Trickymissfit
Well-Known Member
I had a Ruger once that just wouldn't shoot at all (3.8" groups at 100 yards). It would put two or three rounds almost touching each other and then go all over the place. They cut the scallops for their rings miss aligned. They were out about .015", and this put the scope in a bind which really started to show up as everything got hot. What was interesting was that the scallops were only out on one side of the action! The chamber was reamed very well, but somewhat long in the neck (over .050" too long.
The next issue we found was with the angled bedding screw and where it seated. Alittle work with a die grinder and about another hour of rebidding the area fixed that as well.
Anyway these mods (repairs) seriously helped. I then called in a marker from a gunsmith I used to grind reamers for (hundreds of them) in oddball sizes. He then went thru the rest of the rifle. The barrel needed a serious hand lapping, and also a touch up in the crown (it was usable as it was). He got the trigger down to about 2.5 lb. with zero creep (How?). The internals of the bolt were never good, and he had me open the bore up about .015". The bolt face was also out of square, and I got that task as well. Then of course everything had to be re head spaced. In the end the entire action and recoil area had to be rebidded again. And yes there was a problem with the bedding screws (all of them). When we got it ready to shoot again, he asked how it shot, and the first group was a 3/4" five shot group with Remington factory ammo. Next time out it was all sub half inch groups, and finally got it shooting 3/8th" groups. So a Ruger can be made to shoot, but takes elbow grease.
As for the Winchesters shooting. Good luck! I found the Rugers shot better out of the box. The barrels were junk, and the action was machined way out of square. Lots of bedding issues as well, but also easy to fix with some thought in the process. Over all I like the Winchester design better, but they simply could have done a better job. In otherwords, both are a crap shoot.
gary
The next issue we found was with the angled bedding screw and where it seated. Alittle work with a die grinder and about another hour of rebidding the area fixed that as well.
Anyway these mods (repairs) seriously helped. I then called in a marker from a gunsmith I used to grind reamers for (hundreds of them) in oddball sizes. He then went thru the rest of the rifle. The barrel needed a serious hand lapping, and also a touch up in the crown (it was usable as it was). He got the trigger down to about 2.5 lb. with zero creep (How?). The internals of the bolt were never good, and he had me open the bore up about .015". The bolt face was also out of square, and I got that task as well. Then of course everything had to be re head spaced. In the end the entire action and recoil area had to be rebidded again. And yes there was a problem with the bedding screws (all of them). When we got it ready to shoot again, he asked how it shot, and the first group was a 3/4" five shot group with Remington factory ammo. Next time out it was all sub half inch groups, and finally got it shooting 3/8th" groups. So a Ruger can be made to shoot, but takes elbow grease.
As for the Winchesters shooting. Good luck! I found the Rugers shot better out of the box. The barrels were junk, and the action was machined way out of square. Lots of bedding issues as well, but also easy to fix with some thought in the process. Over all I like the Winchester design better, but they simply could have done a better job. In otherwords, both are a crap shoot.
gary
