Factory Rifles - An Overview of 2008-2009

By Nathan Foster

In the Dummies Guide to Rifle Accuracy article, I wrote that on average, I was seeing an 80% failure rate regarding the ability of factory produced rifles to group within an inch at 100 yards. Yesterday, Stephanie informed me that for 2008, we only had one hunting client with an accurate rifle. The worst rifle we encountered during 2008 produced groups of between 14 and 18 inches at 100 yards.

In this article (more of a blog), I would like to give an overview of the rifles we encountered last year and share the general goings on of Terminal Ballistics Research ltd.

Of the problem rifles we worked on during 2008, the faults could be divided into two categories. The first category was rifles of sound design but with typical bedding problems (i.e. no bedding) and was easily rectified. The second category of rifles was those that suffered flaws within their design. These were either extremely difficult to rectify or in some cases, impossible without major modifications. A few rifles had a mix of both category 1 and category 2 problems.
 
 

Category 1

The best rifles we worked on last year were, as usual, the Remington M700's, the Howa/ Weatherby Vanguard rifles and surprisingly, Savage rifles. All were poor shooters when they arrived but after the usual Bedding, barrel floating and trigger work, shot extremely well and without fuss.
 
 

Weatherby/ Howa

We worked on two of these Japanese produced rifles last year. The first was a basic Howa M1500, the second was a Weatherby vanguard (a re-labeled Howa) both in .270 Win. As is almost always the case, both shot 3 inch groups out of the box.

I bedded both of the .270's and both needed a trigger job. One of the rifles had a plastic stock and it was very flexible but it was soon remedied with a heavy reinforcing fill of epoxy resin. The trigger of the Howa/ Vanguard is very course in design. The trigger can be adjusted so far but to get it to obtain optimum performance, the front face of the trigger itself needs honing otherwise the safety is rendered in-operable. This job should always be performed by a competent metalworker. Once honed and adjusted, the Howa/Weatherby trigger is a very light, crisp, reliable unit.

Ultimately, both rifles turned out to be real shooters producing identical groups of .75" with factory ammunition - both cheap and expensive brands. The Howa really is a gem of a rifle, a rifle for those who love the original Sako as this rifle is very much a direct copy.
 

 

Remington

We had a few Remington's come through last year. Like the Howa, all the various Remington M700 rifles tend to group around 3 inches before bedding, about .75" after bedding. I did have one SPS that grouped .4" at 100 yards after bedding- what a honey.

The only mechanical problem I saw last year was a rough muzzle. The muzzle had been strafed with Garnet during the blasting process. Fortunately, the muzzle was corrected with a simple polishing job, no need for a re-crown.

I also purchased a Remington for myself this year. It is the M700 Tactical, factory fitted with a Hogue Stock. Unfortunately, the cheaper Hogue, not the more expensive Hogue which features an aluminum chassis. The Hogue is a soft plastic stock with rubber over molding for superior grip. The design premise is smart, the rubber increases grip substantially. Under recoil, the forend stays firmly within the shooters (my) grip. Furthermore, the stock grips sandbags or day bags, resulting in a very stable let off and a noticeable reduction in felt recoil.

The problem with Hogue's M700 stock is twofold. A first problem is the use of soft, flexible plastic, the second problem is that it only has a partial plastic frame with the side walls consisting of solid rubber rather than just an over-molding. I have to assume that this was done to ensure that the rubber in this area would not peel away through long term handling. Whatever the reason, the result is an immensely weak platform. Of course the M700 Tactical is not really a tactical rifle, rather a tactical lookalike. The Tactical P (police) is the true tactical model and features a fiberglass stock. The Police model is a much more expensive rifle but a very good unit- there were none in the country when I went shopping for an M700 .308.
 

The Remington M700 Light Tactical sitting on the tail gate of the Land Rover.
 
As has already been mentioned, Hogue also make a sturdier model stock with a thoroughly sound aluminum chassis but this is their deluxe model and certainly not part of the Remington Tactical package.
 

