Bad load? Bad scope? Bad barrel

Keep it coming. The CEB bullets have a driving band on them. that band is 0.025" off the lands. It is as good of a point as any. Varying powder charge in my last OCW iteration gave me 2 groups of about 1.5", one group at 2" and one group at 2.7". I need to quit posting and load more rounds to test!
I see you have realised the rifle has fallen out of the node.
I alter powder charge to get back into the same previous good grouping velocity, I do not chase the lands as the throat erodes, this can, and does, change harmonics for the worse, not the better.
It will be obvious if you get into a node again, even if the throat is on its way out. Often using heavy long bullets helps the barrel shoot good (MoA+) for quite a bit longer.

Cheers.
 
Please don't abuse me. . .it was bad! This is from last Sunday.

300S Target.jpg


And yes, there is a round that I'm not sure where it is from. . .I could be off and some of the groups under 2" are really over 2". . .Dang!
 
Magnum's advise is spot on, and I would try that first.

Simply put, the velocity when the barrel was shooting 1/4" groups was at a certain level, now add powder till you get to that same velocity. If that does not work, then the advise I gave you earlier should follow, seat the bullet the same distance from the lands as they were when the barrel was shooting 1/4".

Cleaning the barrel down to bare metal or close to it should come before anything else with an examination with a bore scope.

I usually only work with one bullet and one powder at a time.

I learned to HATE vortex scopes.
 
I think I figured it out. I just realized that torquing the bolt on the qd lever does nothing. So, I have been tightening the levers finger tight and the torquing the bolt heads. Come to find out ….you actually have to apply torque with the lever or you are doing nothing. 🤦‍♂️ Can't test until Friday…ahhh!

Warne QD Rings
 
Tested. Scope was properly tightened. No change to groups. I'm giving up for now. Groups are 2.5". Something has to be broken.

After hunting season, I will go through it with a fine tooth comb. I expect that I will find nothing. This is really disappointing. I may call the original gunsmith to see if he has any ideas… Or I may just put it in the back of the safe, pending a rebarrel and action truing job.
 
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First thing I would do is get it to bare clean.
I mean like chrome! Hard carbon, copper free.
I wouldn't be picky about products or methods, you have nothing to lose.
Then assess fire cracking and erosion. It will be there to some degree.

VinceMule is a great one to do the diagnosis.
 
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