Horrible day at the range with my new Axis.

I was so stoked to land an Axis in 7mm-08 for cheap a few months ago in Gander Mountain's going out of business sales. But two trips to the range have me flummoxed.

The first time was with the gun in bone stock condition with a Center Point scope and aluminum rings on top. The accuracy was horrible. It shot something like 6-7 MOA. But the trigger was terrible. And the stock wasn't much better. I could actually watch the crosshairs dip as the stock would flex at the wrist as I tried to squeeze that trigger. I wasn't sure how much was the trigger and how much might be the flimsy stock rubbing the barrel somewhere.

So about $370 dollars later, I now have it in a Boyd's featherweight stock, with a Timney trigger, a Vortex Diamondback scope and Weaver steel rings. It looks so sexy it HAS to shoot great now, right?

I head out to the range today hoping to have a new deer rifle to open the season with tomorrow...and I am now getting almost 9"groups at 100 yards!

I'm shooting Federal Fusion in 140gr. No rhyme or reason for it. The group is spread out like a cantaloupe. It's roughly zeroed in the bull if you consider the whole spread, but the rounds are shooting high, low, left and right of the POA.

I'm no world class shot, but today I shot one MOA at 100 yards with my TC Compass in 6.5 Creedmoor using cheap Winchester Power Point ammo...using that same cheap Center Point scope and cheap aluminum rings I yanked of the Axis after the first outing.

I am pulling my hair out. I've checked the rings and bases. I've checked the action screws and verified torque at 35 inch pounds. The trigger lets off with a gnat's cough.

I expect some guns to like certain ammo better, particularly in regards to different grain weights. But I can't believe that Federal Fusion is so crappy out of this rifle that its best group is 9 MOA.

Any ideas? Am I justified in sending it in for warranty inspection? I've never had this bad an issue with a new bolt rifle.

Try different ammo. Maybe your rifle just doesn't like Fusion. Stuff like that happens; I've seen such groups, and fired them myself, then seen excellent results with different ammo.

You MUST try different ammo, but 9 moa is absurd, even if you're shooting the wrong CARTRIDGE.

I am betting the scope is broken. Oops. I guess not. You said you moved it to another rifle and it shot fine.

I would call Savage. That barrel is either bent or the chamber is cut bad or something on that order.

Also, check the stock, particularly around the action screw holes. Is it split? Is there a recoil lug inside there? If so, is it loose in the stock? (half joking).

Check the muzzle. Is it actually a 7mm bore?

Use your phone to video you shooting the rifle. The video should show your face and the trigger hand and finger.

How many rounds have you fired? I think I had to put about 100 rounds down the barrel of my Axis .223 before it started to shoot well. I had groups that sounded like yours at first. I'm not saying that is the issue, but if you don't have many rounds through it, you might want to shoot it a bit more and see if starts to group tighter.

DIfferent ammo will probably make a world of difference. I have a .243 that will shoot Remington Core-Lokt into the same hole while everything else is all over the paper.

Could be the ammo.

I have a 7mm08 mod11 and the first load I tried in it (Remington 140gr accutip-V factory ammo) would not even hit the target at 100 meters. Had a spread of 100+moa !

Somehow I figured out the bullets were coming apart in the air !!! I found some of them. Bullets were breaking in half just under the cannelure.

Tried some corelokt factory ammo and some handloads and all was good enough for hunting. Averaged 1 moa with handloads and 1.5 moa with the Factory Corelokts.

Try different ammo before you do anything else.

We'll likely never know what the problem was or how it may have been resolved.

I love it.

New member signs up and asks questions and NEVER comes back!!!

Did he read the inputs by current members? Did he try any of them?

Did anything work and he is happy?

Nosy shooters want to know!!

Yeah! Not the first or last to do this for sure.