270 WSM build woes

[dfrosch]

Been working on a 270 WSM build for a while now. It has a model 16 stainless large shank center feed action, a varmint contour Savage barrel and a VLP stock with stainless Savage DBM.

The action seems to be slightly out of shape. The tang wanted to touch every stock that I tried. This stock has been relieved in the tang area and the action is bedded to about 2-1/2 inches in front of the recoil lug. The tang and remainder of the barrel free float.

The barrel doesn't have any roll marking, but has the Savage chamber stamping of a 270 WSM(DD in a circle). The guy I bought it from said it was unfired and he got it from either Numrich or Brownells. I have had it threaded and a muzzle brake installed. The gunsmith that installed the brake noticed a small burr on the crown and lapped it with a brass cone and compound.


Here's a pic of a typical target:

4203

Shot number 1 was a fouling shot, so I ignored it. After shots 2 and 3, I moved the scope. Shots 4 and 5 looked okay, but didn't move as far as I thought they would. Shots 6 and 7 were made without any more scope adjustment. This has been an ongoing issue. It'll put two shots together, then the next will be a couple inches away at about 45 degrees.

I thought the scope was bad, but the same thing happens with two other scopes. The scopes were a Vortex PST 4-16x50, a Leupold Vari-X III 4.5-14x50 and a Vortex Viper 6.5-20x50.
Thought the scope might be loose and tried different scope bases - an EGW rail, Warne, Weaver and Burris two-piece bases. I have used Burris Signature and Warne rings.

I thought the brake might be coming loose, so I put some blue Loctite on it. Same results. I took the brake off and got very similar results except the shots moved a little closer to straight up and down.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Dana

[gbflyer]

Shooting from sandbags or bipod?

[dfrosch]

Caldwell Rock BR rest and a rear bag.

[gbflyer]

That's a good setup.

I've fought this too, and I believe you have a bedding problem. With the rear action screw tight, loosen and tighten the front screw while having a finger below the barrel feeling for any up/down movement between barrel and end of forearm. I bet you'll notice some. Before I gave up on that stock I would relieve the 2.5 area in front of the lug, bed the action and repeat above test looking for no movement. Even though those stocks are pretty floppy, it still should give you good results on bags with no stock/barrel interference.

Hope this helps.

[dfrosch]

Thanks for the response. But this rifle is bedded pretty good. I tried what you suggested and didn't feel any movement. But one of the things I want to try is to relieve that area in front of the lug.

[gbflyer]

There goes my theory[emoji1]. Hope you sort it out.

[Zero333]

What ammo are you shooting ???
Factory ammo or handloads ???

Sometimes that 1 load can suck and we need to try a different load, or a few different loads before we find what the rifle likes.

[dfrosch]

Tried Federal blue box 130 grain soft points, Barnes TTSX 110s and Sierra Pro hunter 130s over IMR 4350.

I have a collection of .277 bullets from 95 to 150 grains and a few different powders that would work. Been reluctant to spend much time reloading. The holes aren't sprayed all over the target. They hit near the same hole, but the POI shifts unexpectedly. I think the barrel and loads have potential, but there's a mechanical problem with the rifle.

I could be wrong, though.

[Zero333]

Get rid of that bedding in front of the recoil lug.
At this point you have nothing to loose.
I bed in front of the lug no farther then the end of the barrel nut but realistically you don't need any bedding in front of the lug.

[Smokinghole]

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/savage-action-screw-torque-tuning/

I used this article as a guide to torque my action screws. Maybe it'll help. I have the same action (non-stainless) but mine was built into a 7 SAUM by the previous owner. Mines showing promise as a solid shooter with the Criterion barrel.

Do you have an additional short action stock you can try it in? I could send you a factory non-accustock if you want to pay shipping. It's just sitting in my garage. My SAUM is in a GRS Berserk and it's not bedded at all as I swap this action and my small shank creedmoor action in this stock for the time being.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[dfrosch]

Thanks for the offer, but I have some other stocks. I tried a Choate Tactical. Got the same results, two shots together and the third was 3 inches away.

I've seen that torqueing article before. The second sentence of the second paragraph says "you first must already have a load that shoots accurately and consistently in your rifle". I'll try it when I get the groups to a reasonable size.

Found something that might be a clue. I always clean barrels with Montana Extreme Copper Killer: two wet patches, 20 times with a wet nylon brush, two wet patches and two dry patches. This gets a lot of the copper out, but the dry patches show a little fouling in the grooves. I repeated that 3 times and was still seeing light streaks.

Gonna load a couple boxes of 150 grain bullets with a minimum charge of H4831 and try breaking it in again. Really hope it helps. Will let you know...

[dfrosch]

I heard once that you might be a redneck if you go to the gun range on Christmas morning. :(

Ground the bedding away from the barrel. A dollar bill slides all the way to the barrel nut. Pretty sure the barrel nut has clearance, but there's too many angles to get the dollar bill around.

Disassembled the bolt and cleaned it. The firing pin protrusion had been around .060. Set it to .040.

At the range, I cleaned after every shot for the first five. Was getting a lot of copper. Decided to shoot a group. After one fouling shot, it put three shots into an inch. Then it started spraying them. Gotta think that the copper fouling is a big part of my problem, but will need to do some more work to find out. I only put 11 rounds through it today.

[Smokinghole]

Factory action screws? I ask because I put an Accurate Mag dbm on my GRS stock (not factory). The supplied rear action screw was long and was preventing proper torque and messed with my bolt.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[dfrosch]

Yes. Action screws and DBM are factory. No issues torqueing to 35 in/lbs. Bolt doesn't bind.

Starting to think about Tubbs Final Finish.

[Hotolds442]

Not too long ago, someone bought a Savage barrel from Numrich, it was marked as you describe. As he was running patches down that barrel, he found a spot where the patches fit loosely. He sent it back, and they put it back into inventory. Savage wouldn’t send a good barrel to Numrich now would they? Since it didn’t get rollmarked, it obviously had a defect that kept it from getting through QC. I would examine that barrel very closely before I invested too much time and money into it.

[wbm]

What Hotolds442 said. Have had two non roll-marked Savage barrels from Numrich...both were bad and both went back.

[dfrosch]

Went back to Numrich? Or Savage?

I have cleaned it numerous times, but not noticed any tight or loose areas.

[1953greg]

Went back to Numrich? Or Savage?

I have cleaned it numerous times, but not noticed any tight or loose areas.

sounds like an enigma.......plz keep us posted

[want2ride]

My 10T 6.5 Creedmoor did that early on. I cleaned every 5 rounds for the first 30, then I just shot it until around 50 rounds the groups started to tighten up. I still haven't cleaned copper since round 30 and have only ran a oil patch through it when it went into storage. I have about 600 rounds through it and shoot more 5/8" groups than I do 3/4 groups.... and my brother can stack the shots well under 1/2" (all 5 shot groups). Seriously my groups looked just like that in about a 1 1/2 inch string until I stopped cleaning it all the time.

My guess is that there was something not quite right with the barrel and the copper fouling fixed it.