Boresighting WAAAYYY off. Is this a dodgey barrel.

[epags]

Never have had to workout a problem like this. So thinking about it you have bore pointed at same spot as the scope and then it shoots off to the side. Well alignment is good but bullet flight veers off. I do not see the scope, basses or mounting of them as a problem. Something in the barrel or barrel to receiver mate up is causing the bullet to get slung off to the side. My guess, two cents is that the receiver face is not square. Imagine a hard side and a soft side to the barrel receiver interface. As the barrel vibrates/whips around as bullet travels down the bore their appers to be a bias to the side, I envision the not square receiver pushing the bore off to the side under fire.

Like 73driver said. If scope AND bore sight are alined on the same spot on target the problem is not the scope. Have you checked the barrel to stock clearance? Possibly there is an interference that barrel "whip" encounters. Just one more thing to check.

 

[jarnold37]

one possibility is the barrel is not square to the receiver have seen many rifles this way or the mounting screws drill off so when the scope is mounted and you look down the rifle it looks like the scope is going one way and the barrel the other so look to see if your scope looks inline with the barrel as you look down the whole rifle. have seen a lot of remingtons this way and especially the Winchester model 70's just before they closed in 2006

Maybe missing the forest for the trees so to speak. It seems if that much off, there could possibly be side pressure on the barrel in the barrel channel. However if the barrel is floated to eliminate any pressure on the barrel, then the action will probably need bedded. Those pressure points in the barrel channel are put in there to help support the barreled action because the action does not fit the stock tightly.

 

[Ronald W Schaefer]

Take it to a gunsmith you trust and tell him the problem. Let them fix it or send it back.

 

[DSheetz]

This is a Ruger 17WSM ? So then doesn't it have the same Ruger mounting system as the other Ruger's ? You have to use Ruger scope mounting rings is that correct ? You can take the scope out of them and lay a lapping bar in them to check how well they are aligned to each other and the barrel . If they are off by much take it back or contact Ruger. You may want to take it out of the stock and look at the bedding and the barrel channel for pressure points . Check that the action screws are torqued to the proper specs . I found that bedding the action and having a pressure pad on the fore end for the barrel to ride on and come to rest in the same place with the smaller calibers in Ruger's has some merit . It doesn't take much just enough to fill the gap between the two and be smooth instead of the X that is machined into the stock on the wooden stocks especially . Ruger's are a breed of their own patterned off of the old Mouser actions with some changes that Bill Ruger made to make them better for his uses . A lot of people haven't been around them as much as they have Remingtons Browings or Winchesters

 

[DSheetz]

I have also found that the 17WSM fowls faster then most and when breaking in a new rifle they need to be cleaned a lot .

 

[Aussie Hunter Steve]

I once owned a rifle like that. Showed it to a barrel maker who said the bore was very crooked. It shot nice groups but loads tested shot miles away from one another. Settled on 1 bullet and never had a problem.

 

[Talyn]

I've had a Weaver Classic V24 6-24x that has always been problematic for me. Never had an issue with any other individual V-16 or V-24 (same external designs except for the power/adjustment ranges), just this one scope. Because of that it sat on the bench for a long time.

Recently I moved scopes on a couple of rifles and put the "problem-child" V-24 on one that had a V-16 on it with no issues. Once more I had the same zeroing issues. I finally fixed the situation with Burris Zee rings with varied MOA inserts and a 25 MOA rail.

The V-16 went on the other rifle again with no issues.

So it can sometimes be the scope.

