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New rifle please help

S

shootindude

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 5, 2011
232
0
43
in the back country of Oregon
Hi guys, I recently purchased a custom built 300 wsm from a member on here and have had no luck with getting the loads to shoot right. It has a 1-8 twist 28" schneider barrel on a winchester action. He said he was running 180 smk with great success and 64gr imr 4831, i have experimented with multiple different weight powder of the 4831 and best group so far has been 5-6" at 100 yards 5 shots. This is in a rifle wich has been full blueprinted action from a reputable smith over in central or and i know this is not what i expected from a 2600.00 investment. My girlfriend already wants to kill me for buying the rifle so i have to make it shoot right to justify it, she hasnt caught wind of my new scope purchase yet and will kill me when she finds out if this rifle doesnt shoot. lol. Any suggestions?

Could it be the load?
Rifle only has like 60 rounds through it.
Factory trigger, could that be an issue?
It is full bedded so i dont think would be in the equation.

Please help before she kills me.
 
Re: New rifle please help

Not to question your reloading abilities but have you tried some factory ammo to verify it's not the reloads or could be loose scope base or damaged crown.

I agree try the heavies and report back, good luck.
 
Re: New rifle please help

Assuming your skill level is capable of 1 moa accuracy...
1. Check your scope base & ring screws like previous responses.
2. Check your action screws (I've seen a few rifles with loose screws that ruined the day). 45"# to 60"# works for most rifles.
3. Not sure how you're resting the rifle so.. sturdy rests front and back.
4. Trigger wise, make sure over-travel is at a minimum if not completed removed. Pull weight wise, my preference is somewhere around 2.5-lb or less.
5. are you using a good known scope?
 
Re: New rifle please help

My solution is to dump the GF before her complaining interferes with your ability to shoot accurately. A woman bitching can ruin anything, including a 100 yard group or a wet dream. Once that is accomplished, I would advise you to contact the original owner and see how what you are doing differs from what you are doing.
 
Re: New rifle please help

A 6 MOA 5 shot group is pretty bad, like offhand m855 from a 1/12 twist barrel bad. I don't think switching from a 180g to a 200+ will bring him a 5 MOA improvement. My gut would tell me check for loose scope rings, adjustments, etc.
 
Re: New rifle please help

Sounds like you have too much pent up anger with the GF in your ear all the time. Stress is a killer for shooting. Trust me...

On the other hand, my question is this, how long have you been shooting?? Do you have all your basics down?? Is the GF bitching at you "while" you are trying to shoot?? Might want to rethink that particular situation...

If all else fails... tell her you got it "ON SALE"!!

Best of luck.

DK
 
Re: New rifle please help

I won't repeat anything that the above posters have said but offer more ideas. If it is a quality built rifle it should shoot any factory ammo in a minimum of 2MOA with match shooting sub moa (if you can do your part). Can you give us some background on your reloading experience and shooting experience? Stepping up to a magnum can present it's own challenges if you don't have enough trigger time and good form, even for more seasoned shooters. Make sure your setup is good for each shot, the magnum can easily take you out of position. Make sure you aren't flinching on trigger pull. Are you magazine feeding or single loading? How rapidly are you shooting? Are you giving the barrel time to cool between groups?
 
Re: New rifle please help

Have you tried shooting at longer ranges to see if it closes up?
 
Re: New rifle please help

damaged optics? (rings/base?)... screws tight and threadlocked?
 
Re: New rifle please help

yes i agree check your scope mounts and rings torqe them and make sure you have proper contact it that dosnt solve the issue try new, diffrent and or factory loads
 
Re: New rifle please help

it's you. This is my thought when I'm having problems...as well as anyone else. Most people want to blame the ammo, gun, scope. Sure, that may have an affect to some degree but in many cases the majority of the groups being larger than necessary are the shooter.

So how do you fix this...get another shooter. Find a buddy that you know always shoots better than you. Use that as a gauge.

Right now you're irritated, frustrated and a little confused...not the right mental condition to be shooting for groups.

black hills and conley precision RS&D enterprises and I'm sure maybe federal make match ammo. Try that first to get a baseline...along with the other shooter. Nothing wrong with admitting "I suck today". I had that day this past weekend. Almost couldn't qualify to shoot at 600.

We qualify at 300 and my group was a crap 2.8" I felt like I needed to quit. But at the end of the day I decided I suck and will come back and try again. Sometimes the day just sucks.
 
Re: New rifle please help

Ok so i took the rifle apart to an extent and checked some things, found a broken screw on my scope mount, fixed that.
Took the scope off to eliminate that issue and put on a crappy but known good (as good as it gets i guess) NC Star crap mil dot that i had in an old box of stuff.
Headed to the range with some factory ammo and guess what, it held a 2" group at 100 yards. I then tested some 180 smk i had loaded up and it tightened right up, 5 shots .479" at 100yards. (will post pics from my cell phone tonight).
So my guess would be the scope mounts, mixed with the scope that i took off sounded like it had a part jiggling around inside of it. (guess that's why you don't put a mid range optic on a .50 cal) prev had it mounted on my 50 and must've rattled it too much.

I just purchased a falcon menace 4x14 mil here and should have it early next week so im happy about that. Maybe i was a little exxagerated on how the woman reacts to me and my gun addiction lol. Take alook at my post about her new 17hmr i got. She does love shooting with me
 
Re: New rifle please help

One time long, long ago there lived a woman who did not whine, nag or bitch.

But...



That was just one woman, long ago and just one day.


smile.gif
 
Re: New rifle please help

figured you had some broken stuff. glad you got it taken care of!
 
Re: New rifle please help

Glad you figured it out.

I'm curious why it is your GF's business how you spend your money, unless of course you owe her money and aren't paying it back, or you are spending HER money on the rifle.
 
Re: New rifle please help

Lose the GF...if you end up marrying her, she'll bust your balls, take a disproportionate amount of your stuff and hook up with your buddies just to piss you off. As to the rifle, I'd lose that too...2" at 100 yds sux...bvig time. I've got a Rem 700 SPS-V, bone stock with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 w/ Z-Plex reticle that consistently shoots 3-shot groups of 0.25" or less.

Life is short.

Harry, proud owner of his own testicles
 
Re: New rifle please help

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Flatbush Harry</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Lose the GF...if you end up marrying her, she'll bust your balls, take a disproportionate amount of your stuff and hook up with your buddies just to piss you off. As to the rifle, I'd lose that too...2" at 100 yds sux...bvig time. I've got a Rem 700 SPS-V, bone stock with a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 w/ Z-Plex reticle that consistently shoots 3-shot groups of 0.25" or less.

Life is short.

Harry, proud owner of his own testicles </div></div>

You must not have read the whole post as he said it tightened to sub-MOA after switching to the 180s. Plus group shooting doesn't mean much on here, in particular 3-shot groups. Not cool to rag on someone's shooting ability.
 
Re: New rifle please help

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JGorski</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Id replace the scope, 5-6" at100yds has got to be the scope. </div></div>

I did and it tightened up, even with an old NC Star scope hahahaha
 
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