 
To stabilize the stock, I filled the entire forend with a lightweight bedding compound. In the area which houses the rifle action, I ground right into the rubber sidewalls and deep into every nook and cranny. I then mixed my bedding compound with chopped up carbon fiber. Once the job was completed, I took the rifle out to the range and it put every bullet into one hole. Don't you just love heavy barrel Remington's.
 
 

Savage

The award for most improved has to go to a Savage stainless synthetic 7mm08 we worked on last year. This was the rifle that grouped between 14 and 18 inches at 100 yards. The rifle owner was a hunting client, a man who was new to hunting and keen to learn. Unfortunately, the Savage really had him confused. When he bought the rifle, my client had been told that it could definitely shoot tight groups. The client therefore came to the conclusion, that as a new hunter, he was a bad shot.

I shot a group with the Savage, the same size as the client's. We were due to embark on our trip away that evening so the pressure was on. I thought about setting the client up with a back up rifle but I could see the disappointment already setting in on my clients face. To that end, I performed a small experiment- real bush medicine. I bedded the rifle with auto body filler due to its quick cure time of around 10 minutes. The metal work was coated with wax and as soon as the rifle went into its mortise, the rifle was re-assembled, left to set over a cuppa then taken back to the range without further attention to fit. I had also noticed that the cheap Tasco scope had its parallax set incorrectly. Every time I shifted my eye, even slightly, the crosshairs wandered off the target while focusing was nearly impossible.

After sorting these things, the rifle immediately shot consecutive 1 inch groups. The hunt was a success and the client, to his own surprise, was a crack shot. When the hunt was over three days later, the rifle stayed with me for a full work over. This also included having to remove my messy bog job for proper epoxy resin bedding. This rifle is now a really nice shooter, another quarter inch grouper with Factory ammunition. I also want to give Federal the thumbs up with the load that we used, the 150 grain Speer Hotcor, rated at 2650fps but giving a true 2750fps in this and other 22" barreled rifles tested over 2008. The Speer bullet hits hard, opens up quick but retains a major portion of its shank for deep penetration.

The major problem with the Savage rifle in question was the plastic stock. Savage free float all of their stocks which is a real no no if the action is not bedded in epoxy resin. A rifle with no action bedding should always be pressure point bedded via the forend tip of the stock, forcing upward pressure against the barrel. Yes- the rifle will string vertically but this is at least predictable. Another problem was the steel pillars through the stock, meant to arrest stock compression when the barreled action is screwed to the rifle. The rear pillar was sticking up above the rest of the stock internals and was the only point of contact for the rear metalwork of the action. This in turn created severe vibrations and was a major reason why the groups were so unusually wide. The plastic stock was also very soft and flexible, requiring a full steel skeleton to stabilize it.

As a classic sporter, the tang of the Savage needs longer metal to ensure a stable bedding platform as most of the tang sort of hangs in the air. Yet regardless of my comments the system works as is. The Accutrigger is a very crisp unit. I have a few clients who wouldn't be without it, hunters who only get out a couple of times a year and are grateful for its foolproof system.

The Savage center fire rifle is certainly an odd thing. On the one hand, Savage always makes sure that they utilize top quality barrels, on the other hand, their target market is low income earners. Savage pride themselves on ingenious design which is simple and effective however this could easily be taken a step forwards towards remarkable 'out of the box' accuracy. As it is, the Savage is at least a good starting point.

A last note on the Savage. This design is awfully close to being a top contender as a modular rifle in an age where there is a market trend for switch barrel and tactical rifles. The action design lends itself well to the choate/ dragunov style tactical stock. The detachable magazine is a good unit, once you get to understand how it works. It would be nice to see a 10 shot magazine on the tactical/ culling rifles along with a choate style glass stock.

I worked on two Savage rifles last year, both turned out to be tack drivers once tuned and this seems to be the norm with this brand.

(Update Oct 2009) Check out the new Savage Accustock. Full length aluminum chassis with an incredibly innovative lock up design. Undoubtably, this will be the most accurate out of the box factory sporter of 2010. Also, please note that the Savage rifles I worked on during these last few months have had the highest quality bores of all rifles that I bedded and tested, vastly superior to this year's Howa which takes over 100 rounds and vigorous hand polishing to rectify. The Savage barrels had no break in problems, no excessive fouling or fliers with initial use - typical Savage barrel behavior.
 

