SmallCaliberCentral

yes all your screws need to be tight on the rings, but not too tight. Too much pressure on the scope tube can cause issues with the scope and it's adjustments. A lot of people dont realize this and crank down on the scope.....bad....I recommend using the Loctite (that is removeable) and just making the screws snug. Just something to check.

Not speaking from experience here - just wondering if anyone else could comment from their own field testing:
- if the front swivel contacts the sand bag, would it throw POI off as far as Tony is seeing? and if so, would the groups still be good or open up a bit?

Here`s what i`ve done......could`nt get any JB BORE PASTE here in Tassy so after a discussion with someone (dont ask ) , I used some really really really smooth valve paste, done that a few times then polished the bore with a liquid metal polish that here in oz we call Brasso, now, i figure " you got to be cruel to be kind" system applies here , after all the scrubbing and so forth all this black ball powder looking stuff was rolling outa the bore, this is what a previous poster had explained happened to him , I guess it was carbon build up, so i have cleaned the whole thing back up with nornal gun care products and the bore looks like it`s made of chrome, talk about clean !! So i will try it again and let you all know if i fixed it or the alternative, Cheers Tony.

Glad you got rid of the stuff. Let us know if that solves your woes.

Scope:
-check that everything in the scope mounting system is secure (bases, rings and any windage adjustment screws). Do-not over tighten, normally 15-30 inch/lbs. depending on screw material. If you haven’t done so, get your scope rings lapped (NA if using Burris Signature rings).

-do a scope box test and see if it is repeatable.

-make sure your ELEV/WIND adjustments knobs are tight

Bedding:
-does the free-floated barrel pass the dollar bill check with both the barrel cold & hot?

-does the action fit properly in the stock?

-are the action screws staying tight?

Conditions:
-is there a difference in barrel temp from the good groups from the bad ones?

-is anything touching the barrel (no matter how slight)?

-how long is the round sitting in a hot chamber before the shot is taken?

-is the barrel fouled (copper or carbon)?

Ammunition:
-how consistent is your brass, especially neck uniformity and tension?

-how consistent are your run outs?

Of the cuff, this all I can think of for now>

HTH

Are some barrels more succeptable to fouling than others? I have the same rig as tony and find it fouls excessively. I have had some group consistancy but never POI shift. For instance I posted a target I shot with the 35g bergers that printed @ .361 I believe. That same session I shot a 3 shot group with 32g vmax that printed around an inch. I cleaned the rifle and went back out a few days later that shot the same vmax's into the low .3's. Maybe it was just me but it seemed odd. I always clean my rifles after each session, no more than 15 rounds per session. I had the barrel lapped, barrel floated, action bedded, trigger adjusted, scope rings lapped, all when I bought the rifle and is still relatively new (less than a year). The floating job is in question as I can pass a piece of computer paper under the barrel but no dollar bill will pass. Opinions? Hope Tony has some luck.

kjw - if the clearance between barrel and stock is very minimal, then maybe when it's hot it loses that clearance?
Something I also need to check on my M77 Hawkeye.

Hi kjw204 , I believe some barrels are more prone to fouling than others, this would come from the manufactoring process , the finall finish and dimensions of the barrel . Rifles as a whole don`t seem to be much dearer than they were 10 , 20 , 30 years ago , this leads me to a conclusion......they are junk these days, with very poorly finished barrels and so forth, I remember my first Ruger M77 in 25-06, way back then ....i think it was 7 or 800 bucks ??? boy , did it shoot , So i guess most cheaper rifles (around the $1000 mark ) shoot ok and we stuff around with them to make them better, but the older ones just seemed to of nicer quality and finish, These days you see a lot of newer rifles fitted with match grade barrels , i wonder why , I am not really moaning about things cause there is a heap of different stuff available for us gereral blokes , timber blue , timber SS , thumb holes , camo stuff, laminate , synthetic and the list goes on and on, all this for cheap prices, so yeah, the worse the barrel finish the more fouling , if there is little dull un- shiny bits and nooks and crannies around in the barrell i guess the crap will build up around them causing fouling , just think of it as a nice paint job on your car with a nice coat of polish , it washes off easily dont it ,
Sound like kjw204 has the same rig and has done pretty well what ive done , and has the same problem, sort of ,
I got one more trick up my sleeve if the valve grinding paste dont work...........I figure most of the fouling ingrediants are unburnt and burnt powder residue and copper and carbon, so , i will try a faster burning powder , heavier projectile, 50 grns, and crank that 204 way down in velocity , so should finish up with a 222magnum so to speak, see what happens there,
Lots of good suggestions from the forum , but as kjw204 and i know , we have done everything to do with scopes and floating and bedding and reloads and triggers and are sick of it , we want to chuck our 204`s in the river and go buy a 222 .
But no , i will pesist untill i beat it or it beats me .
cheers Tony

Tonyb three of us use the Ruger Predator 204 here in NZ. The main things we did to them was get the trigger lightened, polish the bore and most importantly torque the stock screws as per the instruction manual. They are all tack drivers. Hope this helps

well i certainly have polished the bore now, all be it with valve paste and Brasso , the trigger is very light and the action has been glass bedded , see how she goes tomorrow, i am going to try it out, thanks smokin .....

Well I'll be honest I would never have thought that a grand on a rifle should get you something of mediocre quality, I have two #1's in 25-06 from the 70's mind you, and they shoot great. I had a prohunter in 204 before I got this rifle and it never lived up to my expectations, sold it and won't buy another. Like I said before I'm still in the very early stages of load developement for this rifle and I want to adress the clearance issue I have with the float job and go from there. Ive been using varget so far, anyone know how temp sensitive it is?, I have some 8208 I think Im gonna try next.

Varget was the 1st of the temp stable "Extreem" powders Hodgdon brough in the country from ADI. It`s very good stuff in some app`s

kjw204 wrote:Well I'll be honest I would never have thought that a grand on a rifle should get you something of mediocre quality,

In Australia, a grand easy. Most half decent rifles are $1200-1500.
If you want a Sako, you're looking at $2500+
Similar for a lot of the glass you guys talk about.
Hence, we have smaller gun cabinets

Hope you're making progress Tony.
I just picked up some Rem7.5 primers and some 2206H and 2208 to start development on 39BK

Make sure you have proper torque on the action screws. Trust me it matters. Adam

ab_bentley wrote:Make sure you have proper torque on the action screws. Trust me it matters. Adam

X2. That'd be the first thing I'd check...