My 204 wont group ?

stinkynuts

stinkynuts

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I have a Thompson center encore pro hunter in .204 ruger I have a 3-9x40m nikon prostaff on it and i am shooting 32gr federal nosler ballistic tips and was useing a caldwell lead sled as well . Today i whent to sight in and the best group i could get was about 6in it was all over the place ? the wind was only about 10kph. I tried a bunch of shots to get it to 0 and could not achive this so i told my friend to try who i consider to be an even better shoot thtn my self and he had no luck at all . Needless to say i was quite miffed when his 400 doller 22-250 grouped 3/4 of an inch and my thompson center would not what is my next step.
 
My Thompson is particular about the fore-end. Make sure you can run a piece of paper under the length of it. Make sure it isn't too tight or too loose. I usually tighten mine with a precision screw driver with a thin grip.(too thick will cause too much tension)

Was the sled resting on the barrel? was it on the stock? This was something that happened to me one time with a set of shooting sticks. I finally shot the gun with no fore stock and resting on the frame, big difference.

What is the barrel twist? I just had a problem with my .223, and it was suggested to me to try a different bullet weight. Lighter bullets made all the difference.

Just a few suggestions. I love my Thompson! Good luck.
 
Like K T said. Take it apart, re-mount everything and torque to proper specs then go buy a few other types of ammo (brands and bullet weight) and try again. If the groups are similar with all your test ammo change the scope and try again. If you still get the same results I would then suspect the barrel and simply send it (the whole gun) back to Thompson.
 
Despite their lofty spot on hunting shows, I have not heard of great accuracy from them. Some very good, knowledgeable shooters that I know have gone away from them, finding other single shots like the Ruger #1, more accurate. Your mileage may vary!!
 
my problem with the TC's are that fact that the stocks seem to be too short and when mounted with a scope, the comb is not high enough to get consistent cheek welds.
Many shooters using the TC's have complained to me that they are getting poor groups. First thing I do is slip on a recoil pad and a strap on adjustable comb. Groups go from 6" to 1" right away.
Everyone has sold the rifle immediately after that and bought a Ruger although 2" groups are still not my thing they group better than the TC's.
PS: (I still find the stock short on them, but then, I am a big guy and find that on every commercial rifle I shoulder).
 
Tahnks for the info i will try a bunch of stuff that you guys suggjested but in the end this rifle is proably going to get sold or something but I feel bad even thinking about selling a rifle like this with out letting some shoot it first
 
~ Remount the scope, try a different scope if all else fails.
~ Clean the barrel until all fouling is gone. Then shoot about 6 rounds to foul the bore, before sighting-in.
~ Make sure the aiming point is as small as possible.

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Look for a pattern in the groups, walking, occasional flyer or just large groups. Was distance are you shooting at?
 
seems to be shooting horiday 40gr vmax well . I am starting to hear a lot of .204's do not like 32 gr fed nosler ballistic tips. In my mind this is just a finicky .204 and from what I hear the round can be a litte testy some times I guess i wont be buying any more .204's thats for sure
 
32gr vs 40gr that's a big weight difference: it's not simply 8gr, it's also a 25% bullet weight difference!
Your rifle might have a tight twist optimized for longer 20 caliber bullets.

I've heard nothing but great comments from 204 Ruger shooters: it's accurate, extremely effective on small varmints and recoil is non-existant!
The only negative comment is that it's a single-purpose cartridge.

Alex
 
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