My Sako TRG 22 in 6.5CM has been a dream to shoot since the day I got it dialed in. Never a hiccup. I do reload and take all the necessary steps to make sure everything is all matched up for consistency. But this last weekend I had a problem. I couldn't hit the targets like I usually do and neither could my buddy. Now, frustration hit and impatience set in. I must have went through 70 rounds that morning, which after I left the range, had the feeling that was a bad idea. There was some wind to account for, but nothing drastic. I hit the 1000 yard target twice out of 20 shots. But the splashes on the misses would be right, then left, then high, then low and so forth. Then later in the game I figured to plink some at 400 yard. I missed several hits, which is unheard of with this rifle. So, either I got my barrel too hot, to fast, my brass is wearing out, or my buddy and myself were just a mess after all the levering we did with 1873 carbines just prior. LOL! Just want to gather some thoughts as to what this could be. My biggest concern is my barrel. Could I have ruined the barrel after that many shots? 70 rounds in 1.5 hours. The gun had approx 950 rounds through it. It's still young for a TRG, so I'm praying this isn't the case. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
- Thread starter RaptorAddict
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If you haven’t changed your load in 950 rounds it might be time do do another work up. At least do a seating depth test.
Now at 400 yards that shouldn’t matter as much honestly. I can just dump powder in just about any case and hit a 400 yard target with zero load up.
I might also suggest going through the rifle and ensuring that everything is still tight and doesn’t need to be retorqued.
I’d also completely clean and strip barrel down to bare metal and start all the way over. Just load 10 rounds or so for “fouling” shots then start your new testing.
Now at 400 yards that shouldn’t matter as much honestly. I can just dump powder in just about any case and hit a 400 yard target with zero load up.
I might also suggest going through the rifle and ensuring that everything is still tight and doesn’t need to be retorqued.
I’d also completely clean and strip barrel down to bare metal and start all the way over. Just load 10 rounds or so for “fouling” shots then start your new testing.
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Yeah, I was thinking of working up another set of rounds just to see. I did notice that a few of the scope ring screws where all the way tight. Not loose, but had room left. Not sure if that would make a difference. What do you mean by clean and strip the barrel down to bare metal? Do you mean take the phosphate finish off the exterior, or is this about in the rifling?
Do not run your ring screws all the way in, tighten those only to manufacturer recommended torque. If you overtighten, you may crush your scope tube, and then you'll really have a problem.
How often and how are you cleaning your barrel? And I'm gonna hope that bit about taking the finish off the exterior was a joke...
If you were serious about taking the exterior finish off the barrel then now is the time to stop touching it and bring to someone more experienced
Otherwise,
Check your scope screws/mounts
Clean the barrel properly
Inspect the crown for damage
Borescope the lands of the rifling
It’s possible the lands have pushed out from wear that remeasuring the seating depth and seating a bit further may fix this
Also,
Have you switched components?
New lot of bullets, powder etc?
If you don’t understand the suggestions above then ask for help. Preferably someone close to you.
You could also swap the optic.
What optic are you currently running?
950 isn’t much for a 6.5. But running hot at that count could toast a barrel.
Otherwise,
Check your scope screws/mounts
Clean the barrel properly
Inspect the crown for damage
Borescope the lands of the rifling
It’s possible the lands have pushed out from wear that remeasuring the seating depth and seating a bit further may fix this
Also,
Have you switched components?
New lot of bullets, powder etc?
If you don’t understand the suggestions above then ask for help. Preferably someone close to you.
You could also swap the optic.
What optic are you currently running?
950 isn’t much for a 6.5. But running hot at that count could toast a barrel.
I doubt very much that at 950 rounds on a 6.5 CM that it's shot out. I'd think you could go double that unless your'e just abusing the barrel with very hot loads and not cleaning properly (like damaging the crown in some way). Not knowing what velocity changes if any leaves some ???.
I would check everything, starting with the scope. A bore scope to really check the interior of the bore can be a big help in deterring any barrel problems. And yes, I'd really give the barrel a good cleaning to get rid of all carbon deposits and copper fouling . . . especially checking that the carbon ring is being fully removed. Doing these things I feel will get you gun back on track without having to doe a new load workup.
Yes, I do have the torque kit for that. I will do that for sure. Thank you.
LOL! I was hoping I misunderstood that. Cause what would that help??? But hey, I am still green at this, so as far as I'm concerned, who knows? HAHA! But as for the scope rings, the make of those rings supplied a hand tool that's designed to only use by hand and will assure no over tightening. So I am safe there. I clean my barrel thoroughly after each session. But maybe I should do it in between so many rounds while at the range?
The optic I use is the Nightforce NX8 32x. It's been a hell of a scope and I never had any accuracy issues until this last round. Everything with my reloads have been consistent. The only thing I can think could cause an issue is maybe bumping the shoulder too much? I'm staying at .002. But with mine I am over-camming a bit in the press to get these results. Not sure if that would make a difference like that. But missing a 400 yard target leaves me with a red flag. As for cleaning the bore, I am using a nylon brush to start, cause I heard that the metal brushes can cause damage. Should I be using the metal brushes to clean it better? Lot of variables for sure. But I am planning on keeping my same loads, clean the hell out of the barrel as much as I can, get everything tightened up properly and then go back out an get a fresh zero and see where I'm at. May need to check the SD again since maybe it had changed from 2020. LOL! The reloads consist of Peterson brass, Lapua 139gr Scenars and N555 powder. Never had to do anything to the rifle till now. Could only assume things have changed since then.
