Back in April said I would report back on the barrel condition in this F Class rifle at the end of the season - 28 inch Shilen 8 twist, squared Rem 700 action, 1204 documented rounds down the bore, 142 SMK, 47 gr RL22, 2850 fps, Win brass and primers.
Turned out to be more complicated than first anticipated. Great results up to and including a 2 day Palma-type match end of July. Placed 3rd F(O) the first day of the Palma.
Two weeks later in the 2011 Ontario Championships my rifle started going south. Waterline elevation but sudden jumps in zero windage which progressively got worse as the three day match went on.
The first two mornings were dead calm on the 300 yd targets and I would have 2 minutes of right or left wind on while everyone else had zero wind. And I would suddenly jump 2 minutes left or right from what I thought was my zero wind. At the long ranges in the afternoon my shooting partner would have 4 minutes of right wind on and I would have 2 minutes of left. Lousy scores.
By the end of the second day I was totally confused and decided to pack it in and go home and try to figure out what was going on. The Sightron scope was brand new so didn`t think that was the problem. Scope ring and base screws were all tight. Action screws tight. Shot-out barrels don`t waterline.
Taking the barrel off with my new barrel vice and action wrench revealed an almost new bore, not shot-out.
Put everything back together and shot some groups at 300 metres off a bench. Same thing, no idea where my zero wind was. Thunk on it some more. Remembered back in the 1980`s in the Ontario Benchrest League the competitors would shoot their Remington rifles with the rear action screw loosened or totally removed to eliminate any possibility of stressing the action.
Tried that today and after a few sighters got the 1 1/8 inch five shot group at 300 metres (0.34 moa) shown below on the International 5 ring target with 0.4 moa V-ring(light ring) and 0.8 moa 5 ring(dark ring). Scores 25-5V. Called low shot.
So looks like I had a bedding problem at the Ontarios which I will work on this Winter. But after 1204 documented rounds the barrel is still going strong.
Turned out to be more complicated than first anticipated. Great results up to and including a 2 day Palma-type match end of July. Placed 3rd F(O) the first day of the Palma.
Two weeks later in the 2011 Ontario Championships my rifle started going south. Waterline elevation but sudden jumps in zero windage which progressively got worse as the three day match went on.
The first two mornings were dead calm on the 300 yd targets and I would have 2 minutes of right or left wind on while everyone else had zero wind. And I would suddenly jump 2 minutes left or right from what I thought was my zero wind. At the long ranges in the afternoon my shooting partner would have 4 minutes of right wind on and I would have 2 minutes of left. Lousy scores.
By the end of the second day I was totally confused and decided to pack it in and go home and try to figure out what was going on. The Sightron scope was brand new so didn`t think that was the problem. Scope ring and base screws were all tight. Action screws tight. Shot-out barrels don`t waterline.
Taking the barrel off with my new barrel vice and action wrench revealed an almost new bore, not shot-out.
Put everything back together and shot some groups at 300 metres off a bench. Same thing, no idea where my zero wind was. Thunk on it some more. Remembered back in the 1980`s in the Ontario Benchrest League the competitors would shoot their Remington rifles with the rear action screw loosened or totally removed to eliminate any possibility of stressing the action.
Tried that today and after a few sighters got the 1 1/8 inch five shot group at 300 metres (0.34 moa) shown below on the International 5 ring target with 0.4 moa V-ring(light ring) and 0.8 moa 5 ring(dark ring). Scores 25-5V. Called low shot.
So looks like I had a bedding problem at the Ontarios which I will work on this Winter. But after 1204 documented rounds the barrel is still going strong.