Above- Goat shot by a client at a range of 350 yards using his tuned Savage .308 rifle.
 

Category 2

One of the most difficult things I had to do in 2008, was inform some very sensitive clients, that the high end rifles they had saved up for all year, were suffering design flaws. This is doubly difficult because to remedy a design flaw, the rifle needs to be altered. Nobody wants to pay $6000 for a rifle, and then have its value depreciated through after-factory alterations and modifications.
 
 

Blazer

A major problem rifle I encountered was a walnut stocked Blazer .300 Win mag, heavy fluted barrel. The Blazer is flawed in that the two bolts that hold the barrel in place are spaced too close together to support the weight of a heavy barrel. The result is a system under intense stress and with each shot, these stresses cause random vibrations. Groups produced by the Blazer averaged about 3 inches at 100 yards with a variety of ammunition. I have to say, the saddest part of the story was that the hunter who owned the Blazer was a middle income earner, a hard working laborer who had saved and saved for what he hoped would be the ultimate rifle.

There are two or three ways in which this Blazer and its kin can be accurised. The first is to change to a lighter weight barrel to relieve the stress. The second method is to pressure point bed the forend with epoxy resin. However, as the Blazer is supposed to be a switch barrel system, pressure point bedding ruins its modular capabilities. A third option would be to build a barrel block, basically a vice like aluminum block that is inserted into the stock. This system is most often seen in bench rest shooting. In an experiment using rubber packers to pressure point bed the rifle, I was able to get groups down to .75", nevertheless, the rifle would have needed epoxy bedding rather than rubber packers to retain that level of accuracy.

I was also told that the Blazer rifles can suffer from fouling problems after a very short period of use. The above rifle in question was de-fouled regularly during the course of testing.

As can be expected, the customer declined all modification option's in favor of sending the rifle back to the gunstore.
 
 

Titan

The Titan rifle is another new concept. This is a quick change barrel system designed and built in Germany. Titan make a small action, the Titan 3 and a large action, the Titan 6. The Titan 3 has three locking Lugs, the Titan 6 has six.

Unfortunately, the Titan is flawed at a design level. The action is essentially a piece of aluminum pipe. The bolt, barrel (barrel on some models) and the trigger unit are made from stainless steel. It is a well known fact that aluminum reacts with stainless steel. The process is called electrolysis and after prolonged contact, the aluminum rusts producing a white powder , much like a corroding battery terminal. Electrolysis can be minimized by anodizing the aluminum which Titan have done. This process etches a protective layer within the surface of the aluminum. Nevertheless, the coating is soon marred during barrel swaps and when working the bolt.

The method Titan have used to attach the barrel to the action is somewhat bizarre but probably effective. The action is so light and flexible that it can be used as a clamp, just like a hose clamp. Two bolts are used to simply clamp the action to the smooth barrel shank with no mechanical locking. The system is safe due to the fact that the Titan's bolt locks into the barrel, not the action. But- wherever there is the potential for slop, there is also the potential for harmonic disturbance.

The problems listed above are not however the most major problem with the Titan. The biggest challenge is the synthetic stock. The Titan stock is designed in such a way that as the action screws are tightened up (the two screws you use to put the rifle together), the stock splays. Put simply, the action and trigger guard just keep getting closer together as the stock expands out to the sides. Because of this, the Titan cannot be expected to group less than 3MOA at 100 yards.

The Titan does have steel pillars but if the screws are tightened to contact the pillars, the stock still moves. In some ways this is difficult to explain, suffice to say that each time the barrel is swapped and re-assembled, the stock moves and undergoes changes in pressure which dramatically effect accuracy. The remedy is to use screws to cross-bolt the stock to stop it splaying or have custom stock built, perhaps out of fiberglass.

I worked on just the one Titan last year. Again, I was unable to complete the job, as the owner did not wish me to alter the rifle so drastically.
 

Above- Titan 3 action. Note how the front of the receiver is slotted to allow it to be used as a clamp.
 
