Remington 541 custom sporter problem

[rebs]

I have this 22 and it was shooting great small groups at 100 yds. Now the groups are opening up a lot. Does anyone have an idea was could be wrong ?

 

[Pyscodog]

Just going off what I read, when accuracy starts going it may be time for a good cleaning. Don't shoot the messenger, just what I have read. I've shot rimfires all my life but I ain't no guru and I'm in a learning process myself. But I'll get the ball rolling and I'm sure others with a ton more info will chime in soon.

 

[varminthunter1]

unless you are shooting over wind flags, group shooting can turn into a mess quickly.
You did not mention your ammo or what you consider good and bad groups. Are you shooting off a bench?
Jeff

 

[1Merlin]

Carbon ring might be the culprit. Lots of info on how to treat this malady is as close as a search...

 

[grauhanen]

Did you change to a different lot of ammo?

 

[rebs]

I am shooting bench rest at 100 yds. I am using Lapua center X the same lot.

What is the best way to clean the throat and chamber ? Does the standard cleaning brush do it or do I need some special tool ?

 

[rebs]

I had no idea that a 22 would get a carbon ring. I cleaned the barrel real good and used a q-tip to get Boretech C4 carbon remover into the chamber and throat. That made all the difference in the accuracy. It is shooting great again.
Thank you guys for the replies.

 

[biggun2869]

The later of the factory 541s had a second screw that held the action, if yours isn't included in this you should consider it. Most any gunsmith is capable of this there are vidieos on youtube that tell how to do it using a screw from a 700 ADL.
Probably the best most noticeable upgrade you can do to that gun

 

[Billy 30-06]

I had a early 541-S that had a tight chamber that wouldn't extract a live round. The bullet would be jammed a good bit in the rifling but it would shoot with good bullets. It had about as good of trigger you could ask for but the plastic magazines were junk.

 

[centershot]

I had a early 541-S that had a tight chamber that wouldn't extract a live round. The bullet would be jammed a good bit in the rifling but it would shoot with good bullets. It had about as good of trigger you could ask for but the plastic magazines were junk.

Mine is exactly the same way. Not sure if the chamber is tight or the head space is.

 

[rebs]

I had no idea that a 22 would get a carbon ring. I cleaned the barrel real good and used a q-tip to get Boretech C4 carbon remover into the chamber and throat. That made all the difference in the accuracy. It is shooting great again.
Thank you guys for the replies.

It did take about 80 rounds to get back to the accuracy I had before. Is this normal ?

 

[biggun2869]

I had a early 541-S that had a tight chamber that wouldn't extract a live round. The bullet would be jammed a good bit in the rifling but it would shoot with good bullets. It had about as good of trigger you could ask for but the plastic magazines were junk.

There is a guy on this site from tennesee that makes steel mags for these guns and they are in my opinion flawless. I bought two and bought one for a friend later. I have had a few S and never had trouble with any of them. Believe it or not the best one I ever had I bought cheap because it had a noticeable pitting in the end of the barrell. I had my gunsmith cut off just what he needed to to get past it (about 2") and it was the best shooting .22 I have owned. Like the dumbass I am I traded it off for something and I later saw it on auction arms depicted as original. I let him know and he did amend the auction. If you remember the earlier Ss were drilled for sights and that one had the reciever drilled and the muzzle end had none

 

[biggun2869]

Below in the similar threads the guy that makes those mags is mentioned, his name is John Reed. I think he makes them in the winter and sells them in the summer

 

[Billy 30-06]

It did take about 80 rounds to get back to the accuracy I had before. Is this normal ?

That's a lot of rounds. It only takes around 10-12 to get my .22s back on track after cleaning.

 

[SGW Gunsmith]

It did take about 80 rounds to get back to the accuracy I had before. Is this normal ?

The Remington 541 is a fabulous factory provided rifle. For sure, .22 rimfire ammunition can and will cause a carbon ring is some instances due to the inherent properties involved with .22 rimfire ammunition.
Normally a carbon ring can form at the transition of the chamber, through the leade and then into the rifling. Over 50+ years my purpose has been involved with the use and testing of .22 rimfire rifles and handguns, mostly with the sporter guns, with the current forms of ammunition available, as that's what MOST of my customers have and deal with.
Every single .22 rimfire that I've peered through, and have run lead slugs through, have been found to have a land to groove height of from 0.0020 to 0.0025 thousandths of an inch. Now that's a tiny bit thinner that a single sheet of paper.
In all of the past and current .22 rimfire barrels that have been button rifled, the chambers are then cut with a chambering reamer, along with the throat, or leade. That reamer cuts in a clock-wise rotation and then when it passes over the lands, it will, in many cases, produce a roll-over burr on the left side of each land in the throat or leade. Being a right-hand twist at 1:16, when a lead bullet passes over that slight burr, some lead will be pealed off the bullets bearing surface, and a carbon/lead mixture can and will build up. Over time, the flame temperature behind the bullet will burn that burr off,. or it can be done with some judicious lapping done by someone who know what they need to do, and do it properly, without moving the leade forward.
I would NEVER recommend "fire lapping" of any .22 rimfire barrel. Evidence after that process has proven that fire lapping can move the leade forward as much as ¼ of an inch and that will cause a fired bullet to need to jump that much further forward to engage the rifling. If alignment to the bore has been changed, accuracy will suffer, big time.
Now, for the average plinker or recreational .22 rimfire shooter, this may not mean much, but for those of us who want "minute-of-squirrel-eye" accuracy, it's important to fill that cast iron skillet with some good chewin' on squirrels with dumplings slathered in gravy.

 

[rebs]

The later of the factory 541s had a second screw that held the action, if yours isn't included in this you should consider it. Most any gunsmith is capable of this there are vidieos on youtube that tell how to do it using a screw from a 700 ADL.
Probably the best most noticeable upgrade you can do to that gun

How to tell if mine has a second action screw ? I searched youtube and couldn't find the second action screw videeo

 

[rebs]

Mine has two screws, one in front towards the barrel and one behind the trigger guard. Does that mean I only have one action screw ?

 

[65joe]

Yes, the second action screw goes in front of the trigger guard.

 

[stacy]

It did take about 80 rounds to get back to the accuracy I had before. Is this normal ?

YEP THATS NORMAL

 

[rebs]

mine has a large screw in front of the mag well and a smaller screw in front of the trigger gar and a larger screw behind the trigger guard. Is that small screw in front of the trigger guard a second action screw