I have a pair of BSA Imperial featherweights in .270, according to Knibbs built 1957-64. One is 8B727, the other is simply marked 291 with no other markings. Both rifles have free floated barrels.Both have nice shiny bores with goood rifling. Both have muzzle brakes.I have the same problem with both rifles. The first 2 shots group within an inch, then accuracy goes for a poop and the groups become about 4 inches at 100m. I wait for a minute or two between shots. i have tried different ammo, different bullet weights and bullet seating depths etc, and 3 different scopes to no avail. It seems to me that i have to wait for an hour or two before i can get another one inch group of 2 shots. Does anyone here have any insights on these barrels and how to apply a pressure point in the forearm? Thanks in advance.
BSA Imperial Fwt.
- Thread starter hal1955
- Start date
alberta boy
Well-Known Member
First off , welcome to SD , one frost bitten Canadian to another . I've found that most light contour barrels benefit from a little fore-end pressure . I've done a few over the years , including my late fathers push feed Winchester M70 feather weight . It did exactly the same thing as yours , the first two were almost touching , the third would go about 2 1/2 inches away . On his , I made a small pressure pad with bedding compound at the fore-end tip with about 4 pounds of upward pressure . I did this by wrapping tape around the barrel to put pressure on the fore-end and kept adding a wrap until it took 4 lbs to pull the barrel free of the stock . I used a trigger pull gauge to measure the weight . I then put a small amount of bedding material in the barrel channel , applied release agent ( kiwi shoe polish ) on the barrel and re-installed the barreled action back in the stock . when dry , remove tape , voilà , pressure bedded . Afterwards , it would consistently shoot about 1 to 1 1/2 inches at 100 yards . Light weight barrels can be finicky . The above method has always helped on about 12 rifles so far , it won't turn them into bench rifles , but it will make them more consistent shooters . Hope this helps . Where abouts are you brother ?
AB
enfieldspares
Well-Known Member
Lightweight barrels. They get warm. They walk the group. Not a lot can be done.
8x57
Distinguished Member
I had similar issues with a Winchester model 70 featherweight. I remembered an old friend mentioning that when he was on the RAF rifle team back in the late 50's early 60's that to ensure the necessary barrel pressure they would use thin leather strips soaked in oil. I gave it a try and it worked.
So today i put a stock pressure point on one of the Imperials. This gun grouped 3 shots in 4 inches at 100m.The barrel had been free floated to allow a dollar bill between the stock and barrel. I cut a quarter inch x quarter inch piece of 1mm rubber from a bicycle tire inner tube and glued it to the fore stock about an inch from the end. Today i had my first 3 shot group of an inch and a half at 100 m using the cheapest ammo i could find which was Win. 150 gr. power point. It should do better with Fed.Premium SGKs. Tomorrow I will take my second Imperial to the range. It has been free floated same as the first Imperial and also groups 4 inches at 100 m. so I will see how it does with a pressure point.
alberta boy
Well-Known Member
Glad to hear it worked for you , hopefully your second one responds as well . With a little experimentation , you should be able to get the first one down to an inch or so , keep us posted .
AB
AB
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