This Rifle won't Shoot! Diagnosing the issue(s).

[TheCZKid]

The crown looks good

 

[TheCZKid]

Oh freakin A
is that of the OP's rifle stock?
If so
1) try relieving the bedding in front and on the sides and bottom of the recoil lug
That can be a problem issue / Dremel is your friend unless you have a Mill
Only the rear of the lug should touch
Way back in the beginning, nobody relieved around the recoil lug, because they didn't know better.
Including big name proffesionals that touted the best of the best bedding jobs.
That aspect got figured out later
2) Make sure the bedding in the chamber area does not put upward force on the barrel when clamped in
(For example, lets say it was rebarreled once, and they never redid the bedding where it touches the barrel)
(Relieve the bedding in the chamber area to fully free float the barrel)
Then see how it shoots
if the action was bedded right it should not move much upward or downward when you torque the action screws down.

What kind of stock do you think it is? I don't know who OP's rifle stock is
it apparently has an aluminum bedding block in it. One interesting thing is, the trigger guard is molded into the stock, it won't come off, and it's relieved slightly inside the rear part of the loop, so the trigger doesn't hit it.

I'll be Dremeling to relieve the area below and in front and sides of the recoil lug, sound like everyone is in agreement it's needed.

 

[ELR LVR]

It could also have been specially purpose built just to shoot these
you might try these too

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/17-cal-172-15-5-gr-ntx#!/

 

[TheCZKid]

It could also have been specially purpose built just to shoot these
you might try these too

https://www.hornady.com/bullets/rifle/17-cal-172-15-5-gr-ntx#!/

Hmmm, Hornady 15.5 copper bullets. I hadn't even considered that possibility, but it might be a solution to a problem. I don't think the gunsmith had that in mind, but it might work. I have some on hand, and will give them a try.

 

[ELR LVR]

What kind of stock do you think it is? I don't know who OP's rifle stock is

I'll be Dremeling to relieve the area below and in front and sides of the recoil lug, sound like everyone is in agreement it's needed.

Hs Precision / Bell Carlson maybe? Looks like a Remmy Copy
I use a Flat Carbide for the flat surfaces and a round carbide ball for the corners when doing this with a dremel

 

[TheCZKid]

Hs Precision / Bell Carlson maybe? Looks like a Remmy Copy
I use a Flat Carbide for the flat surfaces and a round carbide ball for the corners when doing this with a dremel

I think I'll be taking a trip to buy some bits, as I don't have options for my Dremel that will work right. Perhaps Harbor Freight will, or Home Depot.

 

[ELR LVR]

I think I'll be taking a trip to buy some bits, as I don't have options for my Dremel that will work right. Perhaps Harbor Freight will, or Home Depot.

Good idea
I know my local Walmart and Lowes also carry dremel bits

 

[TheCZKid]

I just finished cleaning the barrel for about 2 hours! Used a variety of products. First, Sweet's multiple times. And, Bore Tech carbon remover, and that with Iosso on wet patches, and Iosso on nylon brushes - multiple times. Back and forth, the sucker just kept having dirty patches come out. Now it's almost 3am, and I gotta go to bed.

Need to Dremel out the bedded area behind, beside and below the recoil lug, see if that makes a difference. Try some even thinner neck brass, and test the 15.5 grain Hornady copper bullets, for my 10.5 twist Lilja barrel.

 

[Toolbreaker]

It does touch, there's a mark on the side of the stock. I decided to do a test: First I took the action out of the stock, and with the bolt closed, I wrote a thin sharpie line on the top of the bolt when it's closed. See pic.

View attachment 1679500

Then, I put the action back in the stock with the action screw installed, and closed the bolt. I wanted to see if the bolt lever hits the stock enough to change the angle of the bolt. It appears to move it a few thousandths. Not sure what impact that would cause, curious what you think.

View attachment 1679502

From past experience, a bolt handle making contact with the stock can cause some pretty interesting groups . I'd relieve the stock both behind and below the handle ~.020" each(about 2 business cards thickness). A tongue depressor and dowel with a piece of 240-320 grit wrapped around them will make quick work of it, & couple bottles of Testors modeling paint can touch up and blend the work after if you want to go that route.

