Daughter got a scope for Christmas. Today, I'm trying to sight it in for her. Rounds were all over the place. Different ammo providing similar results (CCI and AE). No consistency at all. First shot might be on target, the next 4"high, then three 2" above the initial shot. Groups literally the palm of my hand. Is it a winter thing? Temps are a hair below zero. I pulled the barrel just to check that everything looks ok there. Bore and crown are perfect as well.
My daughters 64 patterns like a shotgun
- Thread starter weasel1
- Start date
That's a good point. I never shot it much with the open sights as those ones just don't work really well for me. My daughter was hitting pop cans at 25 yards, but not to consistently. I attributed that to the fact she has yet to have her 10th birthday. I'm going to go grab a pic of the target and you'll see what I mean.
blasted_saber
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Thats not bad for a 64 at 50m
Bushnell 3-9x40. Cross hairs aren't bad. They certainly weren't hiding the hits any. Rest is pretty decent. Not as good as a sled mind you. I was using two portable rests. The front one is a trips style one, the rear is a bit different. I have used the same setup successfully with other rifles of various calibers before. I'm wondering if it really didn't like the ammo. Maybe I'll try something slower and see how that goes.
Out I went again. Brought some RWS and Dynapoint. Well, the RWS sucks (haven't found a rifle this stuff likes yet), but the Dynapoint shows some promise. Shot 2 groups within 2.5", but this time some of the shots were actually landing where I wanted them. Guess I need to get some better quality standard velocity stuff and see what happens.
Semis are not expected to match bolt gun accuracy. Minute of squirrel or gopher is reasonable.
Some times it takes a lot of experimenting to find the right ammo.
Check to make sure the bolt face is clean. 64s don't like to be run dirty (clean every 1-200 rounds max) Try cycling a couple rounds, and ejecting but not firing. You may see some lead removal from the feed ramp on the clip or rifle, and or marring on the bullet. Try single feeding without the mag and see if the same accuracy story persists. All this detective work is finding some issue that could be managed. Make sure you are not touching the mag during firing. Is the mag getting battered up? All of these items can pose some issues. I believe removal of lead during feeding is notorious with these rifles. If lead is removing during the loading cycle, check for burrs or imperfections which you can do some home clean up regarding the feed ramp or mag. Make sure your scope mounts and rings are snug. Don't over torque. Some times a scope issue can enhance or be the cause of all this. Good idea to see how irons work.
I ended up bedding the front bolt forward on the barrel for about 1" and found improvement. My 2c.
BTW, an old 64B I had shot wonderfully with WW bulk white box HPs and could maintain <1" at 25m. My current 64 is reasonable but not as good as that old one. Getting <2" at 50m is to be expected, but not much bettered in my experience with this action.
Some times it takes a lot of experimenting to find the right ammo.
Check to make sure the bolt face is clean. 64s don't like to be run dirty (clean every 1-200 rounds max) Try cycling a couple rounds, and ejecting but not firing. You may see some lead removal from the feed ramp on the clip or rifle, and or marring on the bullet. Try single feeding without the mag and see if the same accuracy story persists. All this detective work is finding some issue that could be managed. Make sure you are not touching the mag during firing. Is the mag getting battered up? All of these items can pose some issues. I believe removal of lead during feeding is notorious with these rifles. If lead is removing during the loading cycle, check for burrs or imperfections which you can do some home clean up regarding the feed ramp or mag. Make sure your scope mounts and rings are snug. Don't over torque. Some times a scope issue can enhance or be the cause of all this. Good idea to see how irons work.
I ended up bedding the front bolt forward on the barrel for about 1" and found improvement. My 2c.
BTW, an old 64B I had shot wonderfully with WW bulk white box HPs and could maintain <1" at 25m. My current 64 is reasonable but not as good as that old one. Getting <2" at 50m is to be expected, but not much bettered in my experience with this action.
I do understand the limits of semis. I'm not looking for a bolt quality target rifle, IM just trying to make this the best it can be (whatever that ends up being) for my daughter. Hits = fun.
