Custom Rifle Woes-What Now?

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coleman1495

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Well I finally knuckled under and had a custom rifle built. It’s a 8.4 twist 7mm08 22” Proof CFW barrel. It was built on a MackBros Evo action.

Unfortunately this rifle has been a huge disappointment. The accuracy is brutally bad. It’s extremely ammunition finicky. It’s not what I would call reliably accurate. Seems to be a 2 MOA rifle.

I am assuming the bad accuracy comes from the barrel. I am unsure of what to do at this point. Shooting it is a waste of components. The barrel might make an okay close range hunting barrel. How easily can the barrel be repurposed? It’s obviously of the shouldered variety.

Also could a poor job chambering cause such grief? I am having doubts about the gunsmith after he told me it would be headspaced 2 thou above minimum and it’s really 10 thou (at maximum)
 
If you want solid replies detail the specs and components, who built it, your reloading process and components, and optic including mounting process and components. Otherwise it will be a long thread of asking for the basic info. Many of the most capable posters will get bored and you will lose their very helpful input.
 
Based on your description, it sounds like a super-lightweight hunting rifle? Light rifles can be trickier to shoot, maybe get another shooter to try it?

Also, what ammo have you tried? Have you been reloading for it?

I assume you have done all the usual stuff already i.e checked all the screws, cleaned the barrel etc?
 
I’m sure it wouldn’t cost too much to send to Alberta Tactical and have them check everything. If there is anything wrong like headspace or chamber defect they will find it and should even be able to fix. For a fee of course.
In my experience these guys are the best at what they do. There are definitely other great gunsmiths but I have not dealt with them and you can’t gonwro with these guys.
 
A chamber with max headspace won't make it a 2moa gun. For that, we would be talking milsurp type chambers, or drill-press gunsmiths. And a poor bedding job won't do that either, not .5 to 2 moa.
The barrel is the most important factor in the inherent accuracy of a rifle, so unless it's the shooter or ammunition, the most likely cause is a dud barrel.

I have shot a buddies CFW barrel and the gun wouldn't group, always split the 5rd group with 3 touching and then 2 touching 1" away. He sent it back, manufacturer said the CF wrap had separated from the steel liner.
 
It’s in a KRG Bravo chassis and has a Nightforce scope on it so not super light.It weighs ~10lbs scoped.

All screws have been checked etc. The groupings are very strange. I get a few good rounds then random fliers.

My question is more so what to do with the barrel. I’m past the point of trying to get this gun to shoot. Should I send it back to the manufacturer? Is this something that Proof can figure out?
 
When the rifle left the shop, it was headspaced at <.003
Unfortunately the twist rate is much tighter than we recommended for a 7-08 and it does have a preference for the heavier projectiles as we noted during the build process. When the concerns where brought up to us, we reviewed the rifle and barrel and test shot it to ensure it met with our sub 1/2moa guarantee. I (shane) loaded less than 40 rounds for a quick load development and these are the following loads it produced.
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stevesummit said:
When the rifle left the shop, it was headspaced at <.003
Unfortunately the twist rate is much tighter than we recommended for a 7-08 and it does have a preference for the heavier projectiles as we noted during the build process. When the concerns where brought up to us, we reviewed the rifle and barrel and test shot it to ensure it met with our sub 1/2moa guarantee. I (shane) loaded less than 40 rounds for a quick load development and these are the following loads it produced.

Sorry man but fired brass from this rifle is at max headspace. Are you saying an 8.4 twist shouldn’t shoot 160+ grain projectiles decent? I will take pictures of fired brass in a headspace gauge when I get home.

Furthermore I think Shane needs to shoot more than a few rounds to confirm this rifle shoots. I can get the odd 3-4 round groups then there is bad fliers.Its totally unpredictable.
Click to expand...
 
coleman1495 said:
My question is more so what to do with the barrel. I’m past the point of trying to get this gun to shoot. Should I send it back to the manufacturer? Is this something that Proof can figure out?
Click to expand...

If you are looking for another barrel, take a hard look at ibi barrels out of Chilliwack B.C.
They are Canadian made and are winning PRS matches throughout the U.S, In Scandinavia, and Provincial/National championships. ;)
 
Skullboy said:

If you are looking for another barrel, take a hard look at ibi barrels out of Chilliwack B.C.
They are Canadian made and are winning PRS matches throughout the U.S, In Scandinavia, and Provincial/National championships. ;)
Click to expand...

I know more than a few people that have had less than stellar results from IBI barrels. I would personally never recommend them. Plenty of excellent barrel makers out there with excellent track records.

Proof makes great barrels. They've been around longer than IBI and have a better track record. If Proof isn't good enough, then go to Krieger, Bartlein, Hawkhill, Brux, Rock Creek.

I'd more suspect the chamber job than the barrel. Worn out reamer, poor chambering practices, etc - lots of mediocre gunsmiths out there.
 
Skullboy said:

If you are looking for another barrel, take a hard look at ibi barrels out of Chilliwack B.C.
They are Canadian made and are winning PRS matches throughout the U.S, In Scandinavia, and Provincial/National championships. ;)
Click to expand...

Also, I'm not sure what US PRS matches were won with an IBI barrel, I'm not aware of a single one - I guarantee a lot more were won with Proof barrels (lots of matches have been won with Proof barrels). PRS matches aren't the pinnacle of absolute precision (I say this as a PRS shooter). You only need a barrel capable of ~1 MOA to win matches, most targets are over 2 MOA. In fact, Jon Pynch and Jake Vibbert in one of their recent podcasts (VP Precision podcast) that that's all you need for precision out of your rifle to win a PRS match, and both have done it numerous times with rifles barely capable of 1 MOA.

If you want absolute precision, look to the benchrest crowds. Plenty of records set with Krieger, Bartlein, Rock Creek, Brux, etc - don't think a single benchrest record has been set with an IBI.
 
IBI are still new they didn’t have a chance to prove themselves yet.
Other people’s experience may differ, but mine rocks.

My 26’’ 308, 10 shot group under 2 minutes time, 300M, sub 1/2 moa
My 19’’ 223 medium heavy shoots 77 TMKs pretty tight in my auto loader

A buddy if mine purchased 3x 20’’ HBAR for his auto loaders
Seen them shoot ball ammo pretty well at 500M as a firsthand witness
 
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