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

[AlNyhus]

Okay, got it back from the gunsmith last Wednesday. Here's the feedback I got from him:

The bedding on the action was done well. He measured if the front foregrip of the stock moved in relation to the barrel, when he tightened the action screws. He said it only moved .002, two thousandths of an inch, based on that he said the bedding is not the issue.

The head-spacing was accurate with go - no go gauges. The crown looks good, the inside of the barrel looks shiny with no pitting or visible issues. He didn't have a 17 caliber borescope, so he just had to look from both ends, and said it looked fine. He verified the twist rate checked at 1:10 twist.

The only thing he found was the front screw on the scope base was too long. It was hitting the threads on the barrel, so he took about 1 to 1.5 threads off for clearance, and LocTited it back, remounted the rings and scope, and it was ready to shoot.

I took it out soon after, and with my best load so far, 19.6 gr of 8208 and 20 gr Varmageddon HP bullets, Rem 7 1/2 primers, shot the following target. That was on a clean barrel, and it had a POI shift from the first bullseye.

View attachment 1695738

It's better than it was. I asked the gunsmith, if it doesn't shoot well after his work, what would you try next. He said change the scope. So I did, again.

This next target I shot yesterday, I used the same 19.6 load on first 2 targets, and 19.7 grains on 3rd.

View attachment 1695743

I think the rifle would be fine for shooting varmints like PD's and coyotes, rock chucks and so on. I was hoping it would be better, as I like smaller groups for sage rats. However, I'm done with trying more loads. I'll likely list it for sale soon, as some others here expressed interest.
It's a great little package, the gunsmith work was done well. From what I know of it's history, the Lilja barrel should have less than 500 rounds through it. I'm not sure why it won't shoot tighter groups, but I'm don't have the money to change out the barrel to see if that's the issue.
It would be an excellent set-up for a 20 Vartarg or 221 FB, with this XP-100 action.

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Thanks for closing the loop on this. I was hoping you'd find something that had been overlooked...rats.

Good shootin' -Al

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Wouldn't H322/H335 be powders suited for that size case and 20-25 gr hp's?

 

[TheCZKid]

Wouldn't H322/H335 be powders suited for that size case and 20-25 gr hp's?

I had decent luck with H335 as well, so yes. I don't have H322, so I don't know on that one. I tried IMR 4198 a couple days ago, it did not do well with it. And CFE BLK, and RL-7.