Please help, new BAR all over the place.

I see you have Leupold mounts and rings on the rifle,......when you adjusted the windage did you adjust it with the screws on the mounts or with the windage adjustment on the scope?
If you adjusted with the screws on the mounts it could have torqued/twisted/ the scope tube and that could cause an issue of inaccuracy. I only have 1 set of these mounts and I don't care for them at all,....too many things can be out of line, and or put torque on the scope.
 
what is the screw Under the forearm?
browning especially the first models are very sensitive about torque on the forearm screw.......that is why they modified the sling attachment from Under to the front of the firearm
on the image it looks like there is a screw Under the forearm
check the forearm torque
 
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Typically, you would only use a bore sighter/lazer once and that would be to get the crosshairs close to where the bore is pointing. After that, you shoot a 3 shot group at say 100yds, then you make the necessary adjustments to the scope to get your desired POI, then you confirm the correction with another 3 shot group. From there you can dial it in at your intended "zero" range and again confirm POI with another group.

If you do most of the initial testing at 20yds rather than 100yds, it makes it a whole lots easier to keep the bullets on paper and if you get POI within 1/2" of bullseye at that distance it will be on paper at 200yds as well in most cases.

How are you going about with your sight-in process?
 
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ago1 said:
what is the screw Under the forearm?
browning especially the first models are very sensitive about torque on the forearm screw.......that is why they modified the sling attachment from Under to the front of the firearm
on the image it looks like there is a screw Under the forearm
check the forearm torque
Click to expand...

If this is true he may have pooched his gun with the sling stud.

Also, drilling into the gun will have voided any warranty you may have had
 
Hi there, yes the reason I added the stud on the bottom was because on this style it comes on the front, and it was impossible to get a bipod on it.

I will check that.

ago1 said:
check the forearm torque
Click to expand...


Edit, I've checked, and the stud I added definitely is not interfering with any of the gas operation inside the hand guard.

However, I have loosened the front screw through, in case I had put it on too tight.
 
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My ramblings.....

Anytime you make a change, you need to check if that was your problem before going and adjusting something else.

Stick to 25 yards - it's less frustrating than walking out to a 100 and seeing your shots all over the place.

3 shots, from sandbags, is all you should need to prove whether the firearm is grouping or not

Have you used the same ammo or switched up manufacturers and bullet weights?

Have you tried to look down the barrel to inspect the rifling?

You will have to change the scope to see if the problem goes. (too bad your don't have iron sights on that rifle)

Be very careful tightening anything!

And be patient.

If you're confident in your skills and what you've done, contact Browning and see where things go from here.

I have a Marlin 336C that no matter what I've tried I can not get it to group as tight as it is capable of. One three shot group, it will string vertically, the next group a triangle, the next an even wider, random pattern. But I can still kill deer with it! I know what you're going through.
 
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Fall Guy,

Thank you for the reply. I've never switched up ammo types during the same attempt at grouping, but I have fired six different types of ammo now in total, trying to see if the BAR liked anything more than the others.

So far it hasn't mattered, no types of ammo are getting an acceptable group.

I am going to tighten up and Locktight the scope and mount screws, and I will loosen up the front sling stud in case that was pressuring the gas system.

If those prove unable to fix anything, it's back to Bass Pro and Browning and Leupold.
 
If it were mine.
1. Have someone else shoot it
2. Check all fasteners ( equal torque is more important to me than an actual number ) on the base and rings.
3. Make sure everything lines up rings , base and base holes.
4. Run the scope adjustment from top to bottom ,left to right and see if it feels right i.e. no play or binding.
5. Swap scopes ( have seen more than one bad higher end scope ).

Simple things that could save you a possible customer service induced stroke. Have to remember most gun companies don't think your rifle has to shoot as good as you think it should.
 
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Still leaning towards bad scope or bad barrel. Hopefully (if it is the barrel) your mods have not voided your warranty.
 
There in no scents wasting ammo at 100yards till you can get some kind of group at 30 yardsit is just a waste of time and ammo .i would get some one else to shot it at 30 yards and see if a group of some kind can be had then you can try a different scope if the gun will not group
 
I have been watching this thread. Many of us have had simialr expereinces over the years.

First thing I would check is the scope base screws. Do the holes go all the way through the top of the action? Or are they blind holes? If they are blind, your base screws could be bottoming out before the base is tight. When using blind holes, I count turns to see how many bottom out; then I count turns when mounting the base. If they are the same, or close. I know I need shorter screws.

