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Remage build way off on windage

fatelvis

Silver $$ Contributor
I was hoping you guys could help me troubleshoot this build;
The project rifle was a good shooting Rem 700 in 222. I pulled off the stock barrel and installed a Northland Criterion Remage barrel in 223 Match chambering, with flat ground recoil lug, and put it in a new stock and bedded it. I used the same Golden Eagle scope and same 2 piece, Burris Signature dual dovetail mounts/rings. The rings used were the offset inserts giving 20 MOA elevation. I made SURE to assemble the inserts correctly, same as in the original build.
Problem: rifle shoots at least 44 MOA to the left, and about 20 MOA high. The 20moa high is what I wanted, but where did the 40moa bondage come from? I can't zeroth rifle, even when using all of the available clicks. I would appreciate any help or guesses, before I start digging into this problem. Thanks in advance!
 
40 MOA is about 2/3 of a degree. Sounds like something that could be seen by lining up with a straight edge.
Without a reference 1 degree might be tough.
If it's external to the scope you should be able to eyeball it :)
 
A number of years ago, I purchased a model 96 Swede. At my first outing, the windage was off by nearly 4 feet at 100 yards. By drifting the front sight to it's extreme travel, I was able to get it to shoot within 8 inches, but no better.
Upon checking with a straightedge, I found the barrel to be visibly bent. With nothing to lose and a hydraulic press available, I was able to bring it back. It is now my sniper rifle and I can count on it to perform very well at 600 yards.
It might be something to consider.
 
after checking the scope rings and bases, I'd check to make sure the new stock is not impinging on the barrel, if that checked out, I'd clamp the action in a vice , crack the barrel nut loose, put an indicator on the muzzle and watch what happens when the nut is loosed and tightened, then rotate the barrel one revolution, or remove the barrel and place it between centers with an indicator in the middle, if the barrel has that much curvature it will be pretty obvious, also re check the lug to make sure it's flat and has adequate clearance on the barrel tennon
 
Ditto on gme’s suggestion to recheck the recoil lug for uneven thickness. I witnessed a Savage rebuild that shot 6’ to the left due to an uneven lug. A bit of judicious hillbilly milling (file) got it shooting straight.
 
A number of years ago, I purchased a model 96 Swede. At my first outing, the windage was off by nearly 4 feet at 100 yards. By drifting the front sight to it's extreme travel, I was able to get it to shoot within 8 inches, but no better.
Upon checking with a straightedge, I found the barrel to be visibly bent. With nothing to lose and a hydraulic press available, I was able to bring it back. It is now my sniper rifle and I can count on it to perform very well at 600 yards.
It might be something to consider.

This method would solve more problems than scope rings...
Bill
 
An old trouble shooting tip - "Go back to the last thing that was changed before the issue occurred".

In this case you changed the barrel and recoil lug but you also had the scope off and inserts removed from the rings, so there are three potential issues.

If I were trouble shooting it I would go in this order.

#1 - boresight the scope on a hundred yard target by using a solid platform and rest, remove the bolt and look barrel, adjust the rifle so the target is centered in the barrel view. Then being very careful not to touch or move the rifle take a look through the scope to see if the scope is near the same position on the target.

I realize you said that you said you made SURE that you installed the inserts the same as they were on the original build but stuff happens and maybe you got them backwards or misread the markings. This should at least give you an idea if something like that happened.

There were a lot of other things changed that could affect the insert choice - you changed stocks, bedded the action, changed recoil lug and barrel, but I would look to the scope mounting first.

drover
 
I'd also try flipping the scope rings around 180*. Just so the clamping screw is on the opposite side of the rifle....... I've had the same issue with the same rings in the past, and this worked for me.
Good luck, alton9

Sorry my reading comprehension is poor today..... I went back and saw dual dovetail rings...... I was thinking Signature Zee rings when you referenced the inserts. Sorry...... alton9

But the more I think about it, I'd try turning the dual dovetails around too.... Couldn't hurt?
 
IF the barrel was done right and the rings are back in their original positions, I would suspect the front of the receiver is not perpendicular to the threads (very few are) or the barrel nut does not have a shoulder perpendicular to the threads. This is also assuming the lug you provided is ground flat. I'd bet on the receiver front if it has not been trued. As to why it didn't do that before, usually neither the receiver front nor the recoil lug is true from the factory and sometimes the tolerances cancel each other out plus a heavy seating torque can smash down the shoulder to conform to the lug.
 
Elvis can you measure the distance from the edge of the bore to the outside of the barrel on both the left side of the muzzle and the right side of the muzzle and see if there is a difference? I had a Sako barrel that you could see that the bore was not even close to the center of the barrel.
 
First you do not change that many things at once that is a recipe for disaster because it makes it almost impossible to quickly trouble shoot the system. So at this point everything is suspect.
 
I ordered a 223 laser boresight, being delivered tomorrow. I'm going to roughly see if the holes in the receiver and the bore are on the same plane. If so, it is a mount or scope problem. If not, it will be a barrel/recoil lug/receiver face problem. Right?
 

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