Oh, and an afterthought . . .
What about your powder? The issue you describe can also be due to a difference between lots of powder being used where there's a significant difference in burn rate. Also, if you've been using the same jug of N555 since 2020, it's burn rate may have changed due to a change in its moisture content over that period of time. If so, then you'll probably have to make changes in your load. One can detect this issue by comparing velocities over the last 3 years.
Yes it’s been the same 8lb lot since then. Still I think about missing at 400 yds. The lot shouldn’t cause that, I assume. But if I develop new loads, which will be the case here, I’ll use the new, unopened 8lb lot I just got a few months back.
Buy some 6.5 mm VFG felt cleaning pellets, 3 pellet holder, JB Bore paste and Kroil from Brownells and then get after all the built up carbon fouling in your barrel....
Thank me later.
Thank me later.
There are any number of things that could be an issue, many of which are listed above. Without knowing anything about the load I will mention that particularly if you are seating near the lands you may have run out of tune.
Do you ave a boroscope?
Have you checked for a carbon ring?
All the barrel cleaning in the world won't help if you're not cleaning at the right spot.
Things I would start with.
Action screws properly torqued.
Scope base properly torqued.
Scope rings properly torqued to the base and the scope halves.
Muzzle brake not loose.
Once everything checks out try 3 different types of factory ammo.
My Ultimatum Deadline doesn't like FGMM with 140gr SMK's 1.3 MOA 1,000y
It loves Sierra Matchking Competition with the same 140SMK's 0.6 MOA 1,000y
It also likes Hornady Match with 147gr ELD-M's 0.6 MOA 1,000y
Have you checked for a carbon ring?
All the barrel cleaning in the world won't help if you're not cleaning at the right spot.
Things I would start with.
Action screws properly torqued.
Scope base properly torqued.
Scope rings properly torqued to the base and the scope halves.
Muzzle brake not loose.
Once everything checks out try 3 different types of factory ammo.
My Ultimatum Deadline doesn't like FGMM with 140gr SMK's 1.3 MOA 1,000y
It loves Sierra Matchking Competition with the same 140SMK's 0.6 MOA 1,000y
It also likes Hornady Match with 147gr ELD-M's 0.6 MOA 1,000y
There are many schools of thought on this.
I wouldn't go that route before all other avenues have been exhausted.
Just to be clear I'm not against it but not this early on in the process of elimination.
I have everything on hand and have used that technique but very rarely.
I’d definitely chrono your current loads and compare them to your notes when you originally developed it. Adjust powder as needed to hit your old speeds if it’s now off. You can also run a few sets increasing the CBTO a few thousandths at at time (chasing the lands).
Before all that load confirmation, I’d clean it with JB+Kroil and pellets or a patch wrapped brush (don’t put JB’s directly on a brush). You probably have a lot of hard carbon fouling near the 1000 round mark. My Bartlein went from a sub 1/2” gun to a +1” gun around 1000 rounds. I was diligent about cleaning it too, after every range trip. Bought a bore scope and my jaw dropped when I saw a jet black bore after cleaning it until patches came out white. JB’s + Kroil + VFG pellets got all that carbon fouling out and got it all clean. It immediately went back to a sub 1/2” gun.
Before all that load confirmation, I’d clean it with JB+Kroil and pellets or a patch wrapped brush (don’t put JB’s directly on a brush). You probably have a lot of hard carbon fouling near the 1000 round mark. My Bartlein went from a sub 1/2” gun to a +1” gun around 1000 rounds. I was diligent about cleaning it too, after every range trip. Bought a bore scope and my jaw dropped when I saw a jet black bore after cleaning it until patches came out white. JB’s + Kroil + VFG pellets got all that carbon fouling out and got it all clean. It immediately went back to a sub 1/2” gun.
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I only use JB for taking care of carbon ring if Iosso Bore Cleaner and iosso bore brush doesn't take care of it.
Your barrel may be losing velocity now that it has that many rounds through it. You should check the velocity of your rounds and increase the powder charge until you get back into the sweet spot.
Next weekend I will be leaving it as is and going for my 100yd zero to see. If it's still making a rabbit hole, then I can only assume it was me that whole time. Like I had mentioned on one post, I must have done about 2 straight hours of rapid lever gunning on my Winchester '73's beforehand. Could've been a bit worn out by the time I hit long range. But still, missing that 400 yard target, which I usually can hit offhand with this rifle is a red flag to me.
What did it do at 100 yards?
I had an expensive scope go bad. Over time I got a fuzzy image at 1k, parallax dial didn't do anything, and it was shooting 1 to 1.5 mil patterns. Swapped on a known good scope, did a 100 yard zero, dialed for 1k and shot a nice group. The gun is good but the scope went away. It happens. I sent it in, they will fix it.
I had an expensive scope go bad. Over time I got a fuzzy image at 1k, parallax dial didn't do anything, and it was shooting 1 to 1.5 mil patterns. Swapped on a known good scope, did a 100 yard zero, dialed for 1k and shot a nice group. The gun is good but the scope went away. It happens. I sent it in, they will fix it.
