10t accuracy issues

I have a model 10t in 6.5 creedmore. I have been using it in 600 yard matches and as the barrel warms up the gun prints lower and lower. Up to 8 inches. The gun is still factory with an accustock.

Does your POI come back to zero after the barrel cools off (I.e. like the next day)?

It's probably mad at you for spelling it wrong lol

Welcome to the barrel nut.

Three things that come to mind:

Improperly torqued action in the stock. Some suggest torquing the front screw to max spec (~50-60 in lbs) with the rear only to 10 in lbs. Shoot a group and if not to expectation, add 10 in/lbs and repeat. Continue until group nice and tight or until max torque has been reached.

If problem still exists you have a barrel that needs to make a trip back through the heat treat oven.

Could also just be another lousy Accustock.

Walking as the barrel heats up could be a bedding issue, a barrel issue, or a combination of both. If you have to "torque" tune your action screws it means there is stress on the action from the bedding system. I would get a quality stock if you're going to be using it for competition. If the issue is still there then replace the barrel with a quality after market pre-fit. You also need to check the free float on the barrel. It could be that the barrel is fine, but the plastic stock heats up and touches the barrel due to it no longer being free floated.

Another thought it that if you are using a low quality optic you could be getting mirage of the barrel as it heats up causing the target to appear to be in a location that it is not and you are just continually aiming lower to account for what you are seeing. This is especially apparent around high noon when the angle of the sun will warp the image you are seeing. Lots of stuff could be wrong, but you'll likely have to test and try a few new components to work out the issues.

Does it do the same shooting at 100yds in same conditions?

Yes my poi comes back when it cools down. My barrel is free floating and stays trhat wayh when it's warm. I've been playing with the torque on my action screws and haven't seen any real improvement. And I was thinking that the temper on my barrel might be a little messed up and was thinking about getting it cryo treated. I have a vortex on it for glass and that held zero perfectly on my 300 weatherby so it should take the 6.5 with no issues. Thank you everyone for your advice.

Odd to see one move downward. Given the number of savage actions that have the face damaged I would consider removing the barrel and installing a ground recoil lug, as well as lightly hone the high spots off of the action and barrel nut. Basically a poor mans true job. I have ground factory lugs and I can tell you that the contact between the action/lug/barrel nut is very poor from the factory. It is a 350 dollar gun after all.

Giving the original post some thought, what about ammo? Factory ammo? Hand Loads?

I have a couple of rifles that tend to shoot lower for some reason when the speed of the projectile goes up due to barrel/chamber heat. For a long time it bugged me until one day when I shot some long strings over my chronograph. With everything nice and clean I shot 20 rounds at approximately 60 second intervals. Sure enough, about half way through the POI dropped and speeds went up as much as 50-60 fps,

These were my hand loads so I tried different powders. Found that some were really bad for temperature (if the action) change and others not so much. A change of powder in my hand load alleviated the problem.

I did my testing at 100 yards and saw a good inch or two "drop" so just multiply that by the increased distance. In my case the barrel harmonics were such that the increase in speed meant the bullet was leaving the muzzle at a different point of it's "oscillation".


Barrels are strange creatures. Each has it's own personality. Some factory barrels shoot nice and straight no matter how warm they get, and others shoot like they suddenly gained a big bend in them. Some can be corrected with extra machine work and others are just bad for their entire life.

One thing that can be done that's not too expensive and a DIY project, replace the factory recoil lug with a good parallel ground lug from PT&G, etc. The OE lug is stamped with it's indexing "key" causing distortion to the lug itself. Replacement lugs are drilled and a roll pin is used to locate the lug while tightening the barrel nut. Changing this could make a huge difference.