Meet 'Judith' (my rebuilt 300PRC)

[Againstthegrains]

The factory barrel was thin, probably too thin for what I wanted to achieve. It was sold as a 'semi-heavy barrel', but was certainly not.

I spent many range sessions and over 200 shots trying to get a group. I'd need to see the log I kept on my bench. I tried almost everything, from four different primers (CCI, Federal, Winchester etc), three different powders (N570, N565, Retumbo), lots of different COL's, different neck tensions etc. The only constant was 225ELD-M's, because I could not find Berger bullets in reasonable numbers (200.20X's or 215's) and I'm to poor to shoot A-tips.

It also had a tendency to go 2" left at 100m cold bore, completely unacceptable in a game where cold bore shots count a lot of the time. Eventually I did get it to go about 0.8MOA, but no amount of 'fiddling' was going to fix this.

This is a point I made on another thread, that some factory offerings within a batch can be lemons. With all the effort you have put in at load development, 0.8MOA is the best you can get, then there is a problem with the set up. My Howa is currently in the licensing process, so in a few months I will know if I have a keeper, or if I will have to go down the same path as you and rebarrel.

A friend of mine did this, and the smith had to ream out the original thread on his Howa action, and re-cut a wider thread on the action and new barrel to fit.

The new rifle shot a 1 hole group on the first day!

[Againstthegrains]

That depends very much on what is wrong.
What most people consider "trueing" is simple re-cutting the shoulder that tightens against the action face. This can be done to an existing barrel (although you will probably need to re-cut the chamber).

If the thread or the chamber are not concentric with the bore then you are a bit screwed.

This video shows the full "treatment" quite nicely.

[oafpatroll]

I shudder to think what those tools would cost in randelas.

[pblaauw]

The new rifle shot a 1 hole group on the first day!

I went to the range on Saturday afternoon with about 35 rounds left over from the Send-It match I went to last year April. Now this ammo was not made to shoot well in this barrel, and I could feel it was tight on closing the bolt. I wanted to shoot them to fire-form, and see what shoulder bump is needed etc. First thing, I could feel I need to trim the brass just a thou or two. Secondly, I wanted to measure the speed, since I had a 26" baseline for the rounds. Shot 5, cleaned the barrel, shot another 5, just ran a boresnake through it, and this was shots 11-15. Shots averaged 2880 FPS, which is a little slow given they were 2780 FPS in a 26", but I'm not chasing speed. Even with all the weight and the brake, it's still a sturdy smack when you shoot it, so getting four to touch was happiness on my part.. except there's always that one shot

I'm switching over to N570. JD Els asked me to try some 216 Peregrine Glider bullets and provided a base load, so I'll be giving those a try in the next few weeks. If they're anything as good as the hunting bullets I use in the 3006 I'll be happy.

[Againstthegrains]

Absolute Happiness to see a group like that