Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Montana accuracy advise

I have a 223 Montana .... great little rifle. I've killed 4 or 5 deer and a bunch of hogs with it but I can't get it to shoot as well as I'd like. It's been bedded....I've done all the little tricks as far as the mag box, check action screws, etc. 2 different scopes and even swapped mounts/rings..... Ive only ran Barnes TTSX/TSX and Hornady GMX's in it from 50-62 grains with 4-5 different powders..... best I can get is about 1" at a 100 yards. I'd like to improve on that but no amount of seating depth, primer changes, etc seem to help?

I'm probably exaggerating.... I "could" try a few more powders and seating depths but it HAS to shoot a non lead bullet of some kind..... should I say the hell with it and send it out for a new barrel? Any other obvious things I should try? I thought maybe get the crown re-done but I can't visually see anything wrong with it. And NO....it's not for sale 🤣

1 inch isn't anything to complain about with a lightweight hunting rifle. The only thing I have to ask is how is your bench set up? Using just sand bags, front rest, rear bag. Pics would be nice.. Some guys really struggle to shoot lightweight rifles well. If you are getting 1", that is really not too shabby..

My opinion…you can do a lot, if not most things, a light barreled .223 is capable of doing with 1 MOA.

If you want to try something, try the 45 TSX. It shoots great in my slow twist .22-250

Today a LW 223 should do .5-.6” with good ammo for three shots.

NEW BARREL.

My Montana in 308 shoots like this with multiple bullets and either Varget or Re 15, It weighs a few oz's less than the 223. It's not the bench or technique.

The first things I do with any new-to-me bolt rifle are:

1) Check the rear of the locking lugs for contact with the recesses in the action. If they don't show at least 30% wear on both lugs, then they need to be lapped. (Have encountered a number of factory rifles where only ONE lug made contact.)

2) Check the muzzle crown. Some have dings or even gouges around the crown. This does not enhance accuracy.

3) Check the chamber throat with my bore-scope, to see if the lands are the same length. If not, the rifle may still shoot well, but if not... Quite a few factory rifles have slightly off-center chambers.

Did the same person glass bed the 223? Have you messed with the barrel channel or freefloat, or is there a pressure point at the forend?

It was bedded by a local gunsmith... front and rear lugs....about an inch in front of the front lug. The rest is free floated. Very clean work, mag box is not binding....action screws are proper length and I always install them with a torque wrench.... scope mount screws are not too long. Damn projects.... it really does shoot fine but I just can't help but want to improve it.... I like to shoot ground squirrels as well and 1 moa at 200 is no bueno for those little chits. Might just box it up and send it to pacnor 🤔

You sound pretty knowledgeable and can obviously shoot a lightweight rifle. One thing I'd be tempted to try is remove the bedding under the chamber area. Freefloat the whole barrel. Since you are thinking about re-barreling it anyway, you won't be hurting anything. I've seen quite a few rifles that don't like anything under the barrel. Most of mine are freefloated in this manner. I hear you about wanting a 223 to shoot tiny groups too, especially if shooting rats and squirrels. I'd also make sure that barrel isn't copper fouled, since all you have been shooting in it is copper pills.

Cut to the chase and rebarrel. Fast twist, shorter shank, modified for longer OAL so you can shoot at least 75's. You aren't going to live forever, so live well.

All my Montanas shot better with a pressure point.

At the forend tip, probably not under the chamber.

Here's something to check:

With the butt of the gun solidly on the floor (muzzle up) and holding it by the sides of the forearm with your index finger very lightly on the barrel at the tip of the forearm, crack the front action screw loose and see if you can feel any barrel movement.

Let me know what you find. -Al

I find shooting a really light rifles, like Montana’s and Hunters to be like shooting a double rifle. I support the forend with my hand. Seem to get better results, as a friend and I again proved yeasterday.

Even the .223 Montana requires this I find. The other we were shooting was a 6.5CM Hunter, which seems partial to 143gn ELD-X Ammo, must start reloading for it as it’s getting expensive!

With the Barnes bullets my experience is that they like a bit more jump then a typical lead bullet.

I have a 223 Montana that settled down with a full-length bedding. Caveat, I've only ever shot 50 V-max through it.

Another thing to check. I had 1 set of Talley Lightweights in which the front scope-base screw was contacting the barrel tenon. It would "feel" light it tightened down but it was bottoming out on the tenon, not holding down the scope like it should. Of course I didn't figure this out until I was irritated enough to have a new bbl in-hand and dis-assembled to haul it to the 'smith.

Best thing I’ve found to help rifles and diagnose bedding is a 12ga shotgun shell!

Could you enlighten me, please.

Take a shell and cut open the end and pour the shot out.
Then take the hull and cut it length wise in pieces about the width of your barrel or so.
Also cut the pedals off the wadding.
Now you have several pieces of plastic shim material that you can stack/mix/match as needed to slide between the barrel and tip of the stock forend.
You don’t have to take the rifle apart to add shims this way just lift up on barrel enough to add.
Always start with the smallest amount of shim to add a little forend pressure and then shoot the rifle.
Once the rifle is happy make note of the exact shims used.
Then you can use them to hold the correct tension on the barrel while you bed a permanent pressure pad at the forend tip and then remove shims.
Problems solved in one shooting session this way.

Biggest benefit is that most of the time you can make a rifle shoot what you choose really well instead of all that bullshit of letting the rifle dictate what it likes!

This works extremely well with rifles such as a Kimber Montana that have sporter barrels and quality stocks that come minimally freefloated but can be applied to almost all rifles