It's driving me crazy !!!

R

Richard

Member
My 10.5# is just killing me, This rifle used to shoot good. Good enough for a top 20 patch at the nationals, and has won a fair amount of wood over the last several years. It is a viper action in a edge stock. At the last match it shot 4 groups in the 1's, but it also shot some 3's and 4's.
It will put 4 in a nice hole and pop one out. To give you a run down on what I have done: I have put on a least five bbls, changed trigger, 3 different scopes, 2 firing pin springs, new firing pin, new cocking piece, have pulled it out of the stock and reglued twice. Any other ideas? It will do the same thing no mater what I try. I went from shooting good to shooting fairly sorry all at once.

Richard
 
Richard said:
My 10.5# is just killing me, This rifle used to shoot good. Good enough for a top 20 patch at the nationals, and has won a fair amount of wood over the last several years. It is a viper action in a edge stock. At the last match it shot 4 groups in the 1's, but it also shot some 3's and 4's.
It will put 4 in a nice hole and pop one out. To give you a run down on what I have done: I have put on a least five bbls, changed trigger, 3 different scopes, 2 firing pin springs, new firing pin, new cocking piece, have pulled it out of the stock and reglued twice. Any other ideas? It will do the same thing no mater what I try. I went from shooting good to shooting fairly sorry all at once.

Richard
Click to expand...

have you tried tightning the loose screw behind the butt plate
 
Richard,

Between now and then,

are you shooting different bullets or primers or powder?
have you been shooting hotter loads?
did your base screws back out?
have you changed reamers or dies?
could the insert within the action have come loose?
could the stock have become cracked internally (take a fall perhaps)
 
all of the components

are the same. I have not changed anything. I have thought about the insert, there is not any detectable play. Perhaps I need to give this a closer look. The stock has not taken any abuse as far as i know of. I have been thinking about putting the action in another stock to see if that would help.
This rifle really has me flustrated, it used to be my " go too " gun, it was so dependable.
Richard
 
last try....

How about your bags and rest, gotten packed down too hard perhaps? Is your front rest holding up?
 
Scopes

can be the Root of all EVIL. Saw another one go south today @ a match; a branny new Weaver. If one suspects a scope, by all means, change it.
 
I have heard

that a firing pin spring that is too powerful can cause allot of grief
 
The pin protrusion

is .060, which I would consider fine. I don't think it is the scope as I have tried three different one's. I currently have a March on the rifle. I just went out to my range and shot a couple groups in good conditions. On the first group the first four shots measured a .160 and the last shot made it a .360.
The second group was a .195 with a flier making it a .230. It is not the tune, I can tune a rifle, there is something funky going on, and I would love to figure it out. I am to the point of sending the action back to Stiller and having him give it a through check out. Just to verify my flag reading I shot my HV for 3 groups and the the worst was a .215, the others were a .140 and a .185.

Richard
 
This is the worst case...

You've changed so much and fought so long. Hand the rifle to someone you trust and let them fix it. You really ain't got to trust them that much...
 
How many times have you shot the brass?

I was having this on many time shot brass, read the treatise on annealing by Al Nyhus and fixed the problem..

If your brass has been fired more than 4 or so times. it needs to be annealed or replaced. the work hardening of the brass really makes a diff in grouping.

My best barrel in years started to do that. (its a no turn .275 nk 6ppc) and going to once fired brass cured it immediately.. the many time shot brass was cured by "annealing"

Kirk
 
Richard said:
real helpfull there.:rolleyes: I am looking for some serious insight here.

richard
Click to expand...

I am serious! Sounds to me like a flinch, or a lack of followthru, sloppy gun handling, ie: pushing on the side ot the trigger as opposed to pulling straight
back, relaxing before the shot clears the barrel etc. try changing the sand in your bags as your origional sand may have become packed too hard.
You checked the motor now look at the rest of the running gear.

Suggest you have someone watch you shoot and take notes.
 
You say all your components are the same ! Well why can't the bullets or brass or primers be the problem ? I am not saying that it is the problem but why change three scopes and numerous barrels but use the same bullets?

You may have just started to use the bad bullets in a batch . Before you were lucky and had not got down to the crook ones.
Just because they mic and weigh right does not mean that they have perfect jackets inside.

With all the changes you have made it has to be :---
The stock .
The ammo .
Or you.
You have eliminated just about everything else.
 
gun powder

Culd your powder have gone bad...do you use the same powder in both guns...I had some GI go bad on me a while bak and it shure left me talkin to my self...I would use some new powder in my "other" gun and it wuld shoot great....then ,when it got down to the main events I wuld change to the GI thnikng it was the good stuff and it really was the "BAD" stuff....Roger
 
I use the same components

in both rifles, bullets, powder, ect. I make up new brass before each match.
Thanks for all of the replies. I am going to put the action in another stock and give that a try. Or do like Wilbur said and let somebody else figure it out. I sure can't.
Richard
 
I think Wilbur is right. It's gunsmith time. I wouldn't even bother with a new stock. As a WAG, something inside the action needs attention, and that can be the devil to find. Sometimes you just can't, and the only solution is to sell the rifle as a varmint hunting rifle, informing potential buyers of the "problem" -- which at .1 to .15 MOA, likely isn't a problem for them. That would probably cost you less money in the long run.
 
is it always the fith shot ???

not a random one out of 5 ??


if so then i would go back to the nut behind the wheel.....

brass is not that selective in failing.

shoot two more fives, if there is a flyer remove the pc of brass form the group and re shoot with one from the second set of five( that was not a flyer). supposedly you now have five good pcs of brass. if you get a flyer....have someone else shoot the gun....do not tell them what is wrong, just let them shoot.......no flyer ?? have them watch you shoot.


like the man says...you can sell it and start over.

mike in co
 
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