Another .260 Rem build! **Disapointing range report**

Went and tried 46gr of H4831sc and 43gr of H4350 with the 142gr SMK yesterday. Nothing too exciting but H4831sc is an improvement. I'll try the same load the Scenara and A-Max next time.

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If those are 100 yard targets, I would have to say you have a bit of a problem. My 260 hunting rifle shoots Hornady roundnoses about like that. OK for the aveage whitetail but not precision.What were pressures like? Are you seated into the lands or off? Chrono?
If pressure is low, and you are off the lands, seat some into the lands. If pressure is still low, bump the charge up to 47. If you can't get into the 5/8 inch range for a five shot group, you have a mechanical problem. Scattery groups can usually be attributed to scope or barrel. Scope mounts poorly fitted will usually result in "two grouping". Bedding will sometimes "two group" but will usually give a group with a flyer or two. If a rifle starts out to group well then opens up, barrel fouling is usually the culprit. I can't put down all the troubleshooting techniques here (it'll be in the book) but that should get you started. Regards, Bill.
 
Yep, 100yds. Forgot the base for the tripod, so no velocity. No pressure signs. COAL was 2.870", not sure how far off the land, I was saving seating depth for fine tuning.

I got a pound of RL17 today. Some guys on Snipershide are having good results with that powder. One more thing to try.
 
139gr lapua or 140gr Bergers. work up from 45 gr in 0.2gr increments to 47gr or until you start to see flattened primers. I set my ogive 10 thou OFF the lands.

The groups are shrinking and a bit more tweaking of your powder should lead to tighter groups. My barrels shot their best with loads that were in the 60,000psi range (pressures extrapolated from Quickload)

I never had any real success with MK's in my Gaillards but they have shot Scenars and Bergers very very well.

Jerry
 
Sorry, on the slow boat from California......SIGH

If the Scenars shoot, the Bergers will likely shoot too. In my rifles, I use the same seating die setting and almost identical powder amounts.

Occasionally, my barrels will show a distinct preferance between these two. The rest don't really seem to care. But these two seem to beat everything else

I have competed with both bullets and both have put plastic on the wall. These days I go with the higher BC of the Berger....splitting hairs but.....

Jerry
 
The gun looks great but to me it seems sorta crappy that a rifle is that sensitive. I hate to be a pessimist but imagine they stopped making a particular component that it needed to shoot well..
 
The gun looks great but to me it seems sorta crappy that a rifle is that sensitive. I hate to be a pessimist but imagine they stopped making a particular component that it needed to shoot well..

I defenitely wasn't expecting the rifle to be this picky but I got some new powder bullet combination to try before I really start to get worried.
 
Here's my 2 cents...

1) Do you know how to verify that paralax is not your problem?
2) Have you verified the 1:8 twist?
3) Assuming the above are ok, you have a fairly short barrel, so you may need to lean on the fast side of your powder burn rate so you can be sure it all burns in 24" even if it means you have to sacrifice some velocity. If the powder you are using is too slow, it will fowl your barrel and throw rounds wildly.
4) Do you have a good barrel cleaning procedure and all the right stuff?
5) Sorry to suggest, but maybe it's just you... Have you tried having someone else shoot it, hopefully someone with good sharp eyes and a steady hold?
 
Here's my 2 cents...

1) Do you know how to verify that paralax is not your problem?
2) Have you verified the 1:8 twist?
3) Assuming the above are ok, you have a fairly short barrel, so you may need to lean on the fast side of your powder burn rate so you can be sure it all burns in 24" even if it means you have to sacrifice some velocity. If the powder you are using is too slow, it will fowl your barrel and throw rounds wildly.
4) Do you have a good barrel cleaning procedure and all the right stuff?
5) Sorry to suggest, but maybe it's just you... Have you tried having someone else shoot it, hopefully someone with good sharp eyes and a steady hold?

1) Paralax seems fine. Any suggestions?
2) Didn't confirmed the 1:8 twist but assuming it is because it's what I asked.
3) The same powders are working fin in my 22" hunting .260 Rem rifle.
4) I cleaned the barrel when I got it new. I've since shot 25 rounds in it and haven't cleaned it since the original clean up.
5) I'm sure there's better shooters out there but on the same range session, I was shooting 1" group with my lightweight factory barrel .260 Rem and with my .444 Marlin with full power load and 325gr bullets.
 
to check paralax, aim the rifle at your target at whatever distance you are shooting. Make sure the rifle is supported on its own without you holding it there. looking through the scope, Move your eye from side to side and up and down and pay attention to the cross hairs. If they are moving in relation to the target - adjust your paralax.

To check twist rate. just push a cleaning rod into the barrel with a tight patch on it. Mark the rod and push until it makes a full rotation, then measure how far between the start and end point.

Since you have a new barrel, you may need to pay close attention to the throught. The radial tooling marks from the chambering reamer need to get worn out very carefully. This requires you to ensure the barrel is cleaned frequently at first.

I am not familiar with your barrel maker or thier reputation, but you may have a warranty issue.

I have used barrels from Hart, Krieger, Broughton and Gary Schieder and they all shot very well. I also had a barrel from Douglas, which was disapointing.

My best barrels were from Hart and Gary Schnieder, but I have not chambered my krieger yet, so we'll see about that soon.

1) Paralax seems fine. Any suggestions?
2) Didn't confirmed the 1:8 twist but assuming it is because it's what I asked.
3) The same powders are working fin in my 22" hunting .260 Rem rifle.
4) I cleaned the barrel when I got it new. I've since shot 25 rounds in it and haven't cleaned it since the original clean up.
5) I'm sure there's better shooters out there but on the same range session, I was shooting 1" group with my lightweight factory barrel .260 Rem and with my .444 Marlin with full power load and 325gr bullets.
 
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If barrel twist was an issue, I would expect to see some signs of tipping. I do think one should clean the barrel more frequently when it is new.
Gaillard barrels are generally very good. Ted Gaillard's roots are in Benchrest competition and he has always built barrels with that venue in mind.
When a rifle is new, I always fire one shot, wipe it out with a damp patch, and have a look. If there is no apparent fouling, I fire a group. If, during the course of firing that group, I get a flyer, I stop and clean the barrel well with a brush and Hoppes #9 (I am not a fan of the harsh chemical cleaners). I then fire another group and, again, will stop and clean if I get a flyer. Usually, the flyers are gone within a dozen shots or so.
Now, there is always the chance that the rifle is inaccurate for some other reason. In this case, a flyer is pretty hard to identify since every shot is likely to be one!
I would certainly scrub the barrel out and start fresh. Regards, Bill.
 
I have use about dozens of Ted barrel, most in 6.5 barrel and the other are 30cal, it all very good barrel.
 
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