 

Kimber

I worked on one Kimber Montana last year followed by several queries from other hunters having similar troubles. The 7mm08 rifle in question would not shoot inside 5" at 100 yards with either factory or carefully hand loaded ammunition. I went over the bedding several times. Whoever had done the bedding and stock work had performed some of the tidiest and thorough workmanship I have ever seen. Regardless, the rifle would not shoot. I pressure point bedded the forend and obtained a 1.5" group. This would mean one of two things, either the bedding was at fault or the barrel was at fault. As stated, the bedding was studied over and over, checked for both points of contact and points of relief. Everything was perfect. As best as I have been able to discern, the Kimber had a faulty barrel.

I am not a barrel maker and it can be quite annoying to these people if folk like myself make outright statements of fact regarding fault finding. I can however say that there are several factors in the barrel making process that can contribute to poor accuracy. Stresses within the steel from the rifling process can, if not sufficiently relieved, lead to harmonic vibration problems. Other problems can include a rough bore or even a too highly polished bore.

The Kimber I worked on had other faults too. The ultra light weight action had been scaled down so severely that the mainspring (firing pin spring) was too small and weak to provide consistent ignition. Misfires were common at the range and recoil was severe due to a combination of ultra light weight and a short eye relief scope. After only a short period of time, I developed a flinch.

The good news for Kimber owners is that Wolf Springs (USA) makes a very powerful aftermarket mainspring. This and the fitting of a new barrel 'should be' sufficient to remedy the many Kimbers in circulation that seem to have been causing a lot of problems for shooters. I use the word 'should' because so far, owners of faulty rifles have opted to trade rather than go through the additional expense of rebarreling. Unfortunately, this creates a problem for other shooters down the line.

The Kimber saga is a shame, the actual premise behind the design is exceptional, a combination of the best features of the pre 64 Winchester and round bottom metal of the Remington M700. Although there is a market for ultra light rifles, the Kimber would still be an exceptional rifle with a normal sized action and barrel.
 
 

Sako

I acccurised two Sako's last year, a Finnlite 75 and a wood/stainless 85. I have always had very good results from earlier model Sako's. The original L series was an accurate rifle, very difficult to adjust the trigger below 3lb down to my preferred 2lb pull but with some careful honing, it could be done. Actually, we had an L series Finnbear here a few days ago for a trigger job and it managed 2lb after honing. The rifle was a suppressed .30-06 and as soon as the rifle was back in its wood, the owner walked out of the workshop, into the house paddock and shot a magpie at just over 100 yards. The AV series was even better than the original L series. These featured the same sturdy action and barrel along with an improved trigger. The Sako was just a basic twin lug front locking design, it worked and it worked extremely well.

There is a basic rule- if something ain't broke, don't fix it. Nevertheless, the Sako AV was completely replaced with the new 75 and 85 models which are worlds apart from the traditional Sako design. The design change occurred during the 1990's when manufacturers began to build rifles from 400 series Stainless steel due to strong market demand for all weather rifles. For a long time, hunters waited for what would probably be the ultimate rifle- a stainless steel Sako AV. Instead, Sako redesigned their entire rifle before making it available in both Stainless and Chrome Moly.

The new Sako models have a 3 lug design. This was initially adopted by Sako for their tactical TRG sniper rifle. The 3 lug design is incorporated to produce lower dispersion between different brands or types of ordnance or factory ammunition. In other words, there is less need to tailor loads to suit the individual rifles. While the action is certainly 'true', other changes to the action metal have made the Sako more prone to bedding problems. Gone is the solid flat bottom receiver which was excellent for bedding. Instead, the underside is a mixture of right angles due to the incorporation of the magazine release as a part of the action itself.

I bedded both the Finnlite and wood/stainless 85, and then took them to the range. The Finlite was extremely temperamental. It took a lot of time, studying my bedding and experimentation before I was able to draw any conclusions. The Finnlite could only shoot inside an inch as long as the barrel was left to cool for at least 1 minute between shots. Warm groups averaged 2.5". The Sako company never used to make light weight rifles. Traditionally, they expected the hunter to use what they considered to be the optimum tool for the job. I have since heard of other Finnlite rifles with similar troubles.