My .02

 

[nocannons]

Got sucked in to creedmore vortex 2 yrs. ago. Bought savage axis in heavy barrel. Think something from above was trying to tell me something. First it took me almost 2hours and about 50 patches before I got it clean enough to suit me. Then mounted scope and all excited to get to range. High hopes. Fired 3rds at 50 yds. Not to be found on paper. Sad end to that day was could not adjust scope far enough with supplied rail. Put on luepold bases to get enough windage adjust. Confidence already in question had decided I wanted to try solid copper bullets. Gun was on at 100 with jacketed bullets. Shot my first group and did not find it on target. looked up close and found a 1 1/2 group 4 in. high and 18 ins. right. Buddy told me that was my 5 shots. Another load proved it. Needless to say this gun is no longer in my possession. I have to say that I have owned many savage rifles and was very satisfied just not this one.

 

[browndcm]

Question for the brains-trust folks.
Mate of mine just got a new Ruger 17WSM. Nice looking rifle. Normally I bore-sight it for him and we get going.
I normally have it set perfectly in 3 or 4 shots and off we go.
However, I look down the bore at 100 meters, fire, and I'm not even on a 1x1 meter fresh board! WHAT!!!
So I boresight at 50... I'm off by over a foot. Can't even see the the bullet hole looking down the bore.

I boresight at 25 then extend that out to 100. I work out that at 100 meters, the bullet is shooting right... almost a meter!
Lucky the scope has some **** adjustment. Just wondering, does this mean the barrel is bad/bent or other?
Never seen anything like it. I am considering telling him to take it back.
Cheers for any and all help.

Have the crown on the barrel checked
I may be skewed a little or damaged

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Call Customer service, and tell them you ,or he , is sending it back . They will test it, find the problem, and fix it ,...….or send you another rifle.

 

[srogerson]

Call Customer service, and tell them you ,or he , is sending it back . They will test it, find the problem, and fix it ,...….or send you another rifle.

I had a Ruger American Rimfire in 22WSM that did this. I couldn't get the scope to adjust to where the bullet was impacting at 35 yards. Sent it back. They recrowned it, and when I got it back it did the same thing. Sent it back again and they destroyed it and sent me a new one.

 

[OzRanger]

Never have had to workout a problem like this. So thinking about it you have bore pointed at same spot as the scope and then it shoots off to the side. Well alignment is good but bullet flight veers off. I do not see the scope, basses or mounting of them as a problem. Something in the barrel or barrel to receiver mate up is causing the bullet to get slung off to the side. My guess, two cents is that the receiver face is not square. Imagine a hard side and a soft side to the barrel receiver interface. As the barrel vibrates/whips around as bullet travels down the bore their appers to be a bias to the side, I envision the not square receiver pushing the bore off to the side under fire.

I'm thinking something like this too.

 

[MNbogboy]

No experience in 17 caliber but have seen this in larger calibers (6.5 & .308). The apparent "visual bore sight" aligned with the target & reticle shoots off target. My experience has shown this as a product of extreme bore curvature. A visual through the bore may detect an oval like picture rather than round. If you could compare a known "good" barrel side by side with the "suspect" one it is possible to see a difference in the sight picture. All barrels have some amount of curvature in the bore due to the "gun drill" process.
Some gunsmiths actually "clock" this curvature at 12:00 or 6:00 to eliminate horizontal POI deviation as barrel temperature changes.
My guess it is not the crown causing the problem because it groups well. Also the 17 caliber drill would be more apt to wander during the gun drill process due to its rigidity.
A possible solution would be to have a gunsmith clock it up and adjust the headspace by reaming or recoil lug thickness (depending on the rifle).

Just a couple of thoughts,
Randy

 

[J E Custom]

I had another thought about your possible problem.
Recently I posted on the advantages of blue printing the action and Had good numbers for all of the differences and the effects of them.

A good friend reminded me of the effect of an error just In one place. If the action face makeup is .001 thousandths off the barrel centerline (For example at 3:00) the impact at 100 yards will be 3" to the left. If it is off .003 thousandths, it will be off 9" to the left. so if you bore site the barrel the error will be 9" to the right. And that's just the effect of one error.

So it is possible that your action to barrel make up has an error that is effecting the poi if bore sited.

J E CUSTOM