6.5 CM A real dirt bag

I bought a 6.5 Creedmoor a few months back. (Mod. 11 Trophy Hunter XP). Finally got out to shoot it yesterday. Sited in at 25 yds. then went to 100 yds. It shot terrible. 2 inches to the left of bull then 2 inches right of bull. Tweeked scope. Same results. I then figured something is loose so I started retorqueing everthing (scope, mounts, action screws) all were tight. (I own 6 Savage rifles from .22-250 up to a .300 WSM and never had this problem. They all take a few shots to settle in (after cleaning) then start grouping well). I figured the rifle either hated the taste of these bullets (Hornady 140 gr.) or I finally bought a lemon. At shot number #14 it hit top of bull and a bit to the left. The next 5 shots resulted in a 6 shot 1/2" group! I've read a lot about Savages liking to run dirty on this forum but this one is a real Dirt Bag. I do not intend to clean this gun for a loooong time!
Moral of the story is, don't give up if you run into this problem yourself. Keep shooting it until it settles down or try a different brand of ammo. Don't think that after 10 or so shots you have to start throwing money at it.
Hope this might relieve some anxiety out there.

Jim

Wow you had me on the edge of my seat here... A 4" group to 1/2" group all because the rifling needed filled with copper and powder residue? What else comes into play with this type of behavior? Barrel warming up? Stock screw getting knocked around until it's set in?

I did some testing on one of my Savage's a bit ago. Cold clean bore, cold dirty bore, warm clean bore, warm dirty bore, etc. Without a doubt, you could see the tightening of the groups, regardless of how warm it was. I am not easy on my gear, and I am not a clean freak by any means when it comes to Savage rifles. They "like it dirty!!"

DK

New gun....new barrel....maybe you just needed to "knock off" a few machine burr's or something. I always shoot mine dirty as they just group better that way. However, you still have to clean 'em and don't forget to give 'em a copper scrub as well!!!


Dave

Yeah my thoughts are more break in than anything. I know people don't believe in that but I have always done a proper break in with all of my rifles and I have yet to have a savage not shoot 1/2" or better.

The barrels are rough and inconsistent if you look down the barrel with a bore scope,however I break them in like a fine bench gun.I shoot one clean and repeat this through 15 rounds or so then shoot 2 and clean 5 times.Usually by then they will settle down and start to shoot decent.I would leave it filthy as the more you shoot it the harder the carbon gets. Then when and if you clean it,it becomes a real chore to get all the hardened carbon out of the barrel and throat of the barrel.Before I shoot any factory barrel I scrub with JB Bore paste to remove excess bluing and slight burrs in the rifling.