Rifle inconsistency

NickJ

Well-Known Member
Appreciate your thoughts guys:

After a (neck) miss on the hill I put my 'big gun' on the target.

The .308 will hold a 1" group at 100 yards then suddenly throw, say, every fourth round up to 2" off (in varying places).

It's a 10yr old Savage with a S&B H 8x56 and using 150gn PowerShok.

Suffice to say I'm not using it on wildlife until I sort it!

Thanks in advance.

Nick
 
How quickly are you firing your four bullets?

Because if its like my a bolt, you can fire three bullets in relatively quick succession (within 2-3 minutes) and then if you fire a fourth/fifth (depending on temperature/type of bullet) it will have warmed the barrel right up and it will throw a bullet wide. Mine does it all the time.

I've now changed from using power shok to 123gr Sako's and i can tell you they are far superior in consistancy. Although you will still get bullets wondering!

Tom
 
Alternatively check the bedding, clearance if its a floating barrels and all the normal things like scres in the stock etc.
 
Nick
have you tried a different manufacture of ammo :confused: i had an old winchester mod70 that used to do a similar thing to yours even if i left it 5 min between shots and i tried different ammo and it was sorted.
Also when you say it will throw the 4th round out are you firing 4 rounds 1 after another? You could be overheating the barrel causing the problem you have got? Remember its a sporting rifle at the end of the day and not built for constant shooting as they heat up very quickly.
1" groups sound ok to me but im sure someone will now pipe up that they would expect a tighter grouping :rolleyes:
fester
 
Tommo
Looks like we answered nicks question at the same time looking at our posts :rolleyes:
Fester
 
sounds like the sort of pattern I used to get using Norma ammo...

How much work has your rifle done in the last 10 years? is it possible your barrel is shot out? I've known barrels to lose the rifling in as little as 2000 rounds....

I'd also make sure the floating barrel isn't being obstructed as Tommo suggests
 
the very same happened with my 25,06 .i missed a calf one eve, a shot that was not miss able.
the next morning i went to the range. 2" group with flyer's . i gave it a good clean. looked at all the possibles even changed the scope.
to no avail.i brought it to a rifle builder hear he had a look through the bore scope.wear but should still shoot .i got him to re crown it .

full of hope back to the range ,still a 2" group .
what happened i dont know ,maybe a drop of oil out of the mod ,rain .

any way i got ****ed off and re barreled it to 270
 
Nickj
Most rifles will do this that is why people use heavy barrels to stop this problem. when was the last time you shot 4 fast rounds at a deer. Everyone misses at sometime check the first shot out of your rifle with a cold barrel and if that is ok put it down to experiance and dont let it trash your confidence
 
Nick,

If your shot on the hill was with a cold barrel, was the gun cleaned recently? Could there be a bit of oil in the barrel/mod?

That would explain a wide 'cold' shot, on a range it would be down to the heat in most cases.

Fester - Great minds think alike!

Tom
 
Nick.
Concentrate on the first shot with your rifle.....
Ensure you are happy with the spot you hit regardless of distance (within reason)
you dont usualy get a second shot.
BUT
Make sure your second shot hits where you want it too.
forget the fourth shot
Truthfully, if you need a fourth shot you are in the wrong game.
stick to the first....
And god forbid the second (cause you know you've made a bollocks of the first)
missing.
its easy done, we've all been there
Alan
 
Thank you all.

I don't think I explained myself very well sorry, the problem is there is no rhyme or reason to when the wild one goes off, can be the first one off the cold barrel or the 2nd when hot....

I also didn't mention has a 10yr old T8 mod on. The set up has had less than 500 rounds through over the last 10 years as I only use it on the bigger species.

I have tried all the usual and aforementioned things so I think I'll take some of your advice and try a different brand of ammo, could be a bad batch as I haven't had any problems before with the Powershoks.

Thanks again.

Nick
 
I suspect since it can be any of the shots, not just the fourth that you may have something moving about in your mod such as a baffle plate, not common but worth investigating. Steve.
 
Nick

Out of interest, is the result the same with the moderator on and with the moderator off? Worth eliminating the variables one by one....

willie_gunn
 
shot wondering

I had a friend had the same problem with a manlichour .270 and it was down to a luce screw on the mounts. try to take them off and clean them then check all the screws are tight befor you put the scope back on. it can be as simple as that. good luck
 
alan said:
Truthfully, if you need a fourth shot you are in the wrong game.

I guess this depends what you're doing.

At hinds, I think that four or five beasts in quick succession is not altogether out of the question, and one would want those bullets to find their mark also.
 
Nick,
If it's barrel heating then the shots would gradually move in one direction.
I think it's down to something like loose mounts as mentioned before or even a dicky scope. I had a leupold in the past with a jumpy lens that behaved similar.
I would try solve the problem.
edi
 
Dalua said:
alan said:
Truthfully, if you need a fourth shot you are in the wrong game.

I guess this depends what you're doing.

At hinds, I think that four or five beasts in quick succession is not altogether out of the question, and one would want those bullets to find their mark also.
Four/five Red hinds in a row is a common occurence for a stalking buddy of mine, as I have mentioned elsewhere the rifle should be capable of several shots in the accepted kill zone for your quarry. A one shot rifle would end up as a doorstop where we are from. :D Steve.
 
finnbear270 said:
Dalua said:
alan said:
Truthfully, if you need a fourth shot you are in the wrong game.

I guess this depends what you're doing.

At hinds, I think that four or five beasts in quick succession is not altogether out of the question, and one would want those bullets to find their mark also.
Four/five Red hinds in a row is a common occurence for a stalking buddy of mine, as I have mentioned elsewhere the rifle should be capable of several shots in the accepted kill zone for your quarry. A one shot rifle would end up as a doorstop where we are from. :D Steve.

I agree!!
 
I had a .308 Parker Hale for my first big stalking rifle that was great for a long time then. I started placing the odd shot off the mark and when zeroing to check i found that I could group fine but every few rounds one would go a bit crazy.

Everything was checked and ammunition combos didn't change results but it turned out the rifle had just turned into a lemmon and having work done to resolve the problem was a waste of time and money.

I decided enough was enough and risking a thrown shot was not worth it so I painfully parted with my cash and bought a Tikka T3 varmint with heavy barrel in .308 and I've never been so happy with spending cash. It shoots like a dream and those gremlins have gone for good.

If you can't trust a rifle and there's doubt in your mind you simply have to change it.
 
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