Inconsistent rifle due to recoil/muzzle climb

[pttp]

Got it. Very good explanation.
Thanks,
deepwater

 

[jimbires]

I tried stacking business cards in my barrel channel , about right where the front sling stud would be , to try adding a pressure point . it didn't help me , but it could be worth you trying . this might be a quicker way to see if you get any improvement at all before bedding the bbl channel . I stacked the channel gap full , plus added a card or two for pressure . I agree with Dean you'll want some pressure or the bbl could bounce off the bedding , or cards , causing more problems . do you see any down side to trying this first ?

 

[mfk]

All,
First let me say thank you for all the great insight and help.

Some more detail and pics of the build.

This gun has shot some great groups...it just isn't consistently repeatable as per the pic. This was back to back groups with a zero adjustment. The interesting thing is I was literally man-handling the gun down into the bags and into my shoulder to do this. Not repeatable for a hunting gun. I've never done this to another rifle...

For what's worth, when I say the groups open up it's like 1.5moa+. This has been verified out to 500yds. Not good enough for what I'm looking for.

My thoughts are that the stock design is causing the majority of this issue. I did pick up a limbsaver barrel deal today from a buddy to try...who knows.

I'll also get some 140gr bullets tomorrow and see how that goes. Thinking 140 Accubonds.

I'm also thinking of yanking this stock off and trying the old plastic factory savage stock. I'm kind of kicking myself as this gun shot real well as a factory barreled .30-06 before I tore it apart to make it a .280ai.

Thanks again to all! I truly appreciate it.

I would expect the recoil of the 280AI to be similar to the 30-06 you were shooting, especially if the 30-06 was a typical factory pencil barrel. My plastic stock on my savage was only 1.75 pounds. How much weight change in your rig did you experience going from the 30-06 factory to your current set up? I imagine your factory savage 30-06 that shot well was pretty light weight, no? If comparable in weight to your current rig, maybe your stock is the culprit for the excessive muzzle flip (whether it's bad bedding, bad stock design, or you just got a lemon).

Why not throw your savage factory stock on it and see how she runs before spending any more $? Takes just a few minutes.

If it were me I would rather use muzzle brake than shoot lighter bullets than I was planning on shooting (if that ends up being the choice). No one would give up significant accuracy to extend kill range, but maybe you don't need to. You got a pretty nice cartridge that will extend your kill range (over the 30-06) so it seems a shame to handicap that advantage with lower bc bullets unless you need to.