Looks like you have several good ideas to try from the thread.

 

[AlNyhus]

STOP!

Before you grind, Dremel, file, sand, chisel or do anything...check your neck clearance and chamber length.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Berger 25 gr varmint should spin fine out of a 10tw. Friction fit on the action side(rear) of the lug. Get the chamber dimensions figured out. Firing pin spring, powder charge are minor factors in custom barreled small volume cases. Fouled 17 barrels are a big accuracy problem and accuracy goes south quickly depending on type.

 

[drewh]

You might try some of the Dogtown or Nosler Varmageddon bullets without the plastic tip. That twist rate is not helping you out on this. Send me a PM with an address and I will mail you some to try.
Drew

 

[urbanrifleman]

The only thing that will cause a nice rifle to shoot patterns like that is the bullet is unstable.

I wouldn't do a thing until you shot some lighter bullets.

 

[K22]

A lot of sound advice offered thus far. Having a rifle that will not shoot to one's reasonable expectations / performance standards is frustrating to say the least.

Now approaching 60 years of precision shooting, I've only had a few that fell into this category albeit, my standards are not at the benchrest or competitive shooting level.

Here's my checklist**

1. All screws tight and properly installed.

2. Sound bedding system.

3. Bullet matches twist rate, and Powder is suitable for caliber in question.

4. Scope ruled out as culprit.

5. Testing conducted in favorable conditions, i.e., wind and mirage minimal, moderate temperature.

6. In my experience, if you clean to bare metal using strong copper solvents, it may take several rounds to establish some bore equilibrium to produce consistent POI. The repeated use of these solvents only exacerbates the problem. The repeated stripping the copper out, re-plating the bore cycle creates an unstable bore in my experience. Using a mild solvent such a Shooter's Choice or Hoppe's 9 to remove the carbon and some copper produced more consistent results for me.

Sometimes, a rifle just won't shoot to your standards no matter which corrective measures you try. For example, I had one, a Remington 700, 22 250, Varmint model. Fought it out with Remington and they finally agreed to examine it and pay for the shipping. After they inspected the rifle, they apologized stating that the rifling was 'crosscut" whatever that means and sent me a new rifle which shot fine.

The other rifle was a Weatherby Vanguard. I spent a lot of time and money on it and was able to finally get it to shoot about 1 moa which, for my performance standards at the time, i.e. varmint hunting, was not acceptable.

At some point you have to "turn mother's picture to the wall" and move on. Life is too short to continue when you reach your limit of patience which is different for different folks.

**The reason I never buy used rifles is you have no idea what the former owner has done to and with the rifle. After what I've seen at the range over many years, my position was only reinforced many folds.

 

[AlNyhus]

A trip to the JBM Stability page will be revealing. Input the bullet length from the bullet list (or measure one of yours) into the Stability calculator along with the other parameters.

JBM - Bullet Length List

www.jbmballistics.com

JBM - Calculations - Stability

www.jbmballistics.com

 

[DLT]

The only thing that will cause a nice rifle to shoot patterns like that is the bullet is unstable.

I wouldn't do a thing until you shot some lighter bullets.

What I was thinking

 

[FNSafari]

I would find someone who can scope a 17 cal barrel. That's my first bus stop.

 

[divingin]

I just finished cleaning the barrel for about 2 hours! Used a variety of products. First, Sweet's multiple times. And, Bore Tech carbon remover, and that with Iosso on wet patches, and Iosso on nylon brushes - multiple times. Back and forth, the sucker just kept having dirty patches come out. Now it's almost 3am, and I gotta go to bed.

Just a quick note: Running Iosso will *always* result in black patches, even on a squeaky-clean barrel.

 

[wedgy]

Have you checked the twist to see that it is indeed the rate it is claimed to be ? Just mark a cleaning rod and see how far it goes down the barrel to make a 360 degree twist.

 

[Peterson1]

Many great ideas to improve accuracy have not helped???

I don't recall checking bullet seating deapth and varying the numbers to improve accuracy???

Some believe that proper bullet seating deapth is as important as proper powder charge. Many Benchrest shooters adhere to this principle as well!!

Some gun/bullets like a jam and others like a jump.

Worth a try?????

CLP