The wood/stainless 85 also proved to be a challenge. I had used wax release agent but due to the parallel sidewalls of the Sako, this was the wrong thing to do (on both rifles). The fit seemed good, not to loose or tight but at a micro level, the fit was too tight, enough to set up random harmonic vibrations.

Parallel walled actions really do need to be a loose fit in the bedding or else the action gets hung up. It has always been a source of contention for me, just how loose is too loose as there is also a point where slop will cause similar problems. Latex release agent is probably the best method of obtaining sufficient relief for parallel walled actions. Nevertheless, it is a delicate issue.
 

 
At the range, the 85 double grouped. Total group size was about 1 inch from memory but I knew the rifle could do better. In the end, I relieved the sidewalls of my bedding carefully until groups closed right down. Ultimately, I was quite happy with the 85, it was a real tack driver and did so in a very reliable fashion. The wood work was incredibly dry and brittle- if you have one of these rifles, get some teak oil and give the stock internals several coatings.

I had several hunting clients turn up with a Tikka rifles both last year and this year. The Tikka is basically the old Sako AV design, a cheap version (Sako are the parent company of Tikka) and utilizes a great amount of plastic rather than metal work. I saw one Tikka rifle shoot half inch groups straight out of the box. Another Tikka averaged .6" groups and still another averaged .7" groups out of the box. These rifles are great if you don't mind plastic instead of metal work. This includes the plastic trigger guard and plastic bolt shroud. I prefer mild steel, stainless steel or aluminum but this is a personal thing. I did come across one rifle that did not shoot so well but this was soon remedied with bedding. I have not seen too many T3 lite (light weight) Tikka's yet so either they are all very accurate and nobody needs to bring them to me or the hunters are blaming themselves for poor groups.

I did not work on any Browning Abolt's or Ruger M77's last year or recently. I have to admit, this has been a blessing. The Ruger rifle is a 50/50 gamble. It will either shoot well once bedded or the barrel needs to be unscrewed, thrown out and replaced with an aftermarket barrel. The Japanese Browning Abolt is also problematic although it usually wears a very high quality barrel. Perhaps we can look at more of these rifles and individual issues in future articles. I worked on one Winchester M70 last year, these are always good shooters once bedded, their only failing being the soft plastics used for the synthetic stock models.

I did not see any scope failures during 2008. At one point, I thought I had a failing Leupold VX1 but instead, the double grouping was caused by directional ignition from underloading the experimental short throated 7mm RUM I was working with. Bullet jump was 4mm (100 thou), load was 89 grains of Retumbo behind a 160 bullet. Velocities where either 3100 or 3300fps depending on where the powder was sitting in the case. Unfortunately, by increasing the load, pressure went through the roof- I ditched my short throated RUM idea shortly thereafter. As for the scope, all kudos to Leupold. That said, this scope was one of a batch that came to NZ which sufferd MOA adjustment errors. For each 1MOA, the scope gave 1.3 MOA. No other Leupold in our battery has done this before. The scope was sent back to Leupold and not only fixed but Leupold met me halfway when I decided to adopt target knobs as a simple upgrade.

During 2008, I saw many rifles with cheap Chinese scopes. Fortunately, these scopes were on low recoiling rifles. None failed at the range but I have seen several fail miserably in the field over the years. I have never seen a Chinese scope on a high recoiling magnum and have to say, if the well made Leupold VX1 cannot maintain zero under heavy recoil, the cheaper brands have no hope.

The biggest problem with scopes I have been testing during the year 2008 is the minimal eye relief. On many brands, the shooter must put his or her eye extremely close to the scope in order to obtain the correct view. Such scopes have a tendency to almost always belt the shooter in the face at some point. This problem has been compounded in recent years as there are a vast amount of minimal eye relief scopes being attached to light weight high recoiling magnums, especially the WSM's. Guys, if you want to shoot a high recoiling magnum, look for a scope with a minimum 3.5 inches of eye relief with 3.8 to 4 inches being optimum. By the way, the expensive European scopes often have extremely poor eye relief.

