93r17 btvs Accuracy Problems

[lucky hunter]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and have a slight issue. I have a savage 93r17 btvs (heavy barrel thumbhole stock) and at first it shot great (hole in hole at 50 yards). Now I take it out and I am about an inch at 50 yards. I am using the same ammo, 17 gr V Max Hornady. Do you have any recommendations? I checked all the screws on the scope and rings and they were still tight. I was shooting off a lead sled so I don't think it was me either.

[stomp442]

Were you shooting off of the lead sled before? Sometimes they can cause problems. Have you tried giving it a good cleaning?

[lucky hunter]

Were you shooting off of the lead sled before? Sometimes they can cause problems. Have you tried giving it a good cleaning?
Yes both times were off a lead sled. I cleaned it well then went back to the range and shot 10 shots at 50 yards. The shots were kind of in a string left and right around the size of a penny/nickel

[stomp442]

Ten shots inside a Nickel ain't to bad.

[Uncle]

I found that sometimes a barrel needs to be polished before it is ever shot. If you have already shot in 20 or more rounds it is to late. With most bench rest rifles the barrels are hand lapped. With most stock rifles the barrel is only machined; it may be a good job and produce desired accuracy but some times the bullets start to pull the rifling. this will only happen for a little while then the lapping effect of the bullet will take over and settles down. The almost perfect barrel is now only a good barrel and may not get any better with use. I have seen some cases where a stock barrel with good accuracy will get better with the polishing effect of shooting but seldom does a barrel get better with use. With all that said most barrels start to loose accuracy with each shot (to some degree) . Some can be shot thousands of time other hundreds of time. The hand lapping will slow this ware effect. My opinion only--- just observing and shooting some match rifles.

[Maztech89]

Still the same lot number ammo? I loved my 93R17 and the accuracy it had when I first got it. Put a new trigger in, pillar bedded into a different stock, new scope and shot even better. Then it started going downhill to the point I wanted to sell the thing and cut my losses. Kept trying different lots of Hornady 17 vmax like it always liked and it just wasn't there. Lots of duds and fliers. Tried a new lot of Cci game points in 20gr and low and behold she's back to respectable accuracy.

This was yesterday, target 1 was my buddy trying it out and was using the box for his aim point. Couple fliers but all but one group can be covered with a dime (50 yards) all are 5 shots.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f108/maztech89/5608BA61-3268-4689-9B04-1FE98AC090FD.jpg (http://s46.photobucket.com/user/maztech89/media/5608BA61-3268-4689-9B04-1FE98AC090FD.jpg.html)

[Shootest]

You say "Lots Of Duds and Fliers. Why are you getting the duds ? Is there a problem with the firing pin not hitting the cartridge consistently or hard enough. This would cause inconsistent ignition and fliers.

[Maztech89]

You say "Lots Of Duds and Fliers. Why are you getting the duds ? Is there a problem with the firing pin not hitting the cartridge consistently or hard enough. This would cause inconsistent ignition and fliers. good solid strike that looked and measured the same as rounds that went off first try. They'd go off with a turn of the case, it's a priming issue with a specific lot that I bought. The chronograph showed the huge velocity swings.