Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Accuracy tweaks

What do you guys like to do for cheap/easy accuracy tweaks? I've got a friend with a Ruger 77 MK II Stainless Synthetic (newer version without the odd looking stock) in .30-06. I'm developing some handloads for him, but he/we/I are looking for additional ways to improve the accuracy. Most groups with factory loaded 180 TSXs and 180 XP3s were between 1.5 and 2 inches, which isn't good enough to excite him.

The trigger is stock, I can bed the gun myself, but I've never fooled with recrowning an undamaged gun. I'll probably free float the barrel before I do anything, unless someone has a better idea.

Any other ideas?

I always start with the crown, trigger and bed, if it wont shoot after that its down the road!!

Just work up handloads. Seldom have I seen an M77 that won't print 1" or better with nothing more than working up a load. If I were working up a load for an -06 I'd get a box of 165 gr balistic tips, and work up using H-4350. Once you work up to max with bullets seated to the lands, see how 10, 25 and 50 though off the lands works. I would be suprised if you didn't find a combo that produced a 3 shot group with two in one hole and the third opening the group to 1/2-3/4 inch.

If you don't have a lathe and can't zero the bore to 0.0002" tir or less, do not attempt to recrown the barrel! I've used the brownells 11 deg target crown tool hand powered and have always been disapointed in the accuracy. Since I started re-crowning in a lathe by dialing the bore as close to zero tir as I can read, I've been much, much happier with the results.

I'm firmly convinced that crowns that look ok can still produce sub standard results. I'm also firmly convinced that a good properly cut crown will do more to aid accuracy than another other gunsmith service with a factory barrel.

I'd try a trigger job and 168gr TSX with H414.
757

When working with the TSX or TTSX bullets ,seat them WAAAYYY off of the lands for starters. Many times I find terrific accuracy by just using the uppermost band as a guide a la a cannelure and seat the bullet to hide 1/2 of that top band. Not real scientific but it mostly works out well.

Outside of load development, the bedding with the free float treatment is #2 on my list followed by firelapping the barrel next and re crowning only after above don't get the results I am looking for. After that, the rifle in question had better be shooting at around an inch or better or it is safe to assume the barrel is not worth fiddling with any more.

Mark, do you use Final Finish for firelapping or PuffLon? Have you ever found it to worsen accuracy?

Easiest thing to start with is to throw a couple of business card shims under the chamber to get a temporary free float. that will tell ya whether free floating is going to help and is easy to do and then undo without any permanent effort. Free floating almost always seems to improve accuracy, but this is a nice easy temporary way to give it a try without any permanent changes. If it works, bed it and go. From there trigger and crown are the next two for me.

I use the packaging tape, folded under the front lug, with a hole cut in center for the screw. Free floats, and no pressure on barrel. But that is just how I temp float it... Other ways work too.

TenFo plus floating which comes with bed job!

I have some Wheeler engineering firelapping compounds in 220,320 and 660 grits. When I get a brand new rifle or barrel I run a few rounds with the 660 through it and then polish a little with JB bore paste. No time or patience for the shot, scrub, shoot, scrub stuff and this has worked quite well for me.

I have never seen the system make accuracy worse, but I don't use the 220 and 320 on a barrel that shoots well to begin with. Only rough SOB's. I used it on a cheap heavy barrel for a 10/22 from a cheap kit and cut groups in half. Used it on a OLD 250/3000 savage with a really rough throat and got it shooting like new, albeit with a bit of 'freebore' in the throat when all was said and done.

IF possible, I use the polishing compound with cast lead bullets loaded down to subsonice velocities but have used it as well with jacketed bullets loaded slow. With jacketed bullets I try to find bullets with a long shank to get as much polishing per shot as I can. AA5744 works great for reduces loads.

If I did not already have the Wheeler engineering stuff I would go with Tubbs final finish as it comes in kit form with the polishing compund already imbedded onto correct for the application bullets and I am, at my core, lazy to the max.

Agree on trying the cut off credit (best) business (second best) card under the chamber and or recoil lug idea right off. I have done this as well for a cheap trial.

Good luck!

PS Geese and ducks are in, Got Pheasants coming out our Kazoo's. can you make it out this way soon? If you can make it out, we can firelap the rifle in question and shoot it here in between hunts. I also have a monster selection of Barnes TTSX and TSX bullets we can try out and about every gunpowder known to modern man in large quantities. Only have about 15,000 or so primers though so you should bring a couple.....

MARK

I have the same rifle in a 270 that was shooting the same. IT now prints .5 to .75 inch groups all day long. The first thing I did was get the trigger down to a crisp #3, that got it shooting 1" with factory then I floated the barrel and developed some handloads for it. I love this gun, its my go to and the one I wish I had reahed for if I didn't.

Thanks Mark, PM sent.

Thanks too to everyone else.

I've never tried fire lapping. Do you just rub the bullets in the compound? Or do you need to apply an additional compound to "set" the abrasives to the bullet?

I'll try to keep a good log on what I do to the gun, but most of it will be in the load development in the reloading forum.

With the Tubbs final finish product the bullets come pre treated with lapping compound. With my Wheeler kit I have to rub the compound into the bullet jackets or lead if using cast bullets with two hard steel plates provided in the kit. You apply the paste of the correct grit to the plates then rube the bullet between the plates so coated while pushing down hard. The lapping compound grit imbedes into the bullet and laps the barrel while en route down the tube. When used correctly it works as advertised,IME.

The only thing that hasn't been mentioned is to double check the quality of the scope mounting and scope function.

Great point. I have seen unstable scopes give all sorts of headaches and cause a long litany of rabbit trails looking for ghosts of accuracy destroying problems.