Refinished my stock, now rifle won't shoot right

[aushunter1]

Update on the update; according to gunsmith, bulged barrel. The last 10mm has a bulge, he recommends cutting off 1/2" of barrel and recrowning. Stand by for a third update as to how that works.

Wow, sounds like a strange place to have a bulge but lucky for you(maybe) sounds like its fixable.
But then again you would have to do the LD all over again & in a barrel that still has ……………………… number of rounds through it?

On a side note, if your paying a smith to do this work & this rifle has been around the block a couple of times then why not just re barrel it & start a fresh??

Just a suggestion

 

[NZer]

Wow, sounds like a strange place to have a bulge but lucky for you(maybe) sounds like its fixable.
But then again you would have to do the LD all over again & in a barrel that still has ……………………… number of rounds through it?

On a side note, if your paying a smith to do this work & this rifle has been around the block a couple of times then why not just re barrel it & start a fresh??

Just a suggestion

I considered this, so I priced it up. $40 for a recrown, + maybe $40 for ammo to develop another load.
$900 for a new barrel.
I would love a new barrel a couple of inches longer, but can't justify the cost.

 

[aushunter1]

I considered this, so I priced it up. $40 for a recrown, + maybe $40 for ammo to develop another load.
$900 for a new barrel.
I would love a new barrel a couple of inches longer, but can't justify the cost.

Sweet, you have it sorted by the sounds of things which is great & sounds like your smith is very accommodating @ $40 for a chop & re crown

 

[Frog4aday]

$40 is a great deal! I wish my gunsmith charged so little, but I can honestly say he's never given me bad work, so that makes the cost easier to swallow.

I checked and to get the tools to do my own crown (from Brownells) would be $152. After that, I could re-use those two crown cutters and the handle and just buy new caliber specific pilots for $28 to do more barrels. Seems like I could have NZer's gunsmith do a lot of crowns for me at $40 a shot before I'd 'break even' doing it on my own.

I hope the barrel cut-down and recrown does the trick for your rifle @NZer. Fingers crossed for you. So far I've been fortunate as every re-crown I've had done resulted in a better shooting (more accurate) firearm.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Update on the update; according to gunsmith, bulged barrel. The last 10mm has a bulge, he recommends cutting off 1/2" of barrel and recrowning. Stand by for a third update as to how that works.

How does a bulged barrel happen ?!?

 

[Bigeclipse]

I considered this, so I priced it up. $40 for a recrown, + maybe $40 for ammo to develop another load.
$900 for a new barrel.
I would love a new barrel a couple of inches longer, but can't justify the cost.

I think your 900$ for a new barrel is a bit high...more like 400$ plus installation so maybe like 600$? That being said, 40$ for a recrown is CHEAP and just might be your answer!

 

[NZer]

I agree that it seems cheap, I was expecting at least twice the price, would it be approx 45 min to 1 hour to complete that job?
$900 for the barrel includes fitting, chambering, oxiblasting (whatever that is). Also, I am dealing in NZ$ not US$.

 

[NZer]

I got my rifle back from gunsmiths following a recrown and 1" removed from barrel. I have a box of 168gr A-max projos, which I loaded with 42gr of 2208 (varget). Here are the initial results.

That is 4 rounds that went high, disregarding the flyer it is a borderline 1MOA group. I adjusted the scope and fired another 5, once again it had a wide flyer, but the others landed in a bunch that left me pretty satisfied. Without that flyer, I reckon a decent lawyer could convince a jury that that is a 1/2" group.

Ignore the 2 rounds in the bottom right bullseye, that was me checking zero on my 204.

Sooo...not quite home and hosed, but some definite progress! I am gonna load up another batch of A-maxs to test again. Here is what is concerning me now.

See how the front of the trigger guard is quite proud of the stock, it causes the mag plate to come away and the blaze of the sling can be seen through the gap.
When you said "tighten the middle screw until it is in" did you mean until the trigger guard is in? Because I have only tightened it till it is not more than fingernail tight.
I will try screwing it in till it pulls the trigger guard flush and try again.
Opinions or advice welcome.

 

[Frog4aday]

I'm so glad the gun is showing some progress in accuracy now.

As for the middle screw, it needs to go all the way in until things are 'flush' and you are just feeling some resistance. Think of it as 5 to 7 inch/lbs of torque. Not much at all, but enough to have everything (trigger guard and floorplate) where they are supposed to be. I'd put a light touch of blue loctite on it just so it won't back out over time.

Next step would be to try seating your bullets in or out a touch further to see if that doesn't get your accuracy to where you want it. (I'm assuming you are reloading.)

 

[NZer]

I'm so glad the gun is showing some progress in accuracy now.

As for the middle screw, it needs to go all the way in until things are 'flush' and you are just feeling some resistance. Think of it as 5 to 7 inch/lbs of torque. Not much at all, but enough to have everything (trigger guard and floorplate) where they are supposed to be. I'd put a light touch of blue loctite on it just so it won't back out over time.

Next step would be to try seating your bullets in or out a touch further to see if that doesn't get your accuracy to where you want it. (I'm assuming you are reloading.)

Ok, will get that trigger guard flush and try again.
Yes I am reloading, I am just using up the A-maxs while I get it sorted. Once I think the rifle is mechanically sound, I will switch to the SSTs and do some load development.
Thanks

 

[Mainmechanic]

Good to see some progress. If the magazine box is not positioned correctly that would keep your trigger guard from sitting down where it belongs. Have seen this many times myself. Things are shaping up.