shot out 303

busybass

busybass

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I have a 303 sporter I got in a trade. It will sometimes group two rounds at 1/2" at 50 yards then the next round will be at the other side of the target. It was very dirty when I got it. I cleaned it well and did extensive copper cleaning. It still shoots poorly. I suspect it has been shot out. I would appreciate any ideas on what I should do with it.

Thanks
 
Sounds more like a bedding issue than a shot out barrel . Old stocks dry out , get loose and tend to throw shots around . There's a lot of info on here and other sites on checking for proper bedding on a LE or P14 .
 
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Check the forestock for "The Damned Crack".

This is the back end of the forestock, where the forestock butts up against the action. It has a thin area of wood where the trigger assembly goes and is a weak area in the SMLE. It occurs especially when someone attempts to remove the butt stock FIRST without taking off the forestock. The butt stock bolt has a square front in it that mates up to a metal "key" inletted into the back end of the forestock. This action forces the metal key to spread apart, and cracks the wood where the trigger assembly goes.

ALWAYS remove the forestock FIRST when taking the wood furniture off the SMLE or Lee Enfield.
 
are you sure its clean. mine would not shoot straight although the bore looked fine looking down the barrel from either end. i scrubbed it with a bronze brush periodically and would take it out and try it again but could never seem to get that last carbon out . after about 3 years of this i got some jb bore cleaner which i didnt have high hopes for but it cleaned the rifle which apparently was grossly fouled although i couldnt see it and now it shoots fine. some of these old guns are packed so hard with carbon you will never get it out no matter what cleaner and brushes you use.
 
An easy way to check if a barrel is worn out is to take a 303 cartridge and stick the bullet in the muzzle. If the bullet goes all the way in up to the case mouth the barrel is done. You should have bullet showing between muzzle and case. I bought one that you could drop a .0312 bullet down and have it hit the floor. It was bought for parts and I knew it shot one foot groups at 50. The rest of the boys could be right about cleaning. I had 6.5 x55 that wouldn't shoot and I kept cleaning. I took it to the range with some cast loads. I let a young fellow shoot it and I was noticing groups were improving at 50 so we went to the 100. I don't know if it was cleaning or cast bullets but accuracy had improved drastically, couldn't keep it on paper before and now it's shooting about 2 inche groups. Shock could be loose or too tight. Is the muzzle crown in good shape. Sites could be loose. Many different things could cause your problems.
 
Huge chance it’s the muzzle , time they were around guys were jamming cleaning rods down the end , I had to cut an inch of one and it shot very well after that
 
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