I hand cycled the bolt. Of the two rounds I put in, both had marks on the nose. Now I have to figure out the cause of that because I'm sure that's not helping anything. I'll have to hand feed a rounds tomorrow to see if there is any difference. Pretty sure I was staying away from the mag, but I'll be extra careful tomorrow. One thing is for sure, standard velocity ammo grouped best. I'll have to see if I can find some better stuff tomorrow as well.
Bedding will probably be the last step, but I'll do it.
I hand cycled the bolt. Of the two rounds I put in, both had marks on the nose. Now I have to figure out the cause of that because I'm sure that's not helping anything. I'll have to hand feed a rounds tomorrow to see if there is any difference. Pretty sure I was staying away from the mag, but I'll be extra careful tomorrow. One thing is for sure, standard velocity ammo grouped best. I'll have to see if I can find some better stuff tomorrow as well.
Bedding will probably be the last step, but I'll do it.
Sounds like how my 64 TR SR shot. Mine had a heavy barrel. Never figured out why. I was using a AO scope. Drove me up the wall. Being I was always chasing the groups. Only thing I could figure out maybe the stock needed to be free floated. Everything was tight.
Yup.
Checked that to. Clamp looks good and barrel is nice and tight.
Going to get some better bullets today and a new mag. I did some tweaking on the mag last night and the marks on the nose of the bullet (hand cycling the bolt) seem to be reduced quite a bit. I also found that two layers of electrical tape on the back of the mag help to angle the mag a bit so the cartridge is pointing up a bit more. One other thing I found. There is a little bit of room (like 1/32 of an inch) that the mag can go upwards without hitting the bolt. I really wish these rifles had a better feed ramp
Checked that to. Clamp looks good and barrel is nice and tight.
Going to get some better bullets today and a new mag. I did some tweaking on the mag last night and the marks on the nose of the bullet (hand cycling the bolt) seem to be reduced quite a bit. I also found that two layers of electrical tape on the back of the mag help to angle the mag a bit so the cartridge is pointing up a bit more. One other thing I found. There is a little bit of room (like 1/32 of an inch) that the mag can go upwards without hitting the bolt. I really wish these rifles had a better feed ramp
Chrck the scope . Turn the focus ring and see if the crosshairs move. I had that with a Banner I picked up used. Changed scopes to another Banner and my.groups tightened up.Something maybe loose in the scope if its a cheaper Bushnell.
True, but with all the reviews of them shooting much better, I'm trying to figure out why hers isn't.
Will check that today as well.
Couple of good suggestions here already:
Try with open sights (as suggested), and check barrel retaining clip (as suggested). Tied together (kinda). Not only will you eliminate possible scope error, but the 64 barrel to receiver mating can cause issues with consistency. Some barrels fit incredibly snug, but some are loose(not sloppy). The clip itself can become kind of deformed through over-torquing. With scope on receiver, and barrel not snug n' true hitting anything becomes tricky. Already suggested, but I'll echo...a touch of bedding can help with this issue. I've not had m'paws on a heavy barrelled flavour, but most 64 barrels can be deflected with your thumbs, when folding tip of fore-stock with fingers.
I had a scope n' see-thru rings for ages on one of my fav 64s. A cleaning usually meant a re-zeroing no matter how cautious/precise I was.
Otherwise typical troubleshooting steps. Change ammo, try multiple shooters(no offence whatsoever intended to original trigger squeezer), etc...
Try with open sights (as suggested), and check barrel retaining clip (as suggested). Tied together (kinda). Not only will you eliminate possible scope error, but the 64 barrel to receiver mating can cause issues with consistency. Some barrels fit incredibly snug, but some are loose(not sloppy). The clip itself can become kind of deformed through over-torquing. With scope on receiver, and barrel not snug n' true hitting anything becomes tricky. Already suggested, but I'll echo...a touch of bedding can help with this issue. I've not had m'paws on a heavy barrelled flavour, but most 64 barrels can be deflected with your thumbs, when folding tip of fore-stock with fingers.
I had a scope n' see-thru rings for ages on one of my fav 64s. A cleaning usually meant a re-zeroing no matter how cautious/precise I was.
Otherwise typical troubleshooting steps. Change ammo, try multiple shooters(no offence whatsoever intended to original trigger squeezer), etc...
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