Strange group???

[dave]

Hi all,

Well after a few opinions here, i purchased a heavy barreled 223 Savage 112 about 6 months ago in an attempt to put together an accurate rifle out to 300m on the cheap, well less than say $750! So far all ive done is whacked a Nikko Stirling fixed 8X56 scope on it that was sitting in a box till i get the correct base for it and loaded it up with some factory federal american eagle cheap 50gr HPs. I also weighed out some reloaded rounds consisting of a once fired federal case, federal primer and 25.2gr(from memory) of 2206H behind a barnes 69gr BTHP.

Well just to get my eye in and get a few more cases i put down a group of 5 at 100m. Well i was pretty happy with the cheap federal stuff as it put 5 shots into an inch and a half considering the wind was painful and the scope aint all that great. Soooo after that i let the barrel cool a little and loaded up my new batch.

Well i fired 2 lots of 4 and as the heat haze was picking up i couldnt precisely place where the shots had gone. So off to the target i went and bugger me ive never had a worst set of groups ever, kind of reminded me of a shotgun!

The 8 shots fell into a space of about 2 inches high and almost 6 inches wide

Sooooo whats the go, few things that come to mind,

- Was the load not suited?
- Rifle need bedding?
- Dud scope?
- Is it a real 1:9 barrel?

So after seeing this i thought bugger me dont think this will turn out to be the cheap shooter i thought it would be, so i went out to 300m to have a look at the home made gong set up id done and loaded up some of the federal 50grs. Knowing it was going to drop very low i still aimed for the center as i still thought the 9x9 inch plate would be sufficient to hit the bottom without worrying about holdover. I took 3 shots, 2 hits and 1 miss. The miss just low and the other two clipped the plate about an inch short of the bottom of the plate. Now i get down to the gong and bugger me the 2 that hit are almost in the same hole!!!

This sort of confirmed to me that its probably not a bedding/trigger/scope issue but the load itself, as far as i know the barrel is a 1:9 but as its second hand this may not be the case however it does look original.

What do you guys thinks going on???

Cheers
Dave

[Camel]

Were the projectiles going through your target sideways ?
Maybe that barrel just doesn't like the load you are trying, there really could be a lot of things it could be. Checked the twist with the cleaning rod/tight patch method ?, maybe not an exact measurement but it will be close.

[DSD]

I was going to ask if the barrel had come undone but the fact that you resumed hitting the target again probably rules that 1 out.

[Camel]

I was going to ask if the barrel had come undone but the fact that you resumed hitting the target again probably rules that 1 out.

sorry Dave, but...

[kickinback]

Yeah, check your wheel nuts.

[dave]

Il check that but yeah just seems odd, its the first time ive tried the heavier pills on the assumption they would work but perhaps not. They were not keyholing but just going really horizontal and favoring the left Might give 50gr VMAXs a go if not it will turn into someone else's problem!!!

[Brad Y]

Measure the rifle twist with a tight patch and mark the cleaning rod when its done a full twist. Start in the bore a little and use a marker to mark a start and a finish. 69gr bullets used to work fine in a 10 twist lilja I had, in fact very very accurate. If it is a true 9 twist then I would just go as far as saying the gun definitely doesnt like that projectile and go with something that it likes. Its a pain getting a particular barrel to shoot a certain style of bullet only to not have it work. Spent $800 on a krieger that is a total lemon for what I want to do with it...

[Teepee]

My first thought is that it's not a true 1/9 twist.
Try the 50's and see how they perform at 100.
Just a thought!

[TexNAss]

Ummm. 1.5"@100 is a 4.5"@300yards. So 6" @ 300 is only 0.5"(@100yards) bigger grouping from a "different batch" of ammo.

I'd reshoot my 100 yard groups again and again and tune there.

BUT I'd be checking the basics first before attempting any kind of tuning.

Known Good Scope, mounts tightness etc..etc

Tex.

[macka]

I would try a proven sope and mounts first have had that problem with a brand new leupold that was faulty.Then the bedding then the ammo and if none of that works stick it barrell first in the ground and throw a few tomato seeds around it Sometmes cheap works sometimes it dont you can only try GOOD LUCK

[mistit]

Il check that but yeah just seems odd, its the first time ive tried the heavier pills on the assumption they would work but perhaps not. They were not keyholing but just going really horizontal and favoring the left Might give 50gr VMAXs a go if not it will turn into someone else's problem!!!

I can see it now , written up like others on there ( extremely accurate rifle )

[bimbo]

The savage will stabilise a 70gr Berger vld, no experience with the barnes though, could just be that it don't like em. Maybe try another powder. I think I was running 2208 under the 70gr vld

[stinkitup]

Are those Barnes monolithic? If so might be longer than a 70 berger.

[dave]

Barnes match burners they are, yeah well i have a new base and rings on the way so hopefully this might help, will swap the Nikko for the Bushnell and perhaps load up some 50gr also will try some 2208, was using 2206H cause ive got heaps of it but will give the other stuff a go too! And if it dosent shoot well il have to think of how to phrase the add

"sits in safe more than shot"............"dont have the room in the safe anymore"........on a serious note i actually do need a bigger safe ha!

[Brad Y]

Any follow up on this one? Would be interested to hear the outcome of it.