Savage Mark II BVSSXP - not grouping. Any ideas?

pash1977

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Hi,

Been trying to dial in my Savage Mark II BVSSXP (stainless fluted barrel, w 3-9x Bushnell scope). Bought it brand new, was super clean no scratches, no dings, no sign of it ever being fired, inspected bore with a penlight no visible scratches or pitting...its BRAND SPANKIN' NEW!

Day 1: Before taking it out, I tightened down the scope rings (within specs) I used a laser boresighter to dial it in at 25yds. Using sight-in targets and federal champion .22lr ammo, First shot @ 50yds did not even get me on paper. Subsequent shots were all over the place, on and off the paper. Those rounds that found their way on paper were not even grouping. There was no play in the scope, mounting seemed solid. Took it home, figured I would take everything apart, cleaned and inspected it. Nothing out of the ordinary...I Didn't like the factory mounts, decided to pick up a one-piece DNZ mount. Re-mounted the scope, boresighted it again hoping that it would shoot straight on my next day out.

Day 2: First shot @ 50yds on paper but didn't go exactly where I had the xhairs...figured I could dial it in there. Second shot...OK its a bit closer. Third, fourth, fifth...all within a 6" group - something isn't right. Was it my shooting? Got one of the RSO's to try it a few times same result. We messed with it for about an hour, couldn't get a group size smaller than 6". We tried some of the blazer ammo he had with him, same result. He suggested I tighten down the actoin...its a wood stock and anyone who knows this rifle knows that you cant tighten the action screw too much...the screw head will start to penetrate the wood surface. The other action screw can be tightened a little bit more as it passes through the a piece of metal right near the magazine chamber. I Tightened them as much as I could without too much damage to the stock. No improvements whatsoever. Took it home.

Day 3: Took it completely apart (except for the bolt), and put it back together making sure everything was tight. Used blue loctite on the screws in the mounts and the rings (for the scope)...placed a washer between the actions screws and the stock so I could tighten them a little more...boresighted it AGAIN then took it out to the range, this time used the 25yd range. Put about 100 rounds through it, and could not find a group smaller than 6". Ugh. When I got it home, put the boresighter back into the chamber to see if maybe the glass had shifted...nope...crosshairs were right where I had placed them earlier, right over the small red dot indicated by the boresighter. I worked the bolt several times and tapped the scope in hopes to 'jostle it' and cofirm my suspicions that the scope was faulty...however the xhairs remained to hover over the little red dot made by the boresight laser.

Can someone suggest what I should try next , as I think I've exhasted all of my own resources and knowledge at this point. I'm determined to get this thing shooting like its
supposed to...any help/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
How much faith do you have in your scope? It could be pooched. I would take a scope of something else and try it out, that way you can eliminate the scope from the equation. I would also look at the rifling and barrel crown, see if there are any burrs or anything that would be sending them off
 
Look carefully at the muzzle... any nicks, dings or other marks? Even if it has been marked by a cleaning rod at the muzzle, it may need to be recrowned. A damaged muzzle crown will cause fliers every time!
Barring that, you bought it brand new? Return it along with a few target pages and have the factory sight it in or replace it. Savage (Lakefield Ontario) is really good to deal with!
 
It would be cheap to try a third brand of ammo, or fourth. Who knows, maybe it's ammo sensitive.

22 ammunition could never be anywhere near, that far out.
No chance that his rifle will "Like" some other brand.
It almost has to be the scope. Besides tne possibility that the cross hairs are loose, you have to remember that the scope I presume, will be for a centre fire rifle and parallax will be set for 100 yards and beyond.
Check the parallax at 25 and 50 yards. At 25 it could be 4, or even five inches.
 
22 ammunition could never be anywhere near, that far out.
No chance that his rifle will "Like" some other brand.
It almost has to be the scope. Besides tne possibility that the cross hairs are loose, you have to remember that the scope I presume, will be for a centre fire rifle and parallax will be set for 100 yards and beyond.
Check the parallax at 25 and 50 yards. At 25 it could be 4, or even five inches.

Its a Bushnell .22 Rimfire 3-9 x 32mm Riflescope ...actually shipped from the factory with this scope so I think going the warranty route might help.
 
