Did I ruin a great shooter?

[Impact-Vector]

Bit of background.
Remington 700. 5r in 308 with 125 rounds through it. Shot like a champ .75moa from a non pro at 100yards

Then I bought a can and a muzzle break and so I needed the barrel threaded. Took it to what the forum considered the best local gunsmith. Had it shortened while they were busy.

Since I got it back the gun is horrid.

Fired 40 rounds yesterday trying to get it zeroed. The thing sucked. With brake, with can, without anything. I wasn't getting anywhere near 5" groups. Had another guy at the range fire 5 rounds and similar result.

Did I ruin a great gun? Anyone got any advise on where to start?

 

[Red343]

Maybe check:

- Crown for any nicks
-Muzzle brake torque
- Try different Ammo weight
-Check all screws on stock/action base and rings are torqued


my 2cents....

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Did you try shooting it without the can or brake to eliminate that variable? Make sure the bottom metal was properly torqued too. You should also thoroughly clean the barrel and foul it again to get any oil from machining out.

I doubt you ruined it.

 

[damoncali]

Whenever you change the length of the barrel or add/remove weight from it, you run the risk of messing things up (or improving them). That said, going from < 1 MOA to 5 MOA is a huge change. I suspect something else is wrong. 1.5 MOA, I would chalk up to bad luck. 5 MOA is a lose scope ring or something like that.

 

[Donr13]

how much did you shorten it? seems like very large groups for just shortening the barrel. maybe check other items are not loose as well like optic mounts and rails. obviously it was taken apart so it could have come loose.

 

[Ledzep]

Crown or optics is my bet. I had a single-shot upper (.50 bmg) for my AR15 that had a visibly off-center crown (cut deeper on one side than the other) that patterned something like 10-12 MOA before getting it fixed.

 

[buffybuster]

Check the torque on all the screws. If that's GTG, then have it recrowned on a lathe.

 

[John-K]

How short did you chop it? I'd go through the checks listed above, and then run an OCW test. Changing the barrel length and then adding a weight to the end (brake and/or Can) can change the harmonics, not to mention the geometry of the baffles in the Can may cause some strange things to happen. What kind of Can?

 

[M40_A1]

Was the barrel removed from the action?
Before torquing anything, I'd disassemble the action from the stock and check the bedding surfaces for contaminants or damage. Check for any new nicks or dents on the receiver at the bedding surfaces, and dings or gouges in the bedding of the stock. Clean thoroughly and retorque. Really give the new crown a close look for burs. Something is wrong.

 

[66427vette]

What can?

 

[7magsavage]

Tag for later

 

[JBNj]

It's been mentioned before in another thread. The bore is not a straight line to the muzzle. Sometimes the drill moves when drilling. The beginning bore and muzzle end will be or close to even, but in between can get slighlty screwy. when you chop a barrel down, you may end up with a more crooked bore. Could be your case. Maybe not. Restart load work up to find new barrel harmonics.

 

[justwoody1]

Did you try contacting the smith that preform the work and ask them what the problem could be?

 

[TireMan]

Crown or optics is my bet. I had a single-shot upper (.50 bmg) for my AR15 that had a visibly off-center crown (cut deeper on one side than the other) that patterned something like 10-12 MOA before getting it fixed.

I second that...
crown and/or optics

 

[pinsandpitons]

rings
scope base
Action screws
muzzle stuff
Load

In that order. 5 moa is giant. I had a similar thing a few years ago. It was my base. Tighten everything first, then see where you are.

 

[scotharr]

The most obvious action is to check is what changed. What changed? Brake, can, new crown. So, first thing to do is remove both the brake & can, then go shoot it. If it shoots better, then you've identified the source (but not the cause) of the problem. If it still shoots poorly after removing both the brake and can, then the crown is the next suspect to check carefully....maybe bring it to a good gunsmith to examine. These would be the first things I'd check and are most likely the source of the problem.

For what it's worth, making the barrel shorter is not going to change a 1MOA gun to 5MOA. Also, while it is true that the bore is not perfectly straight, part of crowning the end of the barrel involves indicating off the last inch or so on the barrel.....i.e.getting it properly aligned whether or not the bore is perfectly straight. Then the brake threads and crown will be cut in proper alignment to this last inch of the bore.

Regards,
Scott

 

[Jethro3898]

Since you said it shot like crap with the can, without the can and "without anything" (assumed to mean no brake).
Are we talking old hand loads or factory ammo? That is a huge jump.
I'd look towards my rings and scope base first. If everything is torqued to spec and still shoots like poo, call the smith.

The rifle is most definitely NOT ruined. Something is goofed up, but it should be able to be fixed.

 

[BookHound]

I agree with others suggesting something isn't torqued right. What you are describing is pretty extreme. I also agree with advice to contact the shop that did the work. If it really is a good shop, they'll make it right.

Mark

 

[KYS]

Sounds like something is loose. Did they torque your barrel back down to spec?
Check your scope base, scope rings, and the action bolts.

 

[Impact-Vector]

Mini update. I spoke to the shop today (my a$$ doesn't stay in one city long..) and they were awesome. I'm going to see if I can shuffle my travel schedule around and drop it off.

I am optimistic! Their attitude was awesome which completely changed my mood ! Stay tuned !