describe is "underthinking the rifle" so much as over-pumping an ego. Such characters (or lack thereof) will nearly always be a classic douchebag, making the hunt more about him than the game he seeks.

The quarry we chase (be it a quail, a coyote, or an elk) deserve a quick and merciful death.

My elk guns are a 358 Win and a 300 WSM. I spend 11 months a year learning/optimizing in an effort to be prepared to deliver that quick death if the opportunity is provided.

shane