MikeMcCasland
Team Texas F-T/R
Hey Guys,
Very long story here, but I have an FTR rifle that went from the most accurate barrel I'd ever shot, to dropping 8s pretty routinely, and then right back to hammering; no rhyme or reason to it.
Same lot of everything used, everything sorted, 700 rounds on the barrel, barrel looks great on a borescope, the whole 9-yards. I've spent the last ~week maniacally going through everything in my process, components, and gun to try and sort this whole mess out. About the only thing left is primer seating.
The only "change" that took place during this timeframe was I started using a primal rights primer seater. Because of the mechanical leverage, you don't get as good a feel as you might on a handheld unit (especially as the primer starts to bottom out).
When changing to this primer seater, I've been seating the primers visibly deeper, but it's difficult to get a good depth reading just using calipers as a measure. The primers aren't deformed, and nothing looked out of the ordinary so I had just assumed you wouldn't be able to shoot the difference.
I'm not going to be able to test primer depth as it relates to accuracy until next weekend, but I'm curious if anyone has seen a load turn to complete s*** as a result of primer seating depth?
I searched and saw some of the big name SR BR guys who post here saying they've seen it, but 'going to shit' is a little relative...that might mean a .3" group for them. We're talking going from 197s-cleans at 1k to shooting mid-low 180s in 3-5 mph wind here. I'm mediocre on a good day, so I can accept some responsibility for poor shooting, but without question I got a gun problem here, and I'm running out of things to look at before just pulling the barrel.
Very long story here, but I have an FTR rifle that went from the most accurate barrel I'd ever shot, to dropping 8s pretty routinely, and then right back to hammering; no rhyme or reason to it.
Same lot of everything used, everything sorted, 700 rounds on the barrel, barrel looks great on a borescope, the whole 9-yards. I've spent the last ~week maniacally going through everything in my process, components, and gun to try and sort this whole mess out. About the only thing left is primer seating.
The only "change" that took place during this timeframe was I started using a primal rights primer seater. Because of the mechanical leverage, you don't get as good a feel as you might on a handheld unit (especially as the primer starts to bottom out).
When changing to this primer seater, I've been seating the primers visibly deeper, but it's difficult to get a good depth reading just using calipers as a measure. The primers aren't deformed, and nothing looked out of the ordinary so I had just assumed you wouldn't be able to shoot the difference.
I'm not going to be able to test primer depth as it relates to accuracy until next weekend, but I'm curious if anyone has seen a load turn to complete s*** as a result of primer seating depth?
I searched and saw some of the big name SR BR guys who post here saying they've seen it, but 'going to shit' is a little relative...that might mean a .3" group for them. We're talking going from 197s-cleans at 1k to shooting mid-low 180s in 3-5 mph wind here. I'm mediocre on a good day, so I can accept some responsibility for poor shooting, but without question I got a gun problem here, and I'm running out of things to look at before just pulling the barrel.
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