Help me understand these loads

It will likely be a few weeks before I get it back. I know they were going to have Mark Bansner look at it as well. I will keep you posted, thanks for the advice.

Talked to them today, its going out in the mail back to me. They did find a bad extractor and replaced it. It now cycles everything fine. Looking forward to doing some more testing with it. Should have some grouping up next week.

Yep. Finish breaking in the barrel, then further load devolopment is required.

For MY rifle the Berger, ELDX, and the ABLR like to be seated just off of the lands.

I got it back yesterday and it was throwing the same groups. The action is a lot smoother and it didn't jamb up. They sent it back with a very nice soft case so it was definitely with sending it in. I took the new bore cleaner to it and it was dirty and copper fouled. I scrubbed it and let it soak for almost an hour. I ran over 50 patches thru it and still was getting traces of blue from the copper. I finally said enough was enough and called it good. I shot it this morning at 100yards with the accubonds and this is what I got. Am I crazy to think I can do better with a mountain rifle?

I'd hunt a rifle that grouped like that with no problem! Heck, most of mine don't group that well...

Which ones were your fouling shot? How far do you want to shoot? For a 400 yard and in gun that is perfectly acceptable accuracy. The shooter will cause many more misses than that rifle will.

That's pretty decent for a light weight rifle. Be sure not to use a brass jag while cleaning with boretech or any copper cleaning solvent. It gives a false blue color just like copper. Use a coated or aluminum jag.

JLS said:

Which ones were your fouling shot? How far do you want to shoot? For a 400 yard and in gun that is perfectly acceptable accuracy. The shooter will cause many more misses than that rifle will.

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The foul shot was into a stump so I had a clean target. As far as distance I would like to stretch this gun out on coyotes here at the farm. As far as big game goes 4-500 is my max provided perfect conditions, realistic 3-400 in mountain conditions.

cahunter805 said:

That's pretty decent for a light weight rifle. Be sure not to use a brass jag while cleaning with boretech or any copper cleaning solvent. It gives a false blue color just like copper. Use a coated or aluminum jag.

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I was using a brass one so that would explain the light blue streaks after I soaked it.

Wipeout will save a lot of scrubbing time.

I would rate that group shown as acceptable. But just barely.
Not what I would hope from a high end rifle company.

That said, many rifles ( most factory anyway) shoot around one inch groups or slightly larger.
But, some barrels do improve with use. After a hundred rounds or so it could get to shoot 1/2" groups on a regular basis.

I have several factory rifles that shoot exceptional ,but took years of buying and trying to get them. Most I purchased were only capable of 1 1/2" at best.

The higher price point guns shouldn't have trouble getting 1/2".
But lots of factors go into a proven rifle.

Ammo, brake in barrel time, shooter error, and optic inaccuracies are at the top of the list.
Barrel fowling would have to be pretty severe to be a big factor.
I regularly shoot out to 400-500yrds. and fire 60-70 rounds between cleaning. Have seen no notice able group spreading.
I let the barrel cool to a Luke warm after every 3 shots normally, but even a solid ten shot string doesn't normally get affected by over heating.

I say keep shooting some decent factory ammo for a while and then recheck your groups.
If no luck on improvement. I would check the torque on the bases and rings and maybe switch optics.

If still no luck. I advise letting a known good shooter fire a few rounds out of it.

If that still has no improvement then a for sale add is the best option if you're not happy.
It took three years and four rifles for me to find a good tack driver off the shelf to use as my long range rifle.