Second thing I would check is the scope. My experience with new Leopolds is many are defective. Borrow a scope from a friend and try it. You might want to try that first. Less screwing around.
 
good advice on the length of the screws holding the bases, many times I've seen where they appear to be tight but not holding the base securely. Count the number of turns to bottom the screw without the base then count the number of turns to mount the base, you may need to shorten the screws also make sure the bases are sitting flush on the receiver . Then I would try another scope. I would suggest using irons but I see this rifle doesn't have any.
With my BAR the forend stock has to be snug and not over tightened or the groups open up.
 
Tabacco Brook said:
Petamocto,...I was wondering how you made out,....did you figure out what the problem is yet?
Click to expand...

Thank you for your concern. I can only get out to the range once per month where I'm at, and since my last trip I had it in to Bass Pro and they professionally sorted out my scope, which I had installed myself and I and hoping was the cause of my grief.

The guy Gordon there was super nice, and he took everything off and re-built it back from scratch, using precision instruments instead of my eyeballs. He said that he had certainly seen worse than my attempt at an installation, which was not terrible, but not 100% true and possible that it was at fault. He also said that it was extremely improbable that my addition of a sling stud in the front to mount a bipod would have done anything causing this.

My next range day is Friday 11 April, and I will post the results. Hopefully I'm good to go now, and I will never have been more happy to be the one responsible for the problem (because if it wasn't my scope installation, it means something is actually wrong with the scope or rifle, and that would suck).

SuperCub said:
x2! ..... Silver scopes NEVER shoot well. I'd try a blued one.
Click to expand...

??? Any scientific data to back this up, that the outside material of a scope has anything to do with its performance?
 
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I'll almost guarantee that the problem your accuracy woes are directly connected to lack of vibration dampening between the barrel and forearm. A proper application of automotive silicone in the area just where the barrel tapers down from the chamber to about 4" ahead of that point should help a fair bit to tame the harmonic "twang" from the tube and give way better results accuracy wise. I have proven results using this method over the years on M1 carbines and the like and it works beauty.

I would like to work with one of these puppies to extract optimum results for given chamberings. No big deal fer sure,fair dinkum.:)
 
OK Petamocto,...looking forward to your next range report. I have the same rifle in 7mm-08. When I bought the BAR, (2010), my go to gun was a Browning A-bolt 30-06, so, I didn't spend much money on a scope to top the BAR with,...I put a bushnell trophy 1.5-6x42 on it. It was/is not a MOA shooter with that scope and factory ammo. I tried Winchester PP, Remington corlokt, Hornady Superformance SST, and Federal Nosler BT, all 140gr and they all shot about the same,...they grouped well enough for hunting and I killed a bear and a deer with it. For the past couple years it has just sat in my safe while my new favorite go to rifle has been a Browning BLR chamberd in 358WIN. This little BLR ia a 1 hole shooter at 75 yards with 200gr Hornady SP bullets over 47gr of IMR 3031,...I love this rifle bullet combo for deer and bear hunting and it will be my most used gun for many years to come. However,..the other day I was in CT and decided to buy a VX 1 Leupold 3-9x40, (STILL NOT A HIGH END SCOPE, BUT BETTER), to put on the BAR,....and I am going to put together some 140-145-150gr hand loads for it and see if I can get it to shoot some MOA groups,.. wish me luck, lol. I will let you know what I discover.
I hope that you get yours shooting where you want it. It is a beutiful gun and it would be a shame for it not to work out.

Good luck,
TB.
 
Update: The BAR is now officially squared away, and all it took was someone who knew what they were doing to put the scope on properly.

Unfortunately, in the 200 or so rounds I have put through it in order to get it to this point, I am not even sure if I want to keep it anymore, because I just bought two crates of the 5.56/223 on sale, so now I don't think I'll get much use out of this now that I've got my R-PAL and I'll be getting a Daniel Defence AR soon.

I'm not entirely sure I want to sell it; I just don't think I'll get that much use out of it now that I've got $2k invested in it with the Leupold VX3.

I'd keep it if money wasn't an issue and I did more hunting, but I just don't have that much fun shooting it. Le sigh.
 
I outlined a similar experience with a .270wsm shortrac in another thread.
Inconsistent patterns. I tried 4 different brands of ammo. No improvement.

I took a big hit when i sold it, but am happy it's gone.

I bought a 1970 BAR 30.06 from an original owner that saw less than a box of shells through it. This one shoots as well as I could expect from the online reviews I've read about BARs.

I suppose it would have been a good gun for 50 yard rapid fire hunting. It cycled well, no problems there. But an ultra short range spray and pray gun wasn't what I wanted.

Good luck!
 
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