Importance of inspecting your rifles

J

JasonYuke

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I got had for the first time in a while, after bragging about the accuracy of the Tikka Tactical in 308W. My load is always on, and shoots ragged holes with a round count only nearing 700 the barrel has plent left and the Leupold 30 mm MK 4 always holds Zero..., BUT!

One shot right in the A zone second shot 1 inch high, third 1 inch High. I thought well I pulled the first, than the 4th in the A zone, 5th inch high and left. Big Humms and humble pie!!

Shot 3 strings like this all of a sudden my honest 1 inch gun turned into a 1.75-2 inch gun. Until I got home to scrub the barrel and notice the rear tang screw was loose and as I heard a rattle when putting a patch down I further rocked the action back and forth in the stock it was all loose.
I do not clean the barrel but every hundred or so rounds. I handle my guns often but its always good practice to check the simple things at the range, its to easy to get frustrated and go home. This was the second trip out with it like this before I noticed the issue. I will always check them out from now on in. After re-sorting brass using 2 scales and buying new bullets and powder failure last Wed, and now again this past Sunday still thinking a problem with my loads....

Learn by others mistakes is the reason I am posting this one

I now am looking forward to shooting it again next weekend. Frustration effects the ability to focus, and many thoughts overcome the real problem, I was blaming a bad batch of bullets or powder, but could not be farther from the truth.
 
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If you tighten your guard screws with a little blue Loctite on the threads (easily removable) they will not work loose...
 
We have all been there. My ghost was a loosening scope base screw. No way to see or check but groups grew and wandered all over the place.

Gave up on the rifle and found the problem as I started to tear it apart. One out of the four was just loose. Not enough to rattle or wiggle but no longer tight. Doesn't take much to cause your scope to move.

I used to have this problem with action screws loosening until I really started focusing on action bedding.

Now that I have changed my bedding styles and technique, action screws no longer loosen even after hundreds of rds. I also no longer need to heman on the screws or use locktite.

For me, loosening action screws is a clear sign of poor bedding.

Jerry
 
Most competitive shooters torque their action screws before every match, but this is a great lesson! Sometimes the biggest problems stem from the smallest cause. Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks for the great advice! Unfortunately most of us get to learn from the mistakes of others, but i guess thats just how life goes... I'm definately going to check over all my guns just to make sure nothing has came loose. Maybe i should invest in some Loktite as well.
 
I have some loctite her in stick form. It looks just like a glue stick, I find it great for use on guns as you don't have to worry about runs.
 
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