doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com What the heck is going on!

I took the Fecker off the Borchardt and put it on "Old Reliable" my heavy barreled 1903 with a Niedner 30-06 barrel.

I "Boxed" or whatever the correct name is for shooting and adjusting a scope in a square. Shot at 100-yards.

A little cold and windy but looks OK to me.

Michael, 2 random thoughts spurred by the obvious vertical dispersion:

Forearm touching the receiver is a no-no

Barrel may have uneven contact against the front face of the receiver

The apparently vertical-only dispersion indicates, to me at least, that the underlying problem may be mechanical and from the outside rather than from anything within the barrel or ammunition itself. That is, uneven vibration of some sort such as an uneven connection between the various parts of the rifle, only manifesting itself under certain conditions.

Like I said, random thoughts.
Regards, Joe

Well it's complicated....First off the stock was made by Keith Stegall in the late 40's or early 50's so I hate to start changing much.

One problem I see is there is no forearm screw escutcheon and the screw is compressing a ebony wedge and seems like it needs tightening all the time. I put an "O" Ring under it and I'll see if that stays and improves anything. I just need some good weather now to test it.

I shoot all my single-shot schuetzen rifles off the barrel and the forend on all of them has full contact. The two Borchardt-Niedner .25-Krags seem to shoot better off the forearm so that's what I've been doing. The other Borchardt with full forend contact has averaged .788" at 100-yards for 200 shots.

How about trying it with the forend removed? Or with a temporary forend? That forend 'attachment' sounds like a possible culprit to me.

Even though the barrel rest is less accurate with this rifle, would it be worth the effort to see if it still shoots erratically when resting at the muzzle?

I completely understand about not wanting to change enything, but that 'attachment' is mickey mouse for sure. I'm afraid it would stick in my craw to a certain degree.
Regards, Joe

I agree that the attachment is mickey mouse and I could make a metal escutcheon and a new screw and not really change the original all that much.

I have a spare forearm that could be used with some work and I may yet do that as well. Right now I need some good weather, can you send some up?

The other possibility is I should stop whining about a 100 year old rifle that ONLY shoots around MOA and move on

But it's good clean fun and it keeps us off the streets and out of trouble!

At least for the most part...

And, now that we've finally GOTTEN some(!), I'm keeping all the good weather that I can! It's just now gotten cool enough to shoot down here.
Regards, Joe

This almost certainly is irrelevant but Savage 99s supposedly shoot better when there is no contact at all between the rear of the forend and the face of the receiver. I have improved the shooting of the two I have faced off that way. Only tried the two. Both .250.

Looks like a little progress, five, five-shot groups at 100 yards this AM averaged .781".

The "O" ring held the forearm tight without any movement. I'll have to make a steel escutcheon and new screw when I get some time.