Help with accuracy

[D.Camilleri]

My luck must have changed for the better. My new barrel showed up yesterday and I managed to make a good trade with a great gunsmith. The barrel got to his shop first thing this morning and around 11 am I got a call telling me my action was in the lathe and asking if I wanted my action blue printed. I told him my action was already supposed to be blueprinted from two barrel installs before. Guess what, it hadn't been touched. Oh well, it is blue printed now, the new barrel is on and chambered with a precision ground recoil lug. All that is left is to cut the threads for a new Muscle Brake and machine the action for a wyatt's extended magazine. If the magazine shows up, I could be breaking in the barrel on Saturday. I finished my part of the trade tonight and got a nice new set of tires mounted and balanced on his truck. I am exited to shoot with my new barrel. I also got told today that my picatinny rail was loose! I just checked the torque on those screws last month before I sent my scope off.

 

[bigngreen]

In the end I think you'll be happy it forced you into getting it straightened out. I install an 1/8 dowl pin between the front screw holes and then devcon the rail to the action after cleaning both, all it takes it a little heat to remove them and we'll worth it. Make sure your base screws are new!!

 

[cahunter805]

Use some thread retaining compound when you reinstall your rail. Congrats on the new barrel and be sure to let us know how it shoots.

 

[D.Camilleri]

I usually use blue Loctite on all of my screws that I don't want to come loose. I have actually been guilty of using a drop of red Loctite once, but that didn't work out so well when a torx screw head popped off, getting the rest of the screw out was a pain. If my Wyatt's magazine shows up, I should be shooting this weekend. I also found out that my front screw on the rail was bottomed out on the barrel threads.

Bigngreen,

are there any negative side effects of using devcon on the rail?

 

[cahunter805]

The front screw is notorious for bottoming out and usually being to long. Shortening that should solve your loose base problem. It's also been known to cause accuracy problems. Glad your getting things worked out!

 

[D.Camilleri]

All the machining on the gun is done. Test firing complete. Now I just need the Wyatt's extended magazine to show up, hopefully tomorrow and it will be time for load development. It will be kind of cool to be able to seat closer to the lands.

 

[bigngreen]

I usually use blue Loctite on all of my screws that I don't want to come loose. I have actually been guilty of using a drop of red Loctite once, but that didn't work out so well when a torx screw head popped off, getting the rest of the screw out was a pain. If my Wyatt's magazine shows up, I should be shooting this weekend. I also found out that my front screw on the rail was bottomed out on the barrel threads.

Bigngreen,

are there any negative side effects of using devcon on the rail?

I see no negatives, I may go over board with fitting a rail but then again I've never had one move or even have it be a question nor do I have to use locktite to hold them, just quality screws torqued to spec. Over torque is the usual culprit, once a fastener is over torqued and it's yielded then it will always stretch after that.
When I bed the rails I mud them up then torque the front screws to 8 in lbs, tighten up the rear screws till they touch and check the rail with an precision level to make sure it's flat. The next day I torque them to spec and rally. The base the foundation for everything above it so it's worth the effort!!

 

[D.Camilleri]

Thanks Bigngreen, hopefully I have a bedding project to start tonight if the Wyatt's box shows up on ups today. Any suggestions on how far off the lands to start seating my 300 gr Berger OTM's? How about powder charge? I was shooting 90 gr of H1000 with an OAL of 3.670 on my old barrel. By seating closer to the lands, I should see an increase in pressure, correct?

 

[D.Camilleri]

I have my gun back, it looks awesome! I bedded the action this afternoon and it is curing. While I was visiting with the smith, he showed me something that I didn't know. With two screws in the rail in the rear most point on the receiver, the front of the rail was floating by around .030. If the front screws were installed and tightened, the rail would bow. When I got home, I dug through my spare parts, and pulled out a set of Burris signature rings with the plastic inserts. I experimented with the +10 -10 inserts and ended up going back to the 0 inserts. I will see what happens tomorrow when I start the barrel break in process. I loaded up some 300 gr accubonds .040 off the lands with a OAL of 3.675, and some 300 gr Berger OTM's .090 off the lands at 3.800

If I wanted to re-use my rail, should I bed the front of it to fill the .030 void? It seems that this 0 degree rail was acting like a 10 degree rail and my 20 degree rail was acting like a 30. I also found out that 2 of the 4 screws holding the rail to the action were bent.

 

[bigngreen]

I get one every once in a while like that and if the rail is truly flat I just tighten different screws when bedding. If you set the rail on the action I tighten one screw nearest each touch point both front and rear then just bring the other two up till they touch and then verify I have not put a bow in the rail. In the case of the front of the rail being of the action and numbering the screw holes 1-4 from the front I'd tighten very lightly 1 and 3 and then just bring up till they touch 2 and 4 then verify that the rail is flat.

 

[D.Camilleri]

Test shots today went very well. Two shots with 225 gr Federal factory ammo and I was in the bull. 3/8 inch center to center with the factory ammo. I hung the magneto speed on the end of the barrel and recorded 3150 with the factory ammo. I cleaned the barrel and fired one shot each of my handloads with the magneto speed to check speeds. 90 grs of H1000 with 300 gr berger otm seated to 3.800 oal, 2767,
101 gr RL33 with berger 300 gr otm seated to 3.800, 2824, 101 gr RL33 with 300 gr accubond seated to 3.675 and 2848. A silver dollar would cover all of these shots. The only load that was pressured up was the factory load and it left a smiley face on the head stamp. All the rest looked good. Now as soon as the wind quits blowing I will shoot some groups. I think this gun is going to shoot better than me.

 

[D.Camilleri]

The new barrel break in continues. 101 grs of RL33 with the 300 gr Berger is shooting very well. Shot two groups around an inch at 400 yards. OAL is 3.800 and it is still .090 off the lands.

I haven't found the right node yet with H1000 and the Bergers, 90 grs left a pretty heavy ejector mark on the brass. I backed the load off to 89gr and it is about an inch maybe a little less at 100 yards.

Reloader 33 with the 300 gr accubond isn't in the node yet either. 101 grs seated to 3.675 oal was about 3 inches mostly strung out right to left with a slight ejector mark on the brass. I backed off to 100 gr and seated the bullet .010 closer to the lands and the group shrank by about 1.5 inches. I think I will try seating a little closer to the lands. Right now I am about .030 off the lands with the accubonds.

 

[bigngreen]

Sounds like the reamer used is really close to mine, I have not played with R33 in any of them I built just because they shoot stupid good with Retumbo or H1000 that no one wants to mess with it and jinx it.
I don't shoot the Accubonds but the 300 Berger we run around .040 of the lands and the 250 Berger we jump a mile and seat them to just fit the original box mag which as odd as it sounds consistently shoots best in every rifles I've built with Retumbo with the loads out of the Hodgdon manual.
Much funner to shoot a solid rifle than chase your tail

 

[D.Camilleri]

You are so right that shooting a solid rifle is much better than chasing my tail. I have been told that I shouldn't worry a lot about my accuracy loads until the barrel reaches it optimum speeds after 80-100 rounds. Is this a good thought? Right now my RL33 Berger 300 otm is shooting better than me, but I would like a back up of H1000 and if possible an accurate load with the 300 grain accubond. I think I will find it with RL33 by adjusting my seating depth. How far off of the lands will make the pressure spike? I can't get the 300 Berger very close to the lands even with the extended Wyatt's magazine, but .090 seems to be working.