Hi everyone,
I have this firend. . . don't you just love stories that start that way? Really, it's not me. . .

His 1808 is immaculate, like the former owner(s) never shot it. Wood only has one little ding where the bolt was pulled out and hit the front of the "cheekpiece." The outside of the barrel and action don't have a scratch. Anyway, the problem is at 100yds it shoots "minute of 8.5 x 11"!!! My benchrest technique is not the best, but it was spraying the Wolf Match Target (or any other good to great brand) into a paper plate sized area!

I suggested he try loosening the action screws then tightening them up shooting for group, then tighten some more and repeat to see if anything helped. He said he tried that by tightening the front bolt first, then the rear first, then both alternating, standing on his head, etc... Its got a Weaver T-36 on it now and eveything there seems tight.

I told him that German piece of junk needs to be taken to the dump and I volunteered to do it for him - of course!!! ;) He needs to to step up to a Chipmunk and cut his group size in half!!!

Anyway - we all know this gun should be shooting into an inch with one eye tied behind my back! Any ideas before he jumps into a new barrel? I'll pass the suggestions along.

Thanks in advance,
ShootingStar - Greg Chandler

I'd try another scope first.

1. Clean thoroughly.
2. Check scope mounting from the foundation (base, rings) upward.
3. Replace the scope with a "known" commodity.

Check for a buildup of crud in the bloop tube... use a 12ga chamber brush and carb cleaner to clean it out if needed.

Check to see that the tube is snug to the bbl. and that the crown doesn't have anything building on it. These rifles build up carbon fairly quickly and some of them don't like it.

If it's in the original stock... like it sounds... I'd torque it to 44 in/lbs front and back like the book says and shoot it. If it doesn't shoot then, torque isn't your problem.

Try some Eley. Preferably with the EPS bullet.

Finally, the 1808's have a reputation of being frustrating off the bench and picky as hell about how they're handled but should not extend to typing paper groups. If it just won't clean up you might talk to Evelio or Mark about a take-off MSR bbl.

I agree with the suggestions above. High quality ammo may help more than anything once you check the basics noted in the previous posts. If it doesn't fix the problem, you might check the crown for nicks.

Advice so far is spot on, especially CWS's info....and he has considerable experience with these type of things...only thing I would add is when re-torquing the action bolts you might just run them up barely snug enough to hold the rifle..then "bounce" the gun a couple of times on its buttpad to "seat" the action against the recoil lug (If I recall correctly these have a lug between the barrel and action that likes to be "set" solidly against the stock) and proceed to tighten the action screws to the proper settings, snugging them down a bit at a time until the wrench clicks...

Kitty

Anybody check the crown? It wouldn't be the first Annie I've seen slip through the cracks on QC.

Mary