04-11-2017, 05:46 PM
dgunnut Wrote:I was able to get it out to the range this weekend and put 30 rounds through it. Overall, it shot well. 4 of my 8 groups were 1" or under. A few groups that were larger were likely caused by my cleaning the barrel in between to properly break it in. And/or they could have been shooter error.
Over time I will be getting other ammo to try and getting dies so I can reload for it. I'll keep you guys posted on it as I do more.
Here is a link to the video on the first 30 rounds:
https://youtu.be/CAj3Jy21pZc
-dgunnut
So, since I posted my initial results I've been back to the range two more times. Unfortunately, something must have changed, because I struggled to shoot anything close to an inch, where before I had several groups under 1".
I have shot more of the Hornady SST (although a different lot than before), Hornady Black, and Hornady A-max. The majority of groups are now 2-3"! I first tried taking off the scope and re-attaching it, with no major improvement. The last trip I shot some handloads using 107 SMK's and IMR 8208XBR at various charge levels and the best grouping I got was close to an 1", with the rest all 2" or more.
I'm baffled by why first indications showed this to be a fairly accurate upper, but now 100 rounds later I struggle to get anything decent accuracy wise. The only thing I can think of that I changed was applying loctite to the barrel thread protector to keep it from coming loose. I can't imagine this would have an effect on accuracy...
I am planning on putting out a video in a few days with more info and showing some of the targets. I would like to think it's not the shooter, especially since during my last range trip I took along my new Savage FV12 in .22-250 and shot decent with that.
I am looking for any ideas you guys may have on things to check.
-dgunnut