I have developed several incidences of flinch over the past few years from short eye relief scopes. It has really been a challenge to have to rebuild shooting skills, especially when a lightweight 7mm08 frightens hell out of me with seemingly substantially greater felt recoil than a .300 Magnum or my 7mm RUM. For those currently in the market for a new scope but on a limited budget, don't be afraid to shop around. A couple of U.S companies have purchased contracts with the major Japanese scope manufacturers (most folk will be familiar with the Bushnell Elite series) and without high overheads, are offering very affordable, high spec scopes- with good eye relief! The scopes are made to custom specs for the two companies as each company has different concepts of the ideal scope such as wide field of view versus a large amount of elevation (one effects the other). The brand names are Sightron and Clearidge, both have their own websites but for purchases and excellent communication, check out Jon Jackoviak's online store-www.theopticzone.com Jon is also the owner of the Clearidge brand, essentially selling factory direct.
 
 

Personal endeavors

Throughout 2008, my main goal was to finish the book, Hunting Cartridges of the World. This was always my main goal, not accurising rifles or guiding. Nevertheless, the ongoing guiding and smithing have become invaluable research tools.

The TBR website has been a major success, viewed daily by readers from all over the world. My I.T man and best friend Kelvin Brace has been the driving the force behind its success. Initially, it was my idea to promote the book on the website prior to its completion. My cunning plan was that site would grow very slowly and that by the time I had finished the book, the website would only just be beginning to receive attention. I was wrong. The website is viewed by thousands of people from around the world. Many have asked for the book and I have had to pass on many apologies for its lateness. This was most definitely poor planning on my part. Today is Saturday the 21st of March 2009 and I have finished all of the articles for the book. I am now in the course of completing the final edit but have yet to insert all of the ballistics tables for each cartridge as well as the cartridge technical drawings. To those who have been waiting, thank you for your patience and kind words of support.

One of the smaller (but pleasant) stumbling blocks of getting the book finished has been the need to keep website visitors entertained. More than a year ago, Kelvin informed me that I must reciprocate our visitors with informative articles. These articles have really been a learning curve for me as the style of my website articles is very much different from the book. In HCOW, I hardly ever use the words I, me, we, or any other personal type references. This is because HCOW is a text book and there is so much information contained therein, that there is no room for my personal blogging, or rather, it is very rare.

Another factor website visitors have probably noticed is that although the website is dedicated to terminal ballistics research, I haven't delved very deeply into articles regarding bullet performance more than a snippet here and there. Of course my ulterior motive has been to hold back until the book is completed. That said, I am quite happy to continue discussing terminal ballistics with those who wish to email me. I have thoroughly enjoyed the emails from around the world so please keep them coming.

We have also had a new and totally unexpected development, the creation of a bedding compound which might eventually be marketed through this site. The development of the compound was born out of my own need for an economical yet functionally superior product to what I had been using. The result is a product that I have not only been able to trial, but also, thanks to the generosity and tutorials of the chemist from the company involved, I have been able to experiment with all the base additives and create the compound from the ground up. This is now used in all my accurising work and is a great finished product which has tested well in the field.

I have very much enjoyed the interactions with all of my clients since we officially started our business in 2007 and would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for your great company and making all of this possible. Of the guided hunts, our pig hunting/sniping block is definitely the favorite amongst clients at present. A while ago I had a client put forth his own ideal package and price which seems to have found favor with many other clients. The deal has been two nights away (three days hunting), two hunters, two pigs and a swag of goats. The price is $800 which, when split between two hunters, works out to be quite affordable for hunters on a reasonably tight budget. The hogs on this block really test the hunter's rifle, both accuracy and energy. I don't think there is any cartridge that could be called too much gun for pigs.

Well thats my wrap up of 2008 - thanks again to all who keep in contact and I hope you continue to find my work as interesting as I do.

Cheers - Nathan
 

 
Disclaimer/ WARNING: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not endorsed by any manufacturers. Terminal Ballistics Research and the author take no responsibility for the use or misuse of any views, opinions or information expressed in this article.