99 358 crown

Curious what you may see in these pics if anything.
I realize these are not the best pics, but thought I would throw this out there.
I have been trying to get this girl to shoot better than 2 1/2" groups at 100 yards.
Been reloading with different bullets, bullet weights, bullet profiles, powder, powder charges, primers, and even brass and am not getting any better results.
Shot without the front stock, with the front stock, free floated the front stock, o ringed/rubber under the front stock attachment screw and am getting a bit frustrated.
Thinking the owner/owners before me may have shortend the barrel, or recrowend it, or the 50+ years of cleaning rod strokes may have affected the crown?
May have to use a different lever gun this deer season?
Thanks

Pic of crown and just inside the end of bvb the barrel

Here's a dumb question, but have you checked your scope mounts and bases are on tight. How about the scope? Have you tried a different scope?

Barrel looks unaltered!

Yes
On all three.

Are the groups random, or does she string?

Best group was around 2 1/2" with 200 grn rnd nose.
But overall it is Random
Softball sized groups
4" to 5" with 180 speer, 200 spt Hornady
IMR 4895 powder
IMR 4640 powder
Tac powder
Win 748 powder
IMR 4198 loaded but not shot yet.

Another site thought it looked like it was heavily leaded and suggested JB bore paste , so today I put a bunch of patches through it, and got a lot of grayish black out of it.
Going to put more through until comes out clean.

Dirty patches

If that doesn’t work, maybe try one of the many chemicals for removing copper. I would think that your schmutz is from jacketed and not lead bullets.

2nd cleaning with Keoil and JB bore paste.
Left is towards front of barrel about 6" from end.
Right is from after 1st cleaning

WOW! What a difference! Hope that cures your accuracy problems!! Kroil is good stuff!!

Yes
I am now a Kroil and JB Bore paste believer.

Win 748 and 200 Hornady rnd nose shot real good.
Tac and 200 Hornady spt was so ao
IMR 4198 and 180 Speer shows promise.

Thanks to all.

Most excellent! Congratulations!

Great to hear!

Wipe-Out has a bore cleaner that's specifically for lead fouling. Might be a good option to keep on hand to speed up cleanings if you're regularly going to shoot non-jacketed lead bullets.

https://sharpshootr.com/no-lead/

Good job/shootin"!

I have only shot jacketed rifle bullets in my rifles.
I bought this rifle off GB 2 1/2 years ago.
It shot ok, but got worse.
I cleaned the barrel with shooters choice.
Looking thru the tube with light, it always looked clean, decent.
Once someone mentioned leading/ gahling, I used my cheapo e bay endo scope and saw the real ugly reality that you can not see, with ones eyes, at least, my eyes.
Anyway, feeling better about this gun/deer season.
Going to clean it again with the Kroil, JB paste, then shoot the 746/200 rnd nose again to verify.
Thanks to all

Minute of deer
I plan on having a Smith look at the crown, I still think this gun can shoot better.
I will update after.
Thanks to all

Nice rack! Now that it’s all nice and clean, I’d be inclined to slug the bore. This could only tell you something that you’d really rather not know. If the bore is oversized, I’m not sure if you’d want to start swaging bullets to match.

Nice buck and pic pose.

Update on 99.
Smith says the crown is decent, decent enough he recommends leaving it alone.
The rifling, however, is heavily pitted, and he recommends a rebarrel.
He does not rebarrel 99,s.
So
Douglas will rebarrel 99,s.
Anyone have any other recommendations?
Thanks

Judt my $.02.
From looking at the load development pics and the dead buck that 99 in 358 is now doing just what it's supposed to.
Pick your best load, center up the group to match the crosshairs and enjoy hunting and taking game with it.
Since you have it spotless, a little fouling may actually help accuracy some.

Save the rebarrel money and buy a bolt action varmint or target rifle, maybe something in an efficient economical to load cartridge if you want to shoot tiny groups on paper or plinking.
Maybe something in a bolt action with a proven flatter shooting cartridge if you want to hunt out there beyond what the .358 will reach comfortably.
You've already got the biggest accuracy enhancer for any centerfire rifle in decent condition working for you in your handloading gear.
I'd just enjoy the .358 as is and dont think theres enough juice left after what youve done to justify more squeeze.
Your mileage may vary and this advice is worth exactly what you paid to read it.
Good Luck

Quote:

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Originally Posted by big honkin jeep

Judt my $.02.
From looking at the load development pics and the dead buck that 99 in 358 is now doing just what it's supposed to.
Pick your best load, center up the group to match the crosshairs and enjoy hunting and taking game with it.
Since you have it spotless, a little fouling may actually help accuracy some.

Save the rebarrel money and buy a bolt action varmint or target rifle, maybe something in an efficient economical to load cartridge if you want to shoot tiny groups on paper or plinking.
Maybe something in a bolt action with a proven flatter shooting cartridge if you want to hunt out there beyond what the .358 will reach comfortably.
You've already got the biggest accuracy enhancer for any centerfire rifle in decent condition working for you in your handloading gear.
I'd just enjoy the .358 as is and dont think theres enough juice left after what youve done to justify more squeeze.
Your mileage may vary and this advice is worth exactly what you paid to read it.
Good Luck

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I'm with you. :thumb:

Big Honkin Jeep has it right. Just because a barrel shows some pitting don't scrap it. Do just what you have done. Clean it up and see how it shoots. Don't be surprised if the first few shots from a clean barrel do not group well. The gun will probably need a few fouling shots to start shooting good.
When the accuracy goes completely down hill then scrap it. I have a Remington 788 223 that has a sewer pipe barrel. However it still shoots 0.5"-0.75" groups when I do my part. It takes about 3 shots for the clean barrel to settle down. I sometimes think i need a new barrel, but what the heck. As long as the accuracy stays the same I will just keep shooting it.