Questions for you Weatherby Folks

Lefty-Canuck · #1 08-14-2011, 10:50 PM

I was wondering a couple things. Prior to this new .240WBY I picked up I have only owned a USA made Accu-Mark in .300WBY. I got out to shoot my new rifle today and a couple things I noticed.

- the barrel is not free floated, there is no "pressure pad" like the Remingtons sometimes have. It is the barrel inlayed in the wood.

- the very first group I shot in the day "cold barrel" was my best one, 1 fouler and then 3 shots in about 0.5 inch! was pretty happy with that.

-I then noticed that afterwards in 3 shot groupings I could get 2 shots close, touching sometimes and then I would get a horizontal flyer that would make my group 1-2inches from the 0.5 inch it was with 2 shots...

-When I got home tonight I got to thinking about my action screws (I know better than this...) The front one was tight but the rear one was loose....I could have turned it with my fingernail DOH...

-another thing I noticed is when I had the barrel and action out of the stock...the barrel, action, and stock (yes the wood stock) are stamped with the serial number of the rifle! I thought this was pretty neat as I have never seen that before.

-further reading showed that this rifle was manufactured by JP Sauer! also very cool.

After all that here is my questions,

-should I free float the stock?
-is the trigger on this vintage of rifle "user adjustable" ?
-do you think the horizontal stringing/flyer I was getting is due to the pressure on the stock/barrel surface (it was also a pretty warm day)
-that loose action screw could be the cause of all of this...?

Thanks!

LC

Big Daddy Badger · #2 08-14-2011, 11:24 PM

As far as I know Weatherby has a 1st shot best shot way of looking at things so I don't think any of their stock rifles are floated.
Both mine needed a pry bar to get them out of the stock and I left them that way.

Someone must have floated one though....

If it helps... mine maintain sub MOA to MOA accuracy through the first magazine even if I do bang them out quick.

Nice calibre by the way. Overlooked by most folks but loads of slap.

Not sure about the other questions but...I don't imagine the loose screw was helping you out much.

Lefty-Canuck · #3 08-15-2011, 10:28 AM

Here are some groups...now I see some are vertically strung and some are horizontal....

Shot beside the quarter is a fouler from a clean bore.....the next three are very nice.....these were the first 4 trigger pulls of the day.

Other groups using the factory 87gr SP velocity from ~3470-3500

Groups are still decent its the flyers that bug me....or am I being too picky?

Note the POI changes relative to the target center as I was adjusting the scope to optimize POI between groupings.

The outlier was random...not always the first or the last shot....

LC

PoppaW · #4 08-15-2011, 03:18 PM

I would just start shooting 2 shot groups. Really I would. Tighten up the rear action screw and go shoot a few more. I know some of the older Weatherby's had some skinny barrels so maybe it could be heat also. Make sure its all tight and try again.
Good luck

Big Daddy Badger · #5 08-15-2011, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoppaW

I would just start shooting 2 shot groups. Really I would. Tighten up the rear action screw and go shoot a few more. I know some of the older Weatherby's had some skinny barrels so maybe it could be heat also. Make sure its all tight and try again.
Good luck

Good idea.
The 1st one is the most important anyway... and ... those are better groups than a lot of guys can get regardless of what they are behind.

BallCoeff.435 · #6 08-15-2011, 06:26 PM

A lot of Weatherbys will throw a flier quite often. Their freebore and thin pencil barrel just about guarantee it.

Freebore itself is not necessarily a big problem, but most factory rifles don't have a really tight throat before the leade angling down to the grooves. So the bullet can occasionally get lodged into the leade a little bit crooked before going down the barrel. That, together with a long pencil barrel which has a lot of 'whip', just about ensures that you will have fliers which cannot be remedied.

I gave up on trying to second-guess and fix fliers, and just got a fat barrel made with a custom short-freebore chamber. Hand loads with slightly reduced pressures using slow powders now make for great consistency/precision.

Lefty-Canuck · #7 08-15-2011, 08:27 PM

I just realized that this Weatherby I have has very little freebore! I think I can actually load close to the lands and still have a short enough COL to load the rounds in the mag, hopefully this will help the accuracy. I know the groups are quite decent and far from horrible...its the fliers that bug me!

I am going to give the 90gr Nosler E-Tips a try and see how they shoot. Anyone else have experience with these bullets?

LC

tchardy1972 · #8 08-15-2011, 09:00 PM

Not alot of Weatherbys across my bench but here is my 2 cents. I hade a parker hale in 22 250 that would do the same thing and what I found is when I shot a 5 shot group it actually shot two differnt groups. The stock was so beat up I changed it. Free floated the barrel, bedded the action and the thing turned in to a real shooter. Your loose screw could be the problem as it would let the action squirm when the shot is fired.

Lefty-Canuck · #9 08-15-2011, 09:31 PM

Yes I think you guys are right about the loose screw....(maybe its the "wingnut" behind the rifle!) I know better than to NOT check those before shooting...I was just so excited to start cranking rounds through the new toy....we I am sure some of you know the feeling!

I picked up some more of the 87gr factory rounds I was using and I will give them a shot plus some handloads I worked up. I'll report back hopefully tomorrow night on if it helped or not.

LC

Tactical Lever · #10 08-15-2011, 09:50 PM

I would not free float, rather glass bed it. I would have guessed that the barrel heating up and contacting a tight spot in the stock was the culprit for your fliers, until you said that the flier happened in random order.

How much time are you allowing between groups?

Are you cleaning the barrel between groups? Try shooting a fouling shot or 2 before your group.

Switch bullets, or try different loads.

2 shots close consistently doesn't suggest a loose screw, but who knows.

Nice shooting regardless.

Tactical Lever · #11 08-15-2011, 09:57 PM

Your velocity was only deviating 30 fps? I would chrony a few more to watch consistency, looks like most are going vertical.

Lefty-Canuck · #12 08-15-2011, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tactical Lever

I would not free float, rather glass bed it. I would have guessed that the barrel heating up and contacting a tight spot in the stock was the culprit for your fliers, until you said that the flier happened in random order.

How much time are you allowing between groups?

Probably at least 5 mins sometimes more, barrel was warm but not hot to the touch

Are you cleaning the barrel between groups? Try shooting a fouling shot or 2 before your group.

I cleaned before the day...the group on the blue target was from clean bore cold barrel, 1st 4 shots of the day. Did not clean between groups

Switch bullets, or try different loads.

Going to try some 90gr Nosler E-tips tomorrow, longer bullet high BC for 6mm (0.403)

2 shots close consistently doesn't suggest a loose screw, but who knows.

Nice shooting regardless.

Thank-you! overall pretty happy with the rifle, if I can suck those groups in with handloads I'll be more happy

Should mention these were with the 87gr Weatherby factory ammo that use the Hornady 87gr SP bullet.

LC