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Look carefully at the muzzle... any nicks, dings or other marks? Even if it has been marked by a cleaning rod at the muzzle, it may need to be recrowned. A damaged muzzle crown will cause fliers every time!
Barring that, you bought it brand new? Return it along with a few target pages and have the factory sight it in or replace it. Savage (Lakefield Ontario) is really good to deal with!

I don't see any nicks/scratches or dings in the barrel, or crown. Thanks for the Savage Lakefield info...will register and see if they can help.
 
Its a Bushnell .22 Rimfire 3-9 x 32mm Riflescope ...

Any scope could be a stinker, regardless of the price you paid for it...or what it's made for. I know I hate the "try another scope" advice because when I'm putting a rifle/scope together.....chances are, I'm (talking "me") am already tapped-out $-wise. BUT...it sounds like it might be the problem. If you can, get anything else on there remotely decent for the job (even used) and run some CCI ammo through it and then re-assess the situation. If you can, set-up the target even closer to start-out..even 25 yards..to get you close, then move it out.
 
Its a Bushnell .22 Rimfire 3-9 x 32mm Riflescope ...

The parallax should be set @ 50 yards then. I emailed Bushnell and asked them 2 years ago and that's what they told me their rimfire scopes are set to.

Even with crappy ammo my btvs 22 groups 1.5" @ 50 yards. With good stuff about 0.5 - 0.75" @ 50.
 
The parallax should be set @ 50 yards then. I emailed Bushnell and asked them 2 years ago and that's what they told me their rimfire scopes are set to.

Thank-You...may be onto something here in regards to parallax:

...error occurs when the optics are not precisely focused: the reticle will appear to move with respect to the object focused on if one moves one's head sideways in front of the eyepiece

There is no way to ensure that I am looking through the glass at the exact same angle each time...which could explain the lack of grouping. I understood parallax, but never realized it could have me out by more than 4-5".

I'll try to sight it in at 50yds this weekend.

Is there a reccomdation on which zoom setting is appropriate for sighting in? My scope ranges from 3-9x wondering what the best practise is?

Thanks.
 
You are absolutely correct. If you are on paper, that rifle should be a tack driver. WHERE it shoots can be compensated for by scope adjustment, however the fact that two shots (and all successive one) are always about 6" apart shows you have a problem! Bench rest the gun, shoot at any given point... and all the bullets should be in a tight group. It really is just point and shoot! You already tried different ammo, and you had your RSO run the gun, so I'm leaning towards a problem elsewhere other than operator error.

I quite enjoy bulls-eye shooting, and like to shoot 1cm holes in paper. I mark 6 or 8 squares 1cm in size on a paper target and then shoot 10 shots at each one. The goal is to completely shoot the 1cm square off of the paper with each 10 shot volley, and I just use bulk ammo. Yes, there are fliers on the paper too, but groups are tight and that is not using a bull barrel gun such as you are doing! Talk to your retailer, register with Savage, or call Savage directly in Lakefield. Their number is (705) 652-8000. They will let you know what your recourse is.
 
Thank-You...may be onto something here in regards to parallax:



There is no way to ensure that I am looking through the glass at the exact same angle each time...which could explain the lack of grouping. I understood parallax, but never realized it could have me out by more than 4-5".

I'll try to sight it in at 50yds this weekend.

Is there a reccomdation on which zoom setting is appropriate for sighting in? My scope ranges from 3-9x wondering what the best practise is?

Thanks.

Parallax set to 100 shouldn't make that much difference. Almost all my scopes on rimfire shoot great at 25-100 yards with scopes made for centerfire rifles. I can see it making a bit of difference but not enough to make it group 4"+
I would try a different scope.
 
I'll try to sight it in at 50yds this weekend.

Myself, and another friend tried again this weekend to sight this rifle in. He has more shooting experience than I do, and we both could not get anything tighter than a 4-5" group with fliers sometimes not even finding the 8.5x14" target. We inspected the bore, and couldn't find any burrs or anomolies in the rifling...that said, going to try a new scope, if that fails - its going back to Lakeside for repairs.

Thanks.
 
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