poor accuracy with swedish mauser

[300backfire]

took my 6.5 to the range yesterday, shot 8 groups. all of them came in at 2.5 inches. i put on a nikon 4-16x50 for the sole pupose of accuracy tests. i tried factory ammo, nosler custom 140gr, fed 140gr moli cote, four reloads using 95gr vmax, 130gr, 140amax, 140 burger. ironicly the 95gr was best at just under 2 inches followed by federal moli cote at just over 2.
ive still got the military trigger on it and suspect that to be a big contributing factor. yet i believe the real gremlin here is lock time. before shooting for groups i will always dryfire 10-15 times untill the cross hairs stay on target after the fireing pin drops. with this thing i dry fired about 30 times and my cross hairs jump about 3 inches {hense my grouping} would putting a cock on open kit help speed up the lock time? maybe so, but i feel the fireing pin is hitting to hard, causing my crosshairs to jump. i thought about snipping off a couple hoops off the pin spring to lighten it up. i just dont know.
my 300 wby and 243 i can shoot just over 1/2 inch groups so im sure what im doing is right. any ideas?

[catnthehat]

Likely more to do with the trigger weight and drag than the firing pin.
Change your trigger before you start messing with the spring.
Cat

[icehunter]

Trigger...sure... but also bedding,front barrel band causing pressure,ammo...try some 160 grain slugs out of it.A 2 inch group out of a milspec rifle is definately alright. Hows the bore? Crown? Barrel nice and clean? So many things to ask of this one...

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by icehunter

Trigger...sure... but also bedding,front barrel band causing pressure,ammo...try some 160 grain slugs out of it.A 2 inch group out of a milspec rifle is definately alright. Hows the bore? Crown? Barrel nice and clean? So many things to ask of this one...

I'm not sure if the bedding or 160's will make as big a difference as the trigger or are at fault, simply because the OP's best groups were with 95 grain bullets.
Seems to me there is a trigger control issue more than anything.
Cat

[300backfire]

ive bedded the action, free floated the barrel. bore and crown are good. your rigt cat, trigger was gona be next. this is a stiga, i thought it had a barrel replacement because it is tapered, but now im inclined to believe its an origanal thats been laithed out. corect me if im wrong but the barrel is stamped nitro tested. if memory serves correct barrels were nitro tested as a saftey precaution in shooting smokeless powder out of barrels that were origionally designed for black powder.
as far as spring is concerned, that pin is hittin really hard. like i said, when i dry fire, in a rest at 100yds, when it hits them cross hairs are jumping about 3" to the left. ironicly thats where my groups are landing. normally one would think {theres your problem, your pulling not squeezing} but thats not the case. the force of that pin hitting is causing all the movement.
my other rifles might move a bit, about an inch. but with some dry fireing i can get control and start shooting hot. having said that, a trigger will definatly help and will do that first. as far as lock time im not sure how i can speed it up yet make it lighter. seems to me increasing lock time would make it hit harder. could be wrong

[dero338]

boyds trigger, light lapping of the bolt lugs and bolt face to find out it was perfectly straight
then I lapped the receiver face and barrel sholder with a mild steel ring I made until I had proper headspace
bedded it into a solid stock and it is sub moa to 400 yard easy
barrel is a m38

[Whiskey Wish]

May I ask a question that is slightly off the OP's question but related?

I am assembling a Swedish M96 in 6.5 x 55 from TradeEx. I have all the parts except the trigger assembly and so far no reply from TradeEx. If there is no original trigger assembly available what, if any, aftermarket trigger assembly would you guys recommend?

It is just a Sporter that will punch some paper and maybe a few coyotes so not looking at a long range wonder rifle.

Thanks for any input.
Regards,
Dave.

[bigshell]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I'm not sure if the bedding or 160's will make as big a difference as the trigger or are at fault, simply because the OP's best groups were with 95 grain bullets.
Seems to me there is a trigger control issue more than anything.
Cat

Hunting buddy has one of them '96's he tried everything to get it to shoot.He got me to shoot it to see what I thought.Heck it was hard to tell if the safty was on or off it was so stiff.It was replaced with a timny shortly after that and it'll cut bullet holes now.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by bigshell

Hunting buddy has one of them '96's he tried everything to get it to shoot.He got me to shoot it to see what I thought.Heck it was hard to tell if the safty was on or off it was so stiff.It was replaced with a timny shortly after that and it'll cut bullet holes now.

Yup, I've set up lots of them for other guys, and the first thing I do is swap out the trigger- makes an enormous difference!
Cat

[6.5 shooter]

I agree with Cat it's all about trigger control. Timney builds a good trigger for about $100 bucks.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by catnthehat

I'm not sure if the bedding or 160's will make as big a difference as the trigger or are at fault, simply because the OP's best groups were with 95 grain bullets.
Seems to me there is a trigger control issue more than anything.
Cat

Military triggers are designed for safety as much as accuracy. He's trying to take this gun somewhere it was never designed to go. Also since it's a two stage trigger, is he taking up the slack properly?

Grizz

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

Military triggers are designed for safety as much as accuracy. He's trying to take this gun somewhere it was never designed to go. Also since it's a two stage trigger, is he taking up the slack properly?

Grizz

This is true, but they certainly can go there if properly modified.
Cat