Just wanted to throw that old reminder out early in hunting season.
I was shooting my new 270 rifle I talked about in the Project Kimberly post Saturday at my gong. I was set up in a favorite field position for longer shots where prone isn't an option at 350yds. I set up my shooting sticks under the front of the gun, and my Eberlestock J34 under my right armpit for added stability. I feel like I can brace on the pack a bit and get fairly steady this way. I missed the 10" gong 4x in a row which is darn unusual. It was pretty windy and I blamed it on that, but knew I wanted to check my zero from the bench.
On the bench earlier today my first shot landed perfect. I thought about what else could have been wrong and I put my hand on top of the scope and added a little down pressure to emulate what the sticks would do. The next shot went high about 4" from where it should have landed and about 2" left. I alternated shots with and without pressure for another 4 rounds and ended up with 2 nice groups, one with down pressure high and left, and one without 2" high and centered. With moderate downpressure the stock contacts the barrel at the tip of the forend. Problem identified. I don't have time to work on this problem before my Wyoming muley hunt Oct 1, but I have other rifles I can use. I will see what my gunsmith says about stiffening up the stock or further opening the barrel channel. I may see if Manners or one of the similar companies will build a stiffer lightweight stock for my modified Kimber. I don't trust myself to not put down pressure on the gun in the field, old habits are hard to break.
Glad this was found and identified before my hunt occurs. I did the same test with my Rifles Inc 300WM from the bench today and did not have any issue. I will be testing it from field positions this weekend to make sure no issues show up there. I'm taking it shooting the 180gr Accubonds, and my old reliable 264WM shooting the 140gr Bergers. I'll let how we end up hunting decide which I carry, there is a 3lb difference in ready to hunt weights between the two.
Don't forget to test any new rifles from the positions you like in the field before hunting season!
I was shooting my new 270 rifle I talked about in the Project Kimberly post Saturday at my gong. I was set up in a favorite field position for longer shots where prone isn't an option at 350yds. I set up my shooting sticks under the front of the gun, and my Eberlestock J34 under my right armpit for added stability. I feel like I can brace on the pack a bit and get fairly steady this way. I missed the 10" gong 4x in a row which is darn unusual. It was pretty windy and I blamed it on that, but knew I wanted to check my zero from the bench.
On the bench earlier today my first shot landed perfect. I thought about what else could have been wrong and I put my hand on top of the scope and added a little down pressure to emulate what the sticks would do. The next shot went high about 4" from where it should have landed and about 2" left. I alternated shots with and without pressure for another 4 rounds and ended up with 2 nice groups, one with down pressure high and left, and one without 2" high and centered. With moderate downpressure the stock contacts the barrel at the tip of the forend. Problem identified. I don't have time to work on this problem before my Wyoming muley hunt Oct 1, but I have other rifles I can use. I will see what my gunsmith says about stiffening up the stock or further opening the barrel channel. I may see if Manners or one of the similar companies will build a stiffer lightweight stock for my modified Kimber. I don't trust myself to not put down pressure on the gun in the field, old habits are hard to break.
Glad this was found and identified before my hunt occurs. I did the same test with my Rifles Inc 300WM from the bench today and did not have any issue. I will be testing it from field positions this weekend to make sure no issues show up there. I'm taking it shooting the 180gr Accubonds, and my old reliable 264WM shooting the 140gr Bergers. I'll let how we end up hunting decide which I carry, there is a 3lb difference in ready to hunt weights between the two.
Don't forget to test any new rifles from the positions you like in the field before hunting season!
