It took half a day to get this rifle to shoot a decent group, but something was very wrong.
I wrote about this rifle a couple of weeks ago, a pre-owned Winchester Extreme Weather Stainless chambered in 7mm-08 Rem. It appeared to be in perfect condition. The fact that the scope was worth nearly the cost of the entire package should have made me suspicious.
In my first sighting-in session, I tried 120-gr. Barnes Triple Shocks with several different powders. I tried 139-gr. Hornady Interlocks and 140-gr. Nosler Partitions with several powders. This rifle didn't group in inches, but in feet. If I hadn't used a huge cardboard sheet as backing, I wouldn't have had a clue where most of those bullets went.
Eventually the rifle grouped my favorite load well, and I claimed success. I took it inside and began cleaning it on a Sunday night. I was still cleaning it a week later, and I don't mean 10-15 minutes a day with a few wet patches. One patch after another came out of the barrel as black as night. I'm like a bulldog when I get on a project, and I stayed after it almost nonstop.
The worst was when Miss Laura looked at the random assortment of holes on the target and the massive pile of black patches in the trashcan.
"Do you think you got taken?" she asked.
I did, but I would never admit it to her.
I consulted Bill Pool, a gunsmith and owner of Arkansas Gun Traders in Benton. He was puzzled that the bore could be so dirty after such a protracted assault with solvents.
"I started with Ballistol, and that worked," I said. "Then I switched to MP7 gun cleaner, which is more aggressive."
"Are you using a copper solvent?" Pool asked.
"Barnes CR10 and MP7 Copper Cleaner," I replied.
"CR10 is pretty strong," Pool said.
"That MP7 is excellent stuff," I said. "I'm finally through the powder fouling, and now I'm pulling out a ton of copper. I'm going 30 strokes at a time with a wire brush."
Pool agreed that was abnormally large amount of copper fouling.
"Somebody in one of my online groups said that the previous owner probably shot moly-coated bullets and coated the bore with moly," I said.
Pool thought it over and agreed that might well be the problem.
"When you get it clean, bring it in and we'll bore scope it," Pool said.
A few days later, Pool pronounced the bore clean as a whistle. He inserted the bore scope and observed tool marks perpendicular to the rifling all the way down the barrel. The killer, though, was a big gouge in the bore near the opening, or the crown.
"A rifle with a damaged crown isn't ever going to shoot," Pool said. "That's the last thing a bullet hits before taking flight, and it's going to throw it off course every time."
Pool suggested cutting off a small bit of the barrel and recrowning it.
"I won't guarantee it'll shoot," Pool said, "but I guarantee it won't shoot the way it is."
On Friday, Pool called to say he'd finished the recrown. As he examined the stock, he noticed that the bolt handle did not sit squarely on the action. Instead, it sat on a small bit of stock material that formed a lip.
"That can throw it off quite a lot," Pool said.
He shaved off the material until the bolt connected with the action, and he inspected all other potential trouble spots.
On Sunday, I took the rifle out to my range. Two different loads hit the paper at 50 yards. From there it should be easy.
I took the rifle back up to my bench 133 yards away and calculated the number of clicks to elevate the point of impact to the center of the target. The load was 139-grain Hornady Interlocks powered by 40 grains of IMR-4064 and Remington 91/2 primers. The elevation was correct, and three rounds printed a very nice group for deer hunting.
I clicked the windage seven clicks to the right and switched to a lighter load, 38.5 grains of 4064. They printed a near identical group in the center of the target.
On Monday, I took the target to Pool.
"Ya done good, Cap'n," I said.
Pool was very pleased, as was I when I showed the target to Miss Laura.
"That thing sure is loud," she said.
That's her way of saying, "Ya done good, Cap'n!"
Sports on 09/22/2019