6.5x55 swedish rebarrel accuracy issues

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ackertjosh

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Bruce County Ontario
hello.. so this one stumps me. My father and I both customized and rebarreld M96 Mausers. Boyds gun stocks and the barrels came from Tradeexcanada, already chambered in 6.5x55. We took our guns to a very respected gunsmith here in my area and had him take the old barrels off and put the new barrels on.

Dads gun was shot out before and never held a group and mine was also starting to throw bullets... hence the new barrels.

After the new barrels were put on and yes they were 100% checked for head space and so on, nothing shoots.... one day mine will group sub moa always with the 1st shot being a flyer... dads gun.. would have better luck throwing the bullets at my target.

I have done an a quick inspection with my ammo and even with factory rounds it seems the bullet is resting on the lands... not touching the rifling but if i colour the bullet with a sharpie and chamber a round u can see scuff marks where the rifling has taken the marker off the bullet only on the bottom... is this normal??? could this be my accuracy issue???

Please help...
Josh
 
Did you test your hand loads to find where they touch the lands?
It is possible they want to be set off the lands to a more optimum distance.
My 280 Remington has never fired a factory round and perhaps that was a good thing as it is short to the lands.
With your factory rounds, give then a little touch with you seating die.
What load are you using . . . there may be a more accurate load suggested by either Nosler or Sierra.
 
Those tradeex M38 barrels have a substantially shorter throat than the M96 barrels.
Mine have all shot great, some of 'em to 1/2 moa, with 140 amax and R22, seated to a slight (.010") jam. Somewhere around 3.2" oal is where they kiss the leade.
Also, check your runout ... crooked will cause fliers with these long 6.5 bullets.

Hows your bedding after the rebarrel?.
 
right now i have my loads at a COAL of 3.070.. using either 140gr Sierra BTSP or 130gr Sierra BTHP. a tried everything from 40 up to 46 gr IMR 4831 with either CCI BR2, CCI200 or Rem 91/2 all in an old NNY brass that is neck sized only after the 1st initial firing.. i also have tried the "lee factory crimp"...... how do i go a bouts checking my runout?
 
Roll the loaded round across a flat surface, glass is good, and with good light. Get your eye down parallel and watch the bullet tip for any eccentricity.
If you can see it, then you have about 4 thou or more of runout.
The eye can see this clearly.
For me, long range precision begins to deteriorate noticably at 2 thou. TIR.

Those barrels can really shoot tho.

I'd guess the bedding is off if you are getting patterns instead of groups.

Checked the scope rings/bases?.
 
Sounds like a plan OP. You'll get 'em up and shooting one way or another. :rockOn:
Nothing could be sweeter to a rifleman, than a well tuned 6.5x55. The effort is so worth it.

For a bedding tutorial, try googling "zero stress bedding".
The action screws should not be imparting any bending stresses to the action, when they are snugged down tight. A fingertip on the intersection of wood/metal at tang and receiver ring while alternately loosening then tightening the screws .. should feel no movement whatsoever between those two parts.
I personally prefer the barrel shank to be bedded, and then plenty of float from there forward on the forearm.
Done that way, the first CCB shot falls right into the group.
 
yeah.. before my barrel started going bad on my 6.5. and the original stock was on it at this point.. with 43gr of IMR4831 and 140gr Hornady Interlocks i could punch 1 solid hole for 5 shots at 100. i was a very happy camper!! now im lucky to get 2" at 100.... I'm lost for words.. so i will keep plucking away at this until they shoot. i took the boyds stock off my gun and put the mitary stock back on.. see if they improves anything.. if it does i know its the stock and a bedding job is in order.. The gunsmith here will bed a stock for around 75$ i think it is.... but i think i might get him to do they same as he did to the newest member of my rifle family (custom rem model700 SS with SS Ted Giallard Barrel in 7mm-08) and get it pillar bedded. don't know if thats over kill or not... i don't really have the money right now to be doing anything with them since i have been off work for 6 weeks. but when I'm home its best to get all the kinks fingered out now... repairs can come later.

Thaks so much for your help and ill can let u know how i make out...
 
Without being able to look at your rifle up close and personal, you are asking for a lot.

You may have several issues combined.

I have used a half dozen of those tradex barrels and I still have one squirreled away for a deer/bear rifle for my grandson. All of them have shot as well as any armory installed barrel.

It is possible you have pressure on your barrel from the stock, it is also possible your bedding is sloppy and it is also possible your scope bases are loose, or the ring clamps or the rings themselves.

You say you are getting some sub MOA groups and that the first shot is always a flier. This could be from any of the above mentioned issues or your receiver face/barrel shoulder are not square or maybe the smith didn't torque it up tight enough.

I really doubt the latter though.

The first thing I would do, is glass bed the actions. Then, I would remount the scope bases, rings and lap the scope rings then properly torque the action screws and free float the barrel from the receiver on.

Once that is done and they still won't shoot, then it's time to have the rebarreling job checked out.

One thing about those barrels, they are not short chambered. Every one of mine screwed on with only a few thou shaved off the shoulder to square the shoulder of the barrel off to the receiver face. Headspace was always close to minimum but well within spec.

I have never had any of them shoot exceptionally well with bullets lighter than 129 grains and best with 139-160 grain.
 
Thanks bearhunter! As for both barrels being free floated they are. I can run a bill without rubbing all the way down to the chamber. Glass bedding the action is deffanitly on the to-do list. I have checked and rechecked the scope rings and mounts and have even gone as fare as swapping out scopes with the same results. What I'm starting to wonder is if there is excessive play in the action area. Especially by the recoil lug stop. That's why I have swapped out my Boyd's stock to the factory military one.
I will be at the my range tomorrow after the morning turkey hunt so hopefully I get some answeres
Thanks again
Josh
 
Well was at the range today with results that stump me yet again. With dads gun the 1st shot was about 4 inches away. the 2nd shot was about 2 inches away.. the last 3 were again 1 inch away from shot #2 but damn near touching... thinking this was strange i jumped to my 6.5. I put the military stock on it for this test... my 1st shot was about 3" away from my aiming point. the next 7 shots printed about a 1" group... Note that after the 3rd shot the barrels are warm enough to the touch you don't wanna hold for long... in my past experience, when barrels get hot they start to thow... seems my gun are in reverse... shoot the best hot, and throw bullets when cold......
Can anyone explain this?
 
ackertjosh said:
Well was at the range today with results that stump me yet again. With dads gun the 1st shot was about 4 inches away. the 2nd shot was about 2 inches away.. the last 3 were again 1 inch away from shot #2 but damn near touching... thinking this was strange i jumped to my 6.5. I put the military stock on it for this test... my 1st shot was about 3" away from my aiming point. the next 7 shots printed about a 1" group... Note that after the 3rd shot the barrels are warm enough to the touch you don't wanna hold for long... in my past experience, when barrels get hot they start to thow... seems my gun are in reverse... shoot the best hot, and throw bullets when cold......
Can anyone explain this?
Click to expand...

You obviously have a bedding issue if those are your results. The issue may be more one of needing a fouled barrel to shoot well.

A rifle that won't shoot well from a cold barrel is useless for hunting.

I only clean my hunting rifles when the season is over. If its been raining, I will run a very lightly Kroiled, almost dry patch down the bore. This will give me consistent first round from a cold barrel accuracy reliably.
 
Until you get them bedded properly your just wasting ammo. I've had Swedish mausers with shot out throats, properly bedded, with bullets 1/4 of an inch off the lands shoot 1 to 1 1/2 inch groups. Its a common rookie mistake to blame the barrel when accuracy suffers.
 
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