Ready to give up on this rifle, any suggestions?

[mark slavinski]

Conditions were perfect today. Tried my best load to date (59gns H4350 w/ 160 Sierra hpbt game king) just as a base to go by, it shot 3 rd group at 100 at 11/4" which I could live with if consistent. Same load other than I crimped the bullet and the 3 shot group opened up to 3". Tried same load again with fed 210m instead of 215m and had 21/8" group. using a crimp and it shot 7/8"…… IDK, will play some more tomorrow and if doesn't work I'm going back to old faithful, only two weeks until deer season, sako 85 in 30-06 it shoots everything great… lol !

 

[mark slavinski]

You've tried 11 bullets and have fired 200 rounds ..... that sounds like you didn't give each bullet a chance

Not sure how much of a chance I should give them….I'll try a few different loads with a bullet and if it's only shooting 2" groups best, it's going down the road….

 

[nealm66]

My time is worth something.
If I have a rifle that shoots factory ammo that well, I buy several boxes and move on with it. Well, back when you could buy ammo that is.

I have a 257 Weatherby that shoots 0.47 inches, at 200 yards, with two different types of factory ammo. Repeatedly.
Neither the previous owner or I have gotten near that with handloads.
Even at $80/box, I'll shoot my 4 rounds a year at antelope and buy factory ammo. It's the only Weatherby that I have to buy factory ammo for, but it's probably my most accurate rifle so I don't care.

That's funny. I bought everything to reload for my brothers 257 but it shoots the same with the factory so I really didn't see the point. Dies are still brand new in the box. Even the es/ds is as good as anything I've ever built

 

[DJ Fergus]

Is this a new rifle?

 

[kevin0270]

I would try some hammer bullets.If the scope and mounts have all checked out I would look at the bedding and make sure the barrel is clean.The last thing you may check or replace is the firing pin spring.It usually does not cause a lot of problems but it can cause extreme spread in fps.Good luck.

 

[just_jon]

I would try some hammer bullets.If the scope and mounts have all checked out I would look at the bedding and make sure the barrel is clean.The last thing you may check or replace is the firing pin spring.It usually does not cause a lot of problems but it can cause extreme spread in fps.Good luck.

You took the words out of my mouth. I bet you will find a satisfactory load in short order with the 143 hammer hunter. Be sure to clean your barrel to bare metal first.

 

[mark slavinski]

Is this a new rifle?

No, used rifle.

 

[Rick Richard]

Some barrels are meant to be tomato plant post.

 

[nealm66]

Lol

 

[xsn10s]

Tried 150 nosler BT and accubond, Sierra 150 SBT and GameChanger along with Hornady 154gn SST. Yes, I use a chronograph. Fusion runs 2954fps and I have run everything at that velocity along with below and above it. Also tried several 160 gn loads along with only a couple 140 gun loads.

I saw that you had a mono bullet (150 GMX) and an accubond in the mix. Did you get ALL of the copper fouling out of the barrel between bullets? Different jacket material can cause some frustrating accuracy issues. This can be especially true with monos and AB's.

 

[xsn10s]

My brother loves Winchesters and one of them was is 308 Win. That thing never grouped all that well so he decided to use it for pigs (200 yards max) loaded with factory GMX ammo (monos for commie states). Since it didn't group well he never cleaned it thinking he's just wear it out and rebarrel it. After awhile it starts shooting sub moa. He cleaned it and then it opened up again lol. Now he uses only GMX in it and doesn't clean it. YMMV

 

[just_jon]

You may want to take a step back and slow things down a bit. I'm having trouble keeping up with the combinations you've tried. My approach is to select a bullet suited for the intended purpose with an acceptable stability rating, pick a primer and OCW test several powders. Understand, powder availability may limit your options, but in 40+ years, I can count on one hand the number of times I've been unable to get sub-MOA accuracy with the selected bullet in three powders or less. The 143 HH and somewhere in the range of 61 to 63 grains of H4350 is where I would start.

 

[Kmccord]

What twist is your barrel? If you do try hammer bullets, be sure and verify recommended twist, if you have a 9t and Hammer mentions minimum of 9, I would look for one that requires a 9.5t minimum. This is just from experience and also run the velocity and G7 BC in the Berger calculator and verify stability is good enough.

 

[Jon Bischof]

My Featherweight was only an average shooter before I made these changes. A new recessed target crown. Acraglass bedding to the rearmost part of the barrel. She has been shooting 1/3 MOA with Federal Fusion ammo ever since. Slamming deer to the ground for years now without change. Killed an 11-Point at 334 yards.
The new crown was not expensive.