Double grouping, I'm missing something - 02/08/16
Have a LH Ruger 77 Hawkeye .243 which double groups badly. I've been fiddling around with rifles a while now and I've tried everything I can think of but figured someone here might be able to remind me of something I've missed.
- Action has been glass bedded into the stock by a fellow who knows what he's doing, he's done several for me with no issues. Barrel doesn't move when loosening/tightening front action screw.
- Barrel is free floated to the point where a double thickness of note paper passes freely between barrel and stock.
- Magazine box has been relieved so it's not binding anywhere, in fact I took so much off it rattles ever so slightly with everything tightened down.
- Front screw very tight, rear screw tight, middle screw just barely snug.
- Have tried four different bullets, three different powders - H4831, Reloder 15 and Hunter - with three or four charge weights each, three different seating depths for each - kissing, .020" and .050".
- Tried two different scopes, including one fixed Leupold 12x I've used for testing rifles for the last 20 years and it is rock solid.
The rifle consistently grouped 2 and 1 for my pressure series then when I switched to four shot groups after finding top powder charges it still throws two and two, sometimes up to 2" apart. Some groups have two together then another two sort of together but way apart, and I mean like 3" out. One flyer in a group is my fault, flyers and double grouping on every group is the rifle.
So - before rebarreling which I really don't want to do, or wrapping the rifle around a tree which would relieve my frustration but ultimately is not cost effective, what other things can I check or look at?
- Action has been glass bedded into the stock by a fellow who knows what he's doing, he's done several for me with no issues. Barrel doesn't move when loosening/tightening front action screw.
- Barrel is free floated to the point where a double thickness of note paper passes freely between barrel and stock.
- Magazine box has been relieved so it's not binding anywhere, in fact I took so much off it rattles ever so slightly with everything tightened down.
- Front screw very tight, rear screw tight, middle screw just barely snug.
- Have tried four different bullets, three different powders - H4831, Reloder 15 and Hunter - with three or four charge weights each, three different seating depths for each - kissing, .020" and .050".
- Tried two different scopes, including one fixed Leupold 12x I've used for testing rifles for the last 20 years and it is rock solid.
The rifle consistently grouped 2 and 1 for my pressure series then when I switched to four shot groups after finding top powder charges it still throws two and two, sometimes up to 2" apart. Some groups have two together then another two sort of together but way apart, and I mean like 3" out. One flyer in a group is my fault, flyers and double grouping on every group is the rifle.
So - before rebarreling which I really don't want to do, or wrapping the rifle around a tree which would relieve my frustration but ultimately is not cost effective, what other things can I check or look at?