Thread: Causes of accuracy in a rifle

You can take a cheap ($ 400) action like an Omark, and provided it is trued and the barrel is chambered correctly, it will shoot just as well as a Barnard.

You can take a match grade Krieger, and if the gunsmith is a numpty, it will never shoot as well as a factory Tikka...

Chamber and barrel alignment / trueing is probably no 1 on my list, very closely followed by bedding.

Those 2 issues will solve the vast majority of accuracy problems.

A competition rifle might shoot incredibly well and then groups start to open up as the barrel is shot out. Nothing else has changed and non of the other factors can compensate for the shot out barrel. A new barrel is fitted and accuracy restored.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

A competition rifle might shoot incredibly well and then groups start to open up as the barrel is shot out. Nothing else has changed and non of the other factors can compensate for the shot out barrel. A new barrel is fitted and accuracy restored.

There seems to be a growing consensus that the barrel is the most important element in regard to the accuracy of a rifle.

Originally Posted by ebf

Chamber and barrel alignment / trueing is probably no 1 on my list, very closely followed by bedding.

Those 2 issues will solve the vast majority of accuracy problems.

Barrel number one and Bedding number two in regards to accuracy?
Does this sound about right?

Barrel ?? Hmmm. I once rebarreled a 6.5-06 that had been shooting well (it was a Mauser 98, there were always several factors at play getting these to really shoot, unless your name is @nor-west who is the tinniest bastard with Mausers I know, or is it that he associates with @Brian . . . ).

I chose a Kreiger cut rifled barrel and had Din Collings fit and chamber it (a grandson actually did the work). Shot like shit. I tried a lot of things, loads, bedding all sorts. Shot like shit. Probly put 250-350 rounds through it.

Several years later I decided to take a second punt on it, and had it fitted it to a Ruger Precision rifle (by Mark at Waitaki engineering). He set it back and chambered it in 6.5 Crudmore. Shot like a demon, despite being a hunting weight profile I shot possibles at 300, 400, 500 and 600 yards with it.

Figure that one!

Originally Posted by zarathustra

Barrel number one and Bedding number two in regards to accuracy?
Does this sound about right?

Depends on the rifle, see my comments in post #17

Bedding would probably be my first call. That alone could give you the accuracy gains you need/want.

Trying to gauge exactly what your looking for, I've built a couple of "F" class rifles on 700 actions and yes they work but your limited to palma profile as the action isn't strong enough to hold anything heavier reliably. Barrel making is a 'art' to get it right requires a high degree of technical proficiency in heat treating, boring and rifling. Some factories do it better then others. When it comes to accuracy 'factory' rifles are all built to a price point, some are better then others and as the saying goes you get what you pay for, except with savage which seem to all shoot really well. If your looking for ultimate accuracy look at benchrest rifles. If you want to play PRS look at ruger precision rifles. There is no ultimate one rifle, you'll need about 6 to do everything

To put these elements into some sort of 'accuracy rating order' is difficult but just going off the posts on this thread I probably can make a 'top 3' (with a tie for 3rd):

1 - Barrel: the most important factor is the quality of the barrel.
2 - Bedding: next comes the bedding of the rifled action
and that indirectly leads to/means a rifle needs
3a - Stock: a firm wood, fiberglass or laminate stock for the bedding to be stable in.
But equally important is also:
3b- Bullet: the quality and consistency of the factory/hand-loaded ammunition

As for the last two elements in regard to an accuracy rating order, I have no idea:
Trigger: quality and amount of trigger pull required.
Action: concentricity
Lets call the last two a tie as well...

