Shots stringing to down to the right.....help

scsims

scsims

New member
First off I should give you a history of this rifle. It's a Rem 700 .270. I never could shoot better tha 3" @ 100 until I began to reload years ago and I was able to get it shooting about an inch fairly consistenly.

This winter I got bored and I decided to pillar and glass bed the wood stock, floated the barrel channel and lapped the lugs to tighten up the groups a little. I took care in the bedding to ensure there were no stess points. I had a layer of tape on sides bottom and front of the recoil lug.

I put her all back together and this is the way it shot.

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I might add this was a new batch of reloads with my original recipe except I accidently seated the bullets too long and they are being pushed into the lands. Could that cause the stringing or is it something I did with the bedding or lapping the lugs?

I appreciate you alls advice.

Thanks,
Scott
 
I'm not an expert when it comes to bolt guns, but the
Quote:
I had a layer of tape on sides bottom and front of the recoil lug.

causes a flag to go up.

I've found that tape of any kind will generally stretch or deform under pressure, especially when heat is being applied.

If you chamber heat is radiating down to this tape, it's possible that this is allowing the barrel to move in the direction of the pressure that is being applied by the bolt.
 
Turtle, he is talking about using tape on the recoil lug surfaces when he did the bedding. It's common practice to do this but the tape is removed prior to seating the action in the stock once everything has cured.

Could be that the action screws are contacting the pillars during recoil when fired, so check that, you may need to slightly enlarge the holes in the pillars.

Did you bed in front of the recoil lug if so how far? I usually only go about an inch maximun on sporting barrels and uo to 2-1/2 inches on heavy barrels. I've read where supporting the barrel in front of the recoil lug on sporter barrels may cause erratic grouping but so far I have not seen this in my bedded actions. Also some epoxies are not recommended for a one layer bed, more so for a skim bed over a base of Devcon or Marine Tex epoxy.
 
Bullets pushed into the lands will raise pressures and affect accuracy. If you are loading a hot load you could be raising the pressures way into the danger zone! First thing to do is reseat yor bullets to the proper length. Some guns will shoot better with the bullet close to the lands(subject is called "bullet jump"),but you must watch for signs of excessive pressure.
Also, you had the gun apart, not to sound silly, but make sure your scope and mountings are straight and tight. I had the guts of a scope come loose one time and the bullets kept drifting . Had to replace that scope.
Anyway, that's where I would start. Good luck, hope it helps.
 
SC, i just restocked my Model 70 270 Win. in a Laminated stock and glass bedded the action and about 2.5 inches of the barrel. The rifle is grouping about like yours. Before, i had it stocked in a glass stock with the barrel completely floated and the rifle grouped the same load just under 3/4 inch's. I believe the problem is bedding the 2.5 inch's of the barrel . I'm going to take out the bedding in the barrel channel and completely float the barrel , i just haven't had time to do the work. I have had this problem before by glassing part of the barrel channel. But if i was you, i would make sure your bedding screws are not to long and touching your bolt and that the pillar hole are large enough so the screws are not binding against the stock if this checks out OK then look at the barrel channel bedding. One more word of advice , you must be careful lapping the lugs because you can change the head space and make it excessive , lapping should be done before the rifle is barrelled and head spaced /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
"I believe the problem is bedding the 2.5 inch's of the barrel . I'm going to take out the bedding in the barrel channel and completely float the barrel"

If the bedding is done correctly, the bedding under the barrel is an asset and should help stabilize the action.
I would try loosening the rear screw a turn and shoot a couple groups. One group don't say much about how accurately the rifle is, or how well its bedded.
 
I have glassed a lot of rifles and will agree sometime bedding part of the barrel channel may help but i have found on sporter barrels that bedding the channel doesn't always help and sometime changes the barrel harmonics to much. My model 70 in the glass stock grouped my load right at the 1/2 inch mark with the complete float and now with the barrel channel bedded the same load is just under 2 inches. I could try another load but i am curious about why this load changed so much, so will do a complete float and see what happens. I do not use the action screws when i bed i use a headless in-letting screw and a heavy sand bag to hold the action in while the glass sets or hardens. This has worked well for me over the years. I will agree one load doesn't prove much but in this rifle it was a proven load and only changed after bedding the barrel. I will redo the bedding and see what happens. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Vertical in a group usually means that you need to add more powder or use a hotter primer.

A stiff wind blowing in your face can cause this type of stringing.

Resting the forearm too far out on the bags can cause verticle stringing.

Allowing the 270 to free recoil can give vertical stringing.

Barrel touching in a small place can cause a problem.

And for goodness sakes, try getting rid of the bedding underneath the barrel. It can help in certain circumstances, but in your case, I would suspect it.

Another thing, if your magazine box is binding inbetween the floor plate the the action, it can cause all kinds of bad things to happen. You should be able to drop the floor plate and feel the floor plate wiggle up and down real easy...this destroys a lot of guns accuracy and rarely do you ever have anyone mention this little tid bit.

Good luck!
 
Does the string lengthen as the barrel gets warmer and then return to the first shot after cooling? If so it sounds like pressure on the barrel. I do know DC is right about the action screws effecting accuracy.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I do have the it bedded slightly infront of the recoil lug, about 1/2 inch. And the screws do not have much wiggle room inside the pillars. I did allow the gun to free recoil.

Also can I check the headspace to ensure it is within tolerances.

Thanks,
Scott
 
I don't see anything in your post as to which was your 1st, 2nd, 3rd shot.
Which way is it going - Top to Bottom or Bottom to Top?

Just a thought; but you weren't resting the barrel on the bags were you or how about resting the sling stud on the bag?

I have done about 18 of the 700 models and I always put 1 - 1 1/4" pad under the barrel, just in front of the R. Lug.

The only time that I have ever seen a rifle shoot a Vertical string is; when the barrel was resting on the bag, to much pressure at the forend of the stock or resting the sling stud on the bag. Not saying something else couldn't cause it, it's just that I haven't run across anything else.

Dan mention: Quote:
I would try loosening the rear screw a turn and shoot a couple groups. One group don't say much about how accurately the rifle is, or how well its bedded.



I would also try what he mention.
 
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The shots are stringing down and to the right in that sequence. And I am using a sand bag on the forearm of the stock only. I think I may start with the seating depth since that will be the easiest to correct first. And this rifle was very inacurate with factory loads so it may just be the change on the depth.

Thanks for all the advise and I will let you all know if any of it helps.
 
The seating depth will not cause the rifle to shoot that kind of group.
You might have a friend shoot a couple of groups with your rifle. Hold the rifle to your shoulder the same for each shot. No free recoil.
 
You can check with a no go gage and if the bolt closes on it the head space is excessive. If you don't have a no go gage any gunsmith can check the head space for you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
That looks like a weather report to me. Shots stringing out in a line from 10:00 to 4:00 are almost always a wind indicator. Did you have some kind of wind flags out?? Did you overcompensate or undercompensate for the wind?

Jack
 
Even at 100 it doesn't take much wind to move a bullet one inch. If you weren't adjusting at all for the wind, the wind could be the problem.

Jack
 
Quote:
You know,

In pistol shooting, that's a classic sign that you're yanking the trigger. What's your trigger pull?


Something worth looking into.

I'm going for all the little things here......trigger pull, wind blowing rounds off target (a 15mph crosswind will push a 7mag bullet 1/2" or better at 100yds. It does make a difference), heated barrel/stock dynamics....

Here's one more: when I see a canted group I check for a canted scope.

Could be a combo of reasons here.
 
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