300 win mag sight in problems? (Range Report with pics)

[BeeTee]

Beetee, what if I measure the rifling from the muzzle end? With calipers? Will this prove anything?

Unless bore diameter is really off, you'd need a specialty ID micrometer with knife-edge blades to measure the bore dia accurately from the muzzle. The OD of a lead slug, on the other hand can be measured accurately with your standard caliper you use for reloading. I have some 115gr .311 diameter cast bullets. I'd be willing to send you a couple...

I've thought that shooting a fairly long jacketed bullet with a reduced load into a series of water jugs would allow someone to evaluate the engraving on the recovered bullet to see how well it matches the bore. I haven't done this.

 

[bulldog4949]

Thx. Well action screws to 40 in lb, dollar bill fit freely to the beginning (action end) of the rifle. No sand bags in this damn town. I have rolled up towels and a blanket. Should work. Winchester 180 gr bullets. We shall see.

 

[SJB358]

Good luck. Hope it was just an improperly tqed screw. Scotty

 

[BK]

Yeah, man, I hope you get 'er figured out!

 

[bulldog4949]

1st group of 3 much better from towels and small "V" sandbag. Will post pics when im done.

 

[WYcoyote]

300 win mag.

Swift 6-18x50 scope.

Those two statements make me cringe. .300 Magnums (particularly light ones, like your Browning) eat scopes for lunch. My buddy's dad FUBARed three midline Bushnell scopes on his .300 before he bought a Leupy 3-9x. If you have another scope you could swap, that's where I would look first.

+1

 

[bulldog4949]

Ok........GOOD NEWS it got better. I couldn't find any sand bags in this crappy town, so I have ordered some already. I shot 12 shots tonight. 4 groups of 3. Man does my shoulder feel it !!! :shock: The first 2 were soso...but the last 2 you can tell I got used to the rifle. I have only fired 40 rounds with this rifle so far. Still getting comfortable with it. They tightened up great for factory ammo. Yes I did move the crosshairs from group to group to find a good sight in mark for the time being.

This is the 2 groups from last night from the Caldwell Lead Sled.
Group #1

Group #2

This is the set up I had to do it with tonight.

First group of 3

Second group of 3

Third group of 3 (gets good here)

Fourth group of 3

 

[BK]

Looks promising. Could be you're getting used to the rifle, could be the barrel is getting broken in. Most likely, both.

 

[bulldog4949]

BK, your prolly right. Gonna clean it good, then take some more handloads out to try out. This just eases my mind alot!!! Thought I had a lost cause for a bit. The operator is at fault most of the time. lol

 

[C.Smith]

Somebody needs to start a thread on "Bench tips and tricks for load development, best groups, hunting rifles, and economy!" Maybe I will....
Elkeater2 :wink:

Thats a great idea right there.

Corey

 

[Greg Nolan]

There are a lot of variables and they can be tough to track down when somethings isn't right. Looks like your on track now. Things like that drive me nuts.
Greg

 

[Wis65x55]

From my own experience, a very good quality trigger will help accuracy so much. In a rifle that I own, the best accuracy that I could get was 5 MOA before I invested in trigger work. After the trigger job, I improved to 1 MOA.
That is my thought.

 

[BK]

The operator is at fault most of the time. lol

Welcome to my world!

 

[bulldog4949]

Thx guys. This trigger is adjustable from 3-5 lbs. Factory preset at 3.5-4. I may turn it down a bit. It has no creep but is a teeny bit stiff. But hopefully the more I shoot it will loosen up. Glad I figured it out. Thx for the help.

 

[SJB358]

Great shooting Bulldog, looks like the rifle is settling in well now. I would imagine the barrel is just getting broke in well and you are getting comfortable with the rifle. At least you know you have a load you could hunt with if you wanted to. Scotty

 

[bulldog4949]

Scotty, yes. This is cheap winchester ammo and i think i can shrink them with handloads quite a bit. You know i have not gotten these good of groups since i bought it. So maybe its finding its nitch. Ready to drop an Elk in Oct.

 

[wildgene]

Thx guys. This trigger is adjustable from 3-5 lbs. Factory preset at 3.5-4. I may turn it down a bit. It has no creep but is a teeny bit stiff. But hopefully the more I shoot it will loosen up. Glad I figured it out. Thx for the help.

...the "pull" on your Browning is easy to adjust, & I think you'll notice an improvement w/ a lighter trigger...

(just in case you don't have your manual right handy, http://media.browning.com/pdf/om/09_044_xbolt.pdf )

 

[SJB358]

Scotty, yes. This is cheap winchester ammo and i think i can shrink them with handloads quite a bit. You know i have not gotten these good of groups since i bought it. So maybe its finding its nitch. Ready to drop an Elk in Oct.

Yeah, that cheap Winchester is still a decent enough bullet and it is good to know you always have a load you could use in a pinch. I imagine if you go back to RL22 and the 180 PT's now, you will see better grouping. 74-76gr's is always right around 3000, and excellent accuracy in most 300's. Scotty

 

[bulldog4949]

Wildgene, yes I know where to adjust it. I also have a torque wrench to get the action screws to just the right amount. I am gonna do this before I go out. Thanks for the link bud.

Scotty, yea gonna make some 74 and 75 grs to COAL and some to .030 off the lands and grooves. See if it helps or not. Should be fun developing loads now knowing there is nothing wrong cept the operator. And my freakin shoulder! Lol

 

[Mountain Goat]

I think the most likely suspect at this point is that you have been shooting with the barrel too clean. Leave some copper in there to fill in the micro-voids, and leave some powder fouling in to give a nice carbon surface for the bullet to ride on. Not many factory barrels like to be shot bare metal clean.

The shooting rest/position is probably accouting for some group spread at this point though, too. I bet you get it nailed in the next range session.

Good work!