SmallCaliberCentral

O.K. I fell for the look of the 700 vtr in 308. thats the one that sits in the tupperware stock. the trigger is great and down to what I am guessing to be 2.5 lbs. I have only shot the remington factory 150 grain cor-loks thru it, heres what happens. I have been to the range 3 times with this gun and the results have been the same every time. the first three shots at 100 rds are right on top of each other I mean one hole, outstanding. then things go south the fourth shot is about 1/2 inch to the right and the fifth shot is 1/2 inch of the 4th to the right. then they start flying all over the place. this is with a clean barrel. now if I only ever wanted to shoot three times this would be a true tack driver, however i like to shoot more then three times.
whats the first thing you would do to this gun. I am sure its stock related, should I try to remove the pressure points at the forearm and float the barrel and bed the action. bed the action and the barrel. bed the action and part of the barrel. any one have any other ideas to try.
Cracker

Hey cracker, I had the same problem with my VTR in .223 until I got a couple hundred rounds through it. It has settled down quite nicely and am very happy with it. It will shoot 5 rounds in a ragged hole at 100 yds. I don't know if yours is broke in yet But make sure you keep the copper out of it and it should settle in.

Thanks for the encouraging words, when I cleaned it it was full of copper.
Cracker

cracker wrote:Thanks for the encouraging words, when I cleaned it it was full of copper.
Cracker

You just answered your own question congrats Now fix it.

If you have not done so already, I would suggest going through the breakin process that you will find on many websites, such as Dan Lilja's, who is a quality custom barrelmaker. It sounds like you got the copper out, and you may have to repeat this process a number of times as the barrel is seasoned and broken in.

Another issue that occurs to me is that as ambient temperatures rise, and your chamber and barrel get heated up with successive shots, and your ammo may be sitting in the sun, then the resulting pressures may be rising considerably. My gunsmith warned me about shooting in warmer temperatures, letting ammo sit in the sun, etc. It can be quite dangerous, and will play heck with accuracy and consistency. If you had a chronograph, you could probably see the evidence of this occurring as velocity could be changing as the heat rises.

Yeah, and after you get the copper out, go after the carbon. I use Bore Tech's C4 Carbon Remover after cleaning for copper, and the brown/black gunk that comes out is quite surprising. During break-in a good bore lube such as Witches Brew Break-in Fluid from http://www.hollandsguns.com will reduce the copper fouling sticking to the steel.

If it gets really fouled up then an application of JB Bore Paste followed by JB Bore Bright may be in order.

Also, don't shoot too fast and overheat that new barrel until it's broken in. A hot barrel will foul worse, and it's adjusting to stress introduced by heating and cooling cycles.

Even the custom lapped barrels I use require a bit of break-in, and it is really obvious when they reach the break-in point, groups shrink and it becomes real easy to remove the fouling with a few wet and dry patches.