New barrel

B

Bud

Guest
Gunsmith installed on a 40x a new Shilen #10= 1-14 twist .
He piller and glass bedded the action. It is free floated to within 4" from the action.
Using 52gr and loads that worked well with the old barrel.
Tried several scopes that worked before.
Get 2 shots touching = Then every group is 1-1/4" any thoughts ?
 
I come at it from another angle.....I say something is screwed up. IMO you will never work up a load for that gun but instead just chase your tail until you wear it out (the tail OR the barrel, whichever comes first...)

Could be a double dozen things but it's mechanical.

In My Opinion.

Also, the "2 shots touching" are meaningless IMO. Just blind chance.

Again, my opinion.
 
When you say "glass" bedding I assume you mean epoxy. You say your barrel is free floating to within 4" of the action. If that mean the first four inches of the barrel just ahead of the action, that might be part of your problem. I think most people bed the action and perhaps and inch or at most two of the barrel. Four inches seems like a lot, at least to me. My Savages, for example, have the barrel nut bedded, but nothing forward of that. A few minutes work with a Dremel tool might be a good idea.

As others have pointed out, you gotta' do charge weight experiments and seating depth testing from scratch.

I hesitate to say this because the theory of a barrel getting much better after a couple hundred rounds is not something I have much faith in. Perhaps a little bit, but not a lot. However, a new barrel on one of my .223 rifles seems to be exhibiting such behavior. Initial tests produced some promising 5 shot groups with MOA in the 3's along with groups worse then 1 MOA with charge weights only a half a grain heavier or lighter. I was worried. Now; however, after 250 rounds down the bore, the gun is behaving better with quite a few 5 shot groups at 100 yards in the 2's and charges a bit heavier or lighter not a whole lot worse. So in spite of my skepticism, perhaps your barrel will improve with time.

Good luck.
 
I am more than a little suspicious of a smith's work that would bed that much of a barrel. I think that he is out of touch with current bedding theory, and I would probably want to relieve the barrel contact and then check the bedding with a dial indicator and magnetic base. Just because someone puts in pillars, and beds an action, and it looks good, does not mean that the bedding is correct (stress free). The first thing that I would check would be to see if the action screws were making contact with the bedding. They should only touch the action and the floor plate or trigger guard and escutcheon, not the insides of the pillars or holes through the stock. IMO for a 700 or 40x you do not need to bed any of the barrel.
 
Had the barrel scoped today it looks like a railroad track with all the ties crossing over the lands. That can't be good.
 
Had the barrel scoped today it looks like a railroad track with all the ties crossing over the lands. That can't be good.

Scoped by the same smith that put an additional 4" of unnecessary bedding? Is it coppering? I would suggest a smithing problem.
 
new barrel

I'm surprised at the railroad tracks in the barrel.
I would call shilen on that.

I bet a mistake was made in shipping. Shilen barrels are hand lapped.

The guys are right on the bedding, free floating usually works best, I agree with butch and the others.
 
new barrel

Call shilen Barrels first''
I bet they want to take a look at it and the railroad tracks.
Its not a problem shipping just a barrel.
 
I'm surprised at the railroad tracks in the barrel.
I would call shilen on that.

I bet a mistake was made in shipping. Shilen barrels are hand lapped.

The guys are right on the bedding, free floating usually works best, I agree with butch and the others.

The smith said he bedded it a little longer due to the weight of the # 10
 
new barrel

what do the groups look like ?
Does this happen 2 shots in the same hole? Then shot out of the first two a few inches apart.
I had a scope go bad a few weeks ago. The first two were at 6 oclock in the 10 ring then 1 !/2 inches to the right two more shots
If i cracked the windage to the left the next shot went back into the same hole as the first two.
condition were calm . I checked all screws all tight. I changed scopes and yep I was correct. THe rifle shot a small group after sighting in.
so check your scope screws etc then if all is well change scopes to see if it makes a difference.

That rifle should shoot better with the barrel floating even a #10.

Let us know how you make out.
 
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