doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Is it Me? Slightly OT

Sighting in my mauser 35 whelen AI I just built. I have been a shotgun guy all my life, just getting into rifles. First 2 groups of 3 clustered nicely. Had some vertical rising (stringing) on next 9 shells. The barrel is free floated. It was hot and I did not let the barrel cool much.

I thought vertical stringing only occurred with barrels that are not floated. True or false.

It could be me. I am an amateur from a rest. I was using a shooters ridge rest with 50# of shot. the front is not perfectly stable I need to apply firm pressure on the gun to keep it on target.

Could I have just missed?

Could I have push down on the gun enough to contact the barrel before firing or while bullet was in barrel?

Or maybe during recoil, I let the gun loose before the bullet left the barrel.

Note: it was about 100 degrees at time of shooting and barrel was not perfectly clean either.

I know this is a bit off topic, but I like the advice I get here and am proud of my first mauser sporter I built from scratch. I was inspired by the stuff I read here

Thanks

Jerry

For a hunting rifle I normally test with a three shot group.

You need to know where the first shot from a clean cold barrel goes. With a .35 Whelen you should not need more ;-).

If I shoot more than one group I let the barrel cool off. The majority of the sporting rifles I shoot are not free floated and they do start to move around after heating up.

Once your barrel is ambient temperature see where your first shot from a cold dirty barrel goes. Some rifles shoot better with a fouled barrel.

What does clustered nicely mean?

When one of my rifles has vertical stringing it's normally because I'm not resting the forend or barrel on the same spot for each shot.

PS: At 100 degrees I would be sick and looking for some air conditioning.

Thanks Michael,

Clustered nicely means 5/8" and 3/4" 3 shot groups. My range is 75 yards.
The groups were triangular.

That was when the gun was cold.

I was shooting 3 shot groups and then walking to the target to view them. In this heat, by the 7th shot it would take quite a long time to cool down.


When the gun was hot, the groups still had the same left to right spread (less than 1/2"), they just did not impact the same location vertically.

BTW the load was 225 gr barnes w/ 59 grains of IMR 4064. That is a max load in the non- AI version. Seems like a nice load in the AI case.

I think your right about not resting the forend the same way. The spot was the same because of the type of rest I was using.

BTW during our "coastal" (Zone A) deer season it can be 110 degrees. Although I don't think it would take 7 shots to kill a deer or a pig!

Jerry

How much vertical stringing did you have? If there was much...say an inch or perhaps more, it could be a sign of poor ignition, but, from your description of the groups I don't believe that's the problem at all. 57 grs. of 4064 should pretty well fill the Whelen case and prevent any ignition problems. I agree with Michael on consistent placement of the forestock and the heat. Michaels advice is good, cold, fouled barrel...and that could be beat to pieces with varying opinions but I'm not opening that can of worms. Good shootin' by the way!

Vic

Vic,

The stringing was as much as 1 3/4" - 2".

Part of my question is I thought vertical stringing is usually noted in barrels that heat up that are not free floated. If the barrel is floating, here should be no change in pressure on it.

Is this true?

Thanks

Jerry

Sometimes but not always. Your problem could be you, could be the gap, could be the barrel itself, could be the fitup of the barrel, could be your rest, actually it could be a number of things or a combination of them. Each rifle is so individualistic that it's hard to make any long-range diagnosis withour further info and/or further testing.
Regards, Joe

Michael gave you sage advice about testing a hunting rifle. If the first 3 shots at an animal aren't enough 2 more or even 10 more aren't going to help.

Jerry,

Who made your barrel? From what I understand, unless it is a higher end custom barrel (Krieger, Lilja, Shilen, etc) it hasn't been stress relieved and it will BENEFIT from having a pressure point of a few pounds located at the tip of the fore end.

You can test this out by cutting up 3x5 note cards (or manilla folders) into small strips and placing successive cards under the barrel and see if that solves the stringing problem.

I free floated a Ruger 30-06 thinking I was going to make and improvement. It still shot well, but no better. I had it glass bedded, and the gunsmith took out my free float job with a dab of epoxy close to the fore end. It shoots 3/4 inch groups all day. If you haven't done it, judicious bedding might take care of the stringing as well.

Also, after I clean my rifles, I always put a lightly oiled patch through the bore. But, before I go shoot, I put a dry patch through the bore and then a patch with a little windex (ammonia) through the bore to clean out any oil. I find the first shot is much closer to the following shots that way.

Is the stringing happening as the shots progress or are they random flyers?

Good luck!

Dave,

Thanks for the tip. The barrel is not a "high end" barrel, but an Adams and Bennett from Midway. I have some 5/8" 3 shot groups (at 75 yards, my range setup). So It can shoot. They are always the first rounds. The stringing is happening as it heats up and is not random. Again, it has been real hot here.

I built the rifle myself. I am pretty proud of my "float and bed" job. But this may be how I learn even more. I will try the index card trick, it is a good idea.

Jerry

PS. I had a factory Rem 700 BDL .270 that stringed until I had a gunsmith bed the action and float the barrel. Worked like a charm. So I thought I would do the same.