howa 1500 .243

[josebd]

i loaded up a load in october 2004,h4895,28.5 65 v-max. shot .435 3 shots 100 yards. now it wont even get close to that. its not me,shooting off bench,sand bags,clean barrel,etc..... i know the  powder is not supposed to be temp sensitive,but what else could it be? yes scope is tight,nikon.

[Syncerus]

Any chance that your stock has warped?

Syncerus

[josebd]

well i looked in my reloading manuals,38.4 is max.so i backed off and its starting to group better. with the 38.5 it was grouping .800 at 46.5 yards. now its a little over half,im gonna keep loading different grains and it down to 1/4 or better at 50 yards

[mjbgalt]

i would bet you have copper fouling. i use CLP and it doesn't get the job done on anything but the lubrication and cleaning.

supposedly copper fouling will make your barrel suddenly go south, accuracy-wise.

try Shooter's Choice on it...see if you get greenish blue crap coming out...

and shoot at 100 yards, because 50 only tells you if you're on paper. the ballistics at 50 yards have almost nothing to do with the ballistics at 100...what looks small at 50 is maginifed at 100. i had the same gun and mine at 50 was on and yet at 100 i missed by a mile.

-Matt

[josebd]

u was right,im having a heck of a time getting the copper out,i have shooters choice,but in the morning im gonna get sweets from a friend of mine.

[josebd]

i was told since im using a bronze brush,that after i use it and run a patch through the bore it will always be green! is tthis true?

[Brithunter]

When you use any chemical which dissolves/removes copper you should use a Bristle brush and not a bronze one. The chemical will dissolve the bronze brush and yes it will possibly leave a greenish/blue residue in the bore. However if it's really showing a blue colour on the patches there really is copper in the bore. A good quick way to check is after a normal cleaning get a bright torch (flashlight) and shine it into the muzzle at an angle if copper fouling is present you will see the copper colour. You have to clean the bore first to remove the powder fouling which will be hiding the copper fouling from visual inspection. Sweets can be applied by a patch soaked in it but again you really need to clean the bore of powder fouling to allow the Sweets to work unhindered on the copper. Hope that helps  .

[josebd]

ok,thanks alot guys

[josebd]

ok,i got all the copper out,went and shot what i have loaded up,ive shot under a half inch with these 2 years ago. still wont group. 2 inche groups 

[Brithunter]

Well then it's time to go deeper, check the bedding and the securing screws for correct tightness, of course check the scope mounts for tightness and any movement. If all this checks out swop scopes to eliminate the scope as being the problem I take it that you have tried soem freshly loaded cartridges of a known accurate recipe? tyr a different box of bullets. had this ahppen once to myself got a new box of bullets and the rifle didn't like them. Got a diffeent box of the same makes weight and it was OK ........... no I do not knwo why that was but it happened  .

[josebd]

well i took the stock off and at the front it looked like the barrel was rubbing,so i took my dremel and widen than part out,put it together,first shot 2 inches low,waited 2 minutes 2nd 1 1/4 higher,waited 1 minute 3rd 1 inch higher. then i let it cool all the way down first shot same as 1 st earlier right beside it. waited till it was fairly cool,2nd right beside the 2nd earlier. cooled down the same way 3rd right beside the last one,next 2 same procedure alittle to the right but dead on as the others,wind was pretty high off of a pickup hood with sand bags.so how can i keep the shots from going straight up when the barrel heats up?its a synthetic stock! get another stock? oh it grouped just over a inch,i coulda done better thogh,probably 1/2 inch

[josebd]

nobody has a opinion?

[Terrill]

Can you pass a dollar bill between the barrel and fore end from the front of the stock to an inch or two in front of the action?  Still sounds like barrel pressure or either a flexed action from poor bedding.

[mjbgalt]

Howas and Vanguards both are fully bedded into the synthetic stock.

check your screws into the action and in front of the floorplate. make sure they're tight.

let the barrel cool for at least one minute between shots...make sure you can touch it and it feels lukewarm at the hottest.

you could have gotten a weird batch of powder or something...who knows...

but if you cover your bases on this simpler stuff you can rule a lot out.

-Matt

[JD11]

Howas and Vanguards both are fully bedded into the synthetic stock

Unless for some reason they fully bed the synthetiics, both my Howa's are free floating (laminated), plus the Howa rep told me they're supposed to be.   The subject came up when I told him I had a slight amount of contact along the right forward upper edge of the forend which I removed with a Dremel.

[mjbgalt]

the wood ones might be free-floated but the synthetics i have seen are all fully bedded.

-Matt

[Maryland Hunter]

the wood ones might be free-floated but the synthetics i have seen are all fully bedded.

Not mine.

[wncchester]

The oft suggested "free floating" chek with a dollar bill is a mistake; that bill is about .003" thick and any stock pressure at all will bend the stock enough to cause barrel contact.  To truly float a barrel requires much more clearance, perhaps as much a .030" even on a stiff stock. Erratic contact could very well be causing your present group problems. 

Most floated sporter barrels do better without any contact under the chamber either, it surely isn't needed to help support the weight of the barrel.

You may have small differences in the bullet or powder lots, case internal dimension differences, bedding material deterioation, etc., but the first thing I'd check is the seating depth.  Clean your seating die stem and make sure the OAL is the same as the previous ammo that shot well.