Contender G2 .223, Really Bad Accuracy

[hylander]

First time shooting my new to me G2 in .223
2 shots less than an inch, then flyer high left or low left or low right or high right.
A good 4-6" away. Repeated this several times with quality ammo.
Found the buttstock was loose, so I tightened it and the forearm up.
When action is open there is a bit of side to side play, but I wouldn't think it that bad to cause such horrible flyers.
Action seems to lock up tight.
Bore was cleaned spotless before session. Scope and mount are secure.
Crown is good, no burrs.
Ideas ?

[koger]

Bullet weight and twist rate are what?

[Gobeyond]

Smart, what he said^^^

[Delkal]

And are you trying to use cast bullets (gasp)? I gave up on that in a 223 long ago.

YMMV.

[M-Tecs]

If it's a TC barrel it should be 12 twist. Depending on barrel and bullet they max out at between 62 & 65 grain. Try some quality 55 grain bullets if you haven't already. Stay away from FMJ's until you get your accuracy issues resolved. Some FMJ shoot well and others not so much. I would recommend Hornady 55 grain V-Max or Nosler Ballistics Tips.

Were the holes in the target round? What distance? What ammo?

While not common scopes do go bad.

[hylander]

1:12
100yds.
55 ttsx, 50 barns Varmint Granade and 40 Nosler ballistic tip, 55 fmj.
55 ttsx would not even hit the 18"x24" cardboard. Holes were round, no yawing.

[Barry54]

The 55 grain copper bullet may be on the edge of stability in that twist. I wound up using 53s.

The Contender is sensitive to how it’s held. Were you placing your weak hand in the same spot for all the shots?

23” bull barrel? Lighter? Wood? Synthetic?

[hylander]

The 55 grain copper bullet may be on the edge of stability in that twist. I wound up using 53s.

The Contender is sensitive to how it’s held. Were you placing your weak hand in the same spot for all the shots?

23” bull barrel? Lighter? Wood? Synthetic?

23" Bull, synthetic.
Weak hand does not touch rifle, only rear bag.
Front bag is rested under forearm just in front of receiver.
I'm going to swap out the scope for a known good one.

[stubshaft]

Pour a chamber cast or use a borescope to check the chamber concentricity. While I was competing in Silhouette I found a fair amount of them in various calibers. IIRC, Bellm had a couple articles about it.

[koger]

Just my 2 cents worth, I have never had any luck with Barnes bullets, in any caliber. Noslers had issues with soft/hard jacket material which can cause two different groups, for that reason I quit using them long ago. They may have solved that problem. I shoot a lot of bench rifles and build a few every year and am always reading about things that make different bullets shoot or not. A common occurrence with Barnes and other solid copper bullets, requires you to completely strip your barrel of any and all other bullets fouling before shooting them, to get accuracy. A buddy ran into this recently we had built him a new super duper varmint rifle with a brand new Shilen barrel. He started shooting Barnes match bullets out of the gate and they shot tiny little groups. He then shot some Hornady and Sierra both of which also shot stellar. He loaded up some of the same Barnes and when he shot them again, they shot patterns instead of groups. I mentioned watching on the Youtube channels, Backfire and Ron Spomer both having to strip their barrels clean of any fouling before shooting Barnes. So he tried that, and instant success. Apparently the gilding metal they use for jacket, creates friction with any other type of jacket fouling and accuracy goes out the door. You might want to give this a try.

[dverna]

Just my 2 cents worth, I have never had any luck with Barnes bullets, in any caliber. Noslers had issues with soft/hard jacket material which can cause two different groups, for that reason I quit using them long ago. They may have solved that problem. I shoot a lot of bench rifles and build a few every year and am always reading about things that make different bullets shoot or not. A common occurrence with Barnes and other solid copper bullets, requires you to completely strip your barrel of any and all other bullets fouling before shooting them, to get accuracy. A buddy ran into this recently we had built him a new super duper varmint rifle with a brand new Shilen barrel. He started shooting Barnes match bullets out of the gate and they shot tiny little groups. He then shot some Hornady and Sierra both of which also shot stellar. He loaded up some of the same Barnes and when he shot them again, they shot patterns instead of groups. I mentioned watching on the Youtube channels, Backfire and Ron Spomer both having to strip their barrels clean of any fouling before shooting Barnes. So he tried that, and instant success. Apparently the gilding metal they use for jacket, creates friction with any other type of jacket fouling and accuracy goes out the door. You might want to give this a try.

A very interesting post. Thanks for the information.

[hylander]

Just my 2 cents worth, I have never had any luck with Barnes bullets, in any caliber. Noslers had issues with soft/hard jacket material which can cause two different groups, for that reason I quit using them long ago. They may have solved that problem. I shoot a lot of bench rifles and build a few every year and am always reading about things that make different bullets shoot or not. A common occurrence with Barnes and other solid copper bullets, requires you to completely strip your barrel of any and all other bullets fouling before shooting them, to get accuracy. A buddy ran into this recently we had built him a new super duper varmint rifle with a brand new Shilen barrel. He started shooting Barnes match bullets out of the gate and they shot tiny little groups. He then shot some Hornady and Sierra both of which also shot stellar. He loaded up some of the same Barnes and when he shot them again, they shot patterns instead of groups. I mentioned watching on the Youtube channels, Backfire and Ron Spomer both having to strip their barrels clean of any fouling before shooting Barnes. So he tried that, and instant success. Apparently the gilding metal they use for jacket, creates friction with any other type of jacket fouling and accuracy goes out the door. You might want to give this a try.

Barrel was spotless clean before shooting.
I actually love Barnes bullets, I shoot a lot of them and in different calibers. I have never heard of or experienced this phenomenon with Barnes bullets. Last week I sighted in my 45/70 with Barnes, after shooting cast. Still shot moa.
I am hoping it is a scope problem, I will retest Saturday with a known good scope and clean bore.

[Larry Gibson]

Are you sure that 23" bull barrel has a 12" twist? You might measure it if not done already(?). The fact your Barnes TTSX bullets would not be on paper is an indication of a faster twist. My Contender 21" with a 12" twist (actually an 11" twist as measured) shoots those Barnes with moa accuracy as it does with Hornady 55 gr SXs, Sierra 50 gr Blitz's.

What load(s) are you using?

[high standard 40]

I had a 23" bull barrel Contender that grouped poorly. I had it shortened to 20" and recrowned and accuracy was greatly improved. The problem was too much weight forward for the lockup on my particular action. So that is something else to consider.

[Delkal]

All factory Contender .22 centerfire barrels have a 1-12 twist. You only need to check with third party barrels.
TC twist rates.png

[Larry Gibson]

All factory Contender .22 centerfire barrels have a 1-12 twist. You only need to check with third party barrels.
TC twist rates.png

Yes, that's what the list says. However, like many manufacturers they may have used a 9" twist after that list was made. With the advent of heavier bullets loaded in the 223 and 5.56 cartridges the faster twist was required. Best to actually measure the twist rate rather than assuming what it is.