Axis 308.. Accurracy issues...HELP

Folks... I bought a 223 axis 6 months ago , shoots 3/4 groups with black hill 52 bthp. So I went and bout the 308 Axis. Having lots of problems with accuracy and don't know why. shot 4 inch groups at 100 yards with Federal 150 gr sp blue box and the same with Federal 165 gr fusion... did the home trigger job ( cut spring , about 3 /34 pound pull know ). I then Bought a Boyd thumb hole stock and drop it in , no other work on stock. Stock looks like it fits really good. Still shoots 4 inch group all around bulls eye at 100 yards. I still have the cheap Bushnell scope on it that it came with. I did notice I was having trouble with scope rings getting loose so tighten them down good. still 4 inch groups..... ANY IDEAS WHAT I CAN DO TO IMPROVE THE ACCURACCY ? DO you think I should try a Nikon scope on it ? thanks. Marty

i would change the scope and try again good luck

Is it possible you're anticipating recoil , flinching? It's common and fixable.

yep that could be on the recoil. I shot 25 rounds Tuesday and man this gun is a kicker ! Even with the Boyds thumb hole stock. I forgot just how hard these larger calibers kick. That is why I went to the 243 tikka a few years ago for deer. I just could not turn this AXIS gun down. I bought it at Scheels sporting goods store in Appleton WI 2 months ago for 229.00 . The store mgr said they bought a bunch of the savage axis from a sporting good store that went bankrupt. they were blowing them out. they all sold in just a few days . I was there at the right time. I am going to put a Nikon scope on it next month and see how it shoots. if that does not do it maybe sale it to some one that can bed stock better or something. I am shooting 4 inch groups all around bulls eye ....weird... marty

In my opinion the recoil will always be more noticeable with a thumb hole stock. The recoil is transferred to the palm of your hand and not to the shoulder.Once to the palm,it lifts towards your cheek/face instead of going straight back into your shoulder like a traditional drop combed stock.I just think you are going to feel more of the recoil from its design but it looks really nice. You can do a few things to increase your accuracy.Start with the trigger, you can get it better with little effort, should be closer to 2 1/2 lbs but it should be easy to get better than 3 3/4 lbs ....where are you at for rounds through the gun ? My shot groups tightened up the closer I got towards having a hundred rounds through it.Your intervals between shots may be close enough that you are stringing your shot pattern from not allowing the barrel time to cool down.

I got similar problems. Got two axis rifles (.223 and .308) crap scope on the .223 and a good one on the .308. Shoot much higher scores with the .223. Its the recoil on the .308. I know I am antipating it because sometimes I don't realize I have already fired four rounds and pull the trigger on a empty chamber, there is considerable movement in my scope when this happens. The Axis .308 recoils hard based on the opinion of guys I let fire the gun. I have been consdering putting a Khantrol muzzlebrake on it to see if it helps.

yep thanks for the good info. it very will could be the recoil on my gun. maybe I should have not bought the thumb hole type stock ?. I have about 40 rounds in gun. I will try a new scope , maybe a khantrol muzzle break. the good thing is I only have 229.00 in the gun and 99.00 in the bodys stock. I whish it would shoot as well as the 223 axis I have. that is one heck of a shooter . marty

JMHO!! Had the same recoil problem. Maybe try a Witt muzzle brake. It's a clamp on & only $85. Have one on my Rem 700 in .308 & turns the recoil into a .223. Very solid & custom made for your rifle.


BW

Check your scope rings, base, action screw and make sure they are tight!

yep ..rings , scope base really got loose after 20 rounds and tighten every thing down but still next 20 rounds 4 inch groups. I think it could be the scope it came with , cheap Bushnell . also maybe me flinching too. marty

Try a different ammo. My .308 hate Winchester White, any Federal and the mil surp.

I reload my own, went from 4 inch groups (Factory noted above ammo) to .5 inch groups for Coyote rounds (125gr). I have not worked out any heavier loads to date as I am working on another rifle at the moment.

If you really think the recoil is that much. Change recoil pads as well. You can also reload your own as I did above (started out as wife loads). They work great here for under 300 yard coyotes ( scope isn't much good at the moment above 300 yards)

The stock may need to bed glass bedded. I had one of the Boyd's thumb hole stocks on my heavy barrel Savage, it would not shoot consistently while in it. I rebedded it twice and still no improvement. I switched to a B&C Tactical and it's now a tack driver.

ok thanks for the help. I will be buying a scope I the next few weeks when my money is greener. I will report back how things turn out. Marty

G'luck! I have to agree ya might just have to find the right ammo. My kids both have Axis .308's. The winchester 180 gr group like a scatter gun 10" circles.@ 100yards. Almost any 150-168gr group minute of deer. My .223 is less finicky.

I see that this is few months old, but if its any help here goes: I bought a 10 Trophy XP in Win.308 and used Federal ammo in it. The store that sold me the rifle sold me the only .308 they had - Federal American Eagle 150 grain. I went to the range and all was well - 1.5" groups at 100 yds and 4 " at 200 yds shooting from a bench rest not a sled. So ok by me. I went home cleaned the rifle and came back a couple days later with my second and third box of the Federal ammo. All of a sudden it was shooting 10' circle groups at 100 yds and I could not even find the paper at 200 yd. I went through forty rounds let the barrel cool and all that, but no dice. What! did I damage the rifle in one cleaning? is the scope gone off? Is the rifle a dog? Not a good feeling let me tell you. So I packed it in and came back the next day with Federal Match Grade ammo and instantly went to 1" groups at 100yds and 3" at 200 yds. Great, but I still need to shoot a hunting round so I kept trying different ammo. You may be interested to learn I tried Federal Fusion next same as you and found that the Federal Fusion were total dogs in my rifle too. I honestly do not think its just a rifle being finicky since I also found that the Federal Fusion shot like absolute crud in my Marlin 30-30 - a rifle with a completely different style of rifling and chambering. Also given that one box of the Federal American Eagle shot well while two other boxes were an unholy joke leads me to think Federal is very inconsistent ammo due to poor manufacture. An older shooter highly recommended Remington to me as far more consistent than Federal or Winchester. So I got some Remington Corelokt in 150 grain and sure enough they shoot beautifully in my Savage. I went out and bought 200 rounds of this ammo and tried a round from about five different boxes and they all shot well. In fact the Remington shoots better than the Federal Match rounds as far as I can tell. The Remingtons give me 1" or less at 100 yards and two inch or less at 200 yds. There are also a significant number of double holes at both distances with the Remington. The Remington also seems a lot cleaner burning. There is noticeably less fouling in the barrel when I clean my rifle. So sixone is right you got to find the ammo. I would add that I think there may be an issue with Federal ammo in general. Try the Remington Corelokt in .308 150 and maybe you'll get the same happy results I did.

just like different strokes for different folks. Guns are finicky people more so. the gun/ammo combo is dependent on the person and rifle. I can fire 168g BT noslers with minimum recoil. try 180g i am all over the target. buy several types and grains and shoot strings of three(due to cost and supply) over the course of several weeks progress through the ammo few of the varying types each time. and rotate which one you shoot first keep all targets and record daily and shot data from each string. after six or so times which at 3 shots per string say six types of ammo you should have enough ammo for six rounds of data. so spread out over six different days you will be able to reduce a "FEAR" of recoil you gain when your shoulder starts hurting. you can stretch it even further if eighteen shots seems extreme for one session. good luck and happy shooting Mark