As I grew up in CO, my grandparents had a farm over the border in a very small farming community in NE. I spent a lot of time there growing up. A lot of that quality time was with my grandfather and his Remington 572 Fieldmaster. He usually kept it loaded with .22 shorts, but LR were always on hand as well. I'm not sure of the age of that rifle but it was manufactured before they serialized them. I was so enamored with it that my Dad bought me a new one when I turned sixteen. My new one was so fancy in comparison, it had tall adjustable sights, shiny varnished stock and forend with (embossed) checkering. And it was clean! My grandfather never cleaned his guns I believe. He had a Springfield 12ga shotgun (Browning A5 copy) that would occasionally double fire on him when we were hunting pheasants. At that point we would drive into the local CO-OP filling station and he would use the gas nozzle to squirt gas down the action of the unloaded gun, work it a few times, then put it in the bed of the truck. We would go inside and talk to the other old timers for awhile while his gun dried out. But I digress...
I spent many years hunting rabbits and rattlesnakes alongside my grandfather with our matching guns. Eventually I inherited his 572, it sits in the safe next to mine. It never really dawned on me to compare them against each other for accuracy until many years later when I was a LEO firearms instructor with a slow day on the range. I toted both guns into work and before I shot them, I decided to clean them both thoroughly. The new one was just a little dusty as I always kept it clean, caring for it after each time I shot it. The old one, holy cow! I don't know how it kept working. So much powder/lead/carbon/dust/straw/lint from a saddle blanket seat cover in the Chevy truck....
I scraped, cleaned, dug, and brushed it clean. That is also when I first took note of the differences between them. Mostly where and how the barrel assembly is held onto the receiver. The new one has a separate tiny screw on the side of the receiver that the old one does not. I assume this was to help secure the two assemblies. The new (er) rifle has beautiful deep rifling. The barrel is also 20", the older one is 22". The older gun's bore is near smooth, the very faintest rifling visible. The old stock originally had a shellac on it, but many years of an Aqua-Velva soaked cheek and body oils softened the finish up and allowed debris to cling to it. (Ahh memories)
So off to the range, 50 yds, open sights, on a lead sled rest (already in place for sighting shotgun sights for slugs). Ten rounds from the 572, worn out, mechanically neglected, near smooth bore... 1/2"-ish group, definitely under 3/4 inch.
The new(er) one, 10 rounds, sharp crisp rifling, meticulously maintained... 1 1/2" group and a flyer.
Frustrated, I took it to my friend in the armory, a long-time gunsmith for Browning. He identified that the tiny screw on the side of the receiver for steadying the barrel assembly had stripped its threads in the receiver, perhaps I took it apart too many times for thorough cleaning. In his magical hands, a modified 1911 grip bushing was installed like a thread-sert. A new screw was manufactured on the lathe and blued perfectly. Once it was repaired and re-assembled, it was off to the range for what I was sure to be a huge improvement.
Another ten rounds... well maybe is needs to bed in. Another ten round group, did I tighten everything correctly?? Another ten round group, it must be bad ammo...
All groups, three rounds or 50 round box, that D@#% gun can't group better than 1 1/2 inches at 50 yds. Boy does it sure look pretty sitting in the safe NEXT to the gun I use.
Rusty
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Originally Posted by ulav8r