the bit that flys out end of barrel is the bit that gets MEASURED to determine accuracy....... it doesnt matter how friggin good your rifles action ,barrel and muzzle are or if its got a zillion power scope on it...if your loads have inconsistant powder weights ,the projectiles are seated wonky and you have used mixed batches of brass....with wrong bullet weight for barrels twist....you are on hiding to nothing before you start.
and while on subject...what IS accurate enough???
my 30ish year old poohseventy is a classic for this....with good reload where Ive dotted the Is and crossed the Ts it will group under an inch happily,no matter if its a 110grn loaded mono splitzer or a 170grn round nose cup n core....
I can put ANY and ALL loads into a playing card group combined....have done it off bench to eliminate the me factor.
so for bush hunting where 90% of shots are sub hundy its plenty good enough and what load doesnt matter.
I owned a 7.62x39mm and never bothered to try to develop accurate load for it...2-3'' was plenty good enough as it was a short range bush rifle.
my .223 on other hand I are a little more fussy with the reloads and she pokes little holes close together as a result.
good trigger and reasonable glass help no end...speaking of triggers that poohseventy came from factory with trigger set at what seemed like 25lb and no way could I group it properly...it booted like a bastard too with thin recoil pad so I started to flinch...fought that for 20 years before suppressing which finally sorted it out for once and for all.

#1 nut behind butt
#2 everything tight so not changing between shots
#3 ammunition
#4 any thing else rifle or scope related.

^^^ Lots of wisdom right there for the absorption of . . . . but the young fella's never listen/don't want to hear, I just wish they'd spend their considerable $$$ with me (but I don't make gun stuff!!).

Thought about this thread some more...

Here's my take. Assuming a competent shot, with stable rest, calm weather blablabla.

1) If the action is not bedded, do that first, then shoot and see how accuracy improves
2) If the action is already bedded, get a competent gunsmith to clean up/refresh the crown, then shoot and see how accuracy improves.
3) If both above have been done, put some quality reloads, tuned for that specific rifle on target.
4) If all of the above fail, start thinking about a new barrel. While the gunsmith is at it re barreling the rifle, get him to check the action threads are true etc.

The interesting thing would be define accuracy and in what context and shooting discipline and or distance.

From my experience the most important thing is confidence in the setup and your ability. Your ability plays a big roll. Its easy to sit on a bench and master the art of shooting groups, but to be accurate in a hunting environment or even some other disciplines you need to get your ass of the bench seat. The ability to be accurate and savvy enough to tick the fundamentals in different situations requires practice. Stock design, grip and how the rifle is rested also plays a role here.

You also need to have a very good understanding of how weather affects the internal and external ballistics of your setup and more importantly how to compensate for them or reduce the influence. Short distances with high BC bullets helps, but the best marksmen I know are all good wind readers.

You need a barrel twist that stabilizes the bullet and clean and constant bullet exist all centered around the crown.

The next thing would be internal ballistics. A top notch rifle will most likely increase/assist with a wider accuracy node, but a top notch rifle will no be accurate with inconsisant ammo that doesn't shoots to one of the nodes. For long distance shooting you will be more accurate with a load that produces small SD or ES velocities ( reducing vertical) compared to a load that shoots small groups with a high ES/SD. The ideal would be one hole groups with very low ES/SD, but this is not always possible. This is where chamber and the metal work come in.

You need a barrel that is able to provide constant surface for the bullet to travel against. Inconsistencies and especially buildup of copper and carbon. Some barrels provide a larger shot count in which they are able to deliver it, while others don't. Throat erosion in fire cracking (shot out barrel) contributes to these inconsistencies and thus accuracy challenges.

Cutting the rope short here, most of us aren't able to constantly utilize our rifle, even factory rifles, to their full accuracy potential. I sometimes think we chasing all these small little gains in the hope that it will make us better marksman, but we aren't willing to put in the practice.

Suppose accuracy to be a woman ...

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Suppose accuracy to be a woman ...

You are being far too sipholofical sir

Saw a video once where they took an off the shelf rifle and modified it one thing at a time. Shots a group , factory gun and basic hunting ammo. Changed barrel, shot a group. Changed stock,shot a group. Off the shelf high quality match oammo, shot a group. With each mod the improvements in accuracy were about the same in group size reduction for each change, none seemed anymore beneficial than others in themselves but each made a significant difference. Very good video to watch and the rifle was a true tack driver in the end but if nothing else it showed any of the mods made a big difference but the true potential wasn't found until all the mods were done