>223 shooting 10" groups at 25 yds.!

[Captain Capsize]

I have a recently acquired .223/20 ga. o/u. Shooting store bought .223 jacketed varmint rounds it was grouping 1/2" at 70 yds. Couple of days ago I tried my own cast .225 44 gr. boolits over 6,7,8 gr. of Unique. There was no trace of grouping, they were shooting all over the place at 25 yds. I thought it might be my boolits and still do somewhat. However, I may have found part or all of my problem.

Yesterday while running a patch through my barrel i found a very rough spot several inches from the chamber throat. I ended up scrubbing, wire brushing, using vinegar/h2o2 and hours of elbow grease to remove the accumulation of lead. After getting the lead out I still have a rough section of the bore about 3-4". I can't see it but I can feel it when I push a patch through. I have no clue as to why the barrel is rough. Perhaps a previous owner got something stuck and damaged the barrel trying to remove it. I am thinking if I shoot any more lead bullets I am going to end up with a heavy lead buildup again.

So now the question is ... what do I do about it??

[country gent]

First thing I would do is look for a local Gun shop that does gunsmithing and has a Hawkeye bore scope. This will enable a view of the "rough " spot to determine if its rust, tooling, poor care or neglect. Then decide from there. Slugging the bore wont tell alot. The bore scope will give a true view under light magnification making things easier to determine. Depending on what is seen, fire lapping may be a help with tooling marks and minor rust. The only other thing to try would be a barrel break in procedure of shot a round clean shot clean for 5 rounds then 2 shot groups for 10 rds then 3 round groups for 15 round. 5 shot groups to 100 rds cleaning every 5 rds. This is done with jacketed bullets. If its neglect or poor care then its a **** shoot. Another issue will be twist rate in the barrel. As most 223s are set up for a 55 grn Jacket bullet or heavier. I have seen 6 1/2 twist custom barrels for 90 grn bullets. Measure the twist with a tight fitting patch and see how far one rotation of the cleaning rod takes. I would guess its 1 turn in 12 but could be 1-10 or 1-9 also.

[Captain Capsize]

Okay, good advice. I will search out a bore scope. The Savage 24 .223 o/u has a twist rate of 1:14 for future reference.

[contender1]

While I've been to Merritt Island,, I don't have any plans to be there any time soon. Or,,, I'd break out my borescope for you! Good advice above. Get the gun CLEAN & then see if you can determine what is going on inside the bore.

[johnson1942]

country gent is right about the twist rate, i suspect that is the problem. when you match the bullet length to the twist, i bet it will get the groups you want.