Early (2007) Hawkeye - troubleshooting horizontal stringing

[fremont]

Helping a friend diagnose a horizontal stringing problem with his 2007 Hawkeye chambered in '06. He'll get no more than 3 shots really tight--a really good group, then it'll seemingly walk horizontally (regardless of ammo).

* Barrel channel is free-floated and bedded (front lug and tang).
* Trigger lightened to about 3 lbs; crisp with no sear drag.
* Scope base & rings are tight.
* Front & back action screws are tight (REALLY tight in front) and middle screw has been backed out.
* Magwell moves to the touch; not binding when gun in battery.

He thinks it's just a bad barrel, but I continue to believe we have a mechanical (e.g., binding) issue. What are we missing??

 

[SteelBlue]

I'm gonna say it is the scope internals.

 

[gunzo]

Sounds heat related to me. I'd agree with a mechanical issue, how much barrel to forearm clearance?

Bad barrels shoot bad groups at random, they don't predictably string vertical after x number of shots.

What is the cleaning process & interval? Is copper fouling badly?

 

[pisgah]

He may be right that the problem is the barrel. Whether or not it can be characterized as "bad" really depends on what he wants to use the rifle for. A hunting rifle you can count on for a consistently small 3-shot group is nothing to sneer at. In fact, a test I have frequently used for hunting rifles is to shoot one shot per day at the same target, then measure the resulting group after 3, 5, 10 days -- however long you want to do the test. What this shows is if the rifle can consistently deliver one shot from a cold barrel right to where you want it to go, which is what I want my hunting rifle to do, even if it won't shoot tight 3-shot groups.

Internal stresses in the barrel may well cause stringing after the barrel is warmed up from several shots. If the one-shot-a-day-for-3-days (which absolutely eliminates the hot barrel possibility) gives you a tiny group, a new barrel may be the only way to cure the symptoms you're seeing now

 

[kmoore]

If the scope is a good one and working right, the shooter is normally shooting better groups than that with other rifles. The shooter knows that cheek weld is very important and does not change that, from shot to shot or when getting back into position. Has a solid rest, is used to shooting 3006 rifles with that kind of recoil. I would look at barrel temps as others mentioned. Have him dry fire a few times after shooting, make sure he is not finching, many do. Shoot 1 round with a 5 minute break or longer.
How many rounds through the rifle, does it get cleaned correctly and with proper copper removal cleaning solvent.
After all, without being at the range and watching the shooter, knowing his background all we have is guessing.

 

[LuckenbachTexas]

Get rid of the bedding and have the rifle sit right into the stock with the screw torqued from 85-95 inch pounds. If its a wood stock this is especially important.
All of mine wear the All-Weather synthetics and they will shoot one hole all day.

Then shoot 30 quick rounds and plunge it into an icechest of ice water, clean, sight, and never worry about it again.


If its an ultralight, throw it into the trash.

 

[gunzo]

"shoot 30 quick rounds & plunge it into an ice chest of ice water"

Beside getting it wet, what does this do?

 

[LuckenbachTexas]

Redneck cryogenics. I don't know if it does anything metallurgy wise but it gets me back to accomplishing my task quicker by cooling the barrel down.

I read somewheres a while back that the number one cause of accuracy problems with 77's is the angle screw ain't torqued properly.

I think wood stocks are purdy and all that but being it is an integral part of the weapon functioning, its synthetic for me anymore. Those ruger plastic fantastics ride right under the barrel cradling it. Their accuracy in this configuration (for me) is certainly an argument against free floating.

 

[MZ5]

Rear action screw should _not_ be tight, not anything like what the front (angled) screw is. If you get the first 3 in a tight group, _then_ things come apart, it may not be a significant mechanical issue. Nevertheless, do check action-to-stock fit. I haven't had this with a Ruger stock on its original receiver, but Boyds and other aftermarket stock inletting is often just plain bad such that the receiver rocks down into place if you put _any_ tension at all on the rear action screw. That's not good and the rifle will never shoot as well as it otherwise could when that's happening. Lack of clearance for the mag box between the floor plate and the receiver also does weird stuff to precision.

Pisgah's suggestion to shoot one shot a day for 10 days at the same target is a good one that will tell you a lot about what the source of the error is.

 

[LuckenbachTexas]

We still don't have a definition of "walk", Direction or distance.

It's expecting a bit too much to think barrel heat won't effect her to some degree depending on configuration of ones supposed accu-rizing tricks.

You gotta bring her into 25 yards to diagnose effectively. Just a slight pull, or a blink magnifies by 4x at 100 yards.

I check a rifle at distance but all of my sighting in is done at 25 yards, period.