Range report, new 30-30 barrel (photos)

[KirkD]

My Winchester 94 30-30 (made in 1959) had a problem. It didn't shoot groups .... it shot huge ellipses at 100 yards .... usually 2 - 3" wide by 14-16" tall. After trying everything from shims to adjusting tightness of barrel bands, I finally realized that the barrel was bent. A new barrel was obtained and taken to the gunsmith. The smith removed the old barrel and confirmed that it had a 1/32" bow in it. It is my theory that as the bullet curved around the bowed barrel, it set up vibrations which tended to give these huge ellipses. The 'smith tried to straighten the barrel but could only get it within .008 bow. The new barrel was installed, I loaded up 20 rounds of 150 grain Sierra JSP's over 30 grains of IMR 3031, and went to the range today.

For the first five shots, I rested the carbine on a padded rest, with the contact point being just forward of the receiver, slightly ahead of the gun's balance point. I was shooting at 100 yards, supporting the buttstock against my shoulder with my left hand, and using a Lyman receiver sight. The results are shown below ....



I studied the results for a few seconds, noting that the horizontal spread was only 1 & 5/8" but the vertical spread was 4 & 5/16". I wondered what would happen if I moved the contact point of the carbine on the padded rest forward to just behind the rear barrel band. I put up a new target and fired off 5 shots. Four of the shots grouped within 1 & 3/8" at 100 yards, but the fifth shot opened it up to almost 3 & 1/2". I then went back and fired 5 more shots into the same target. When all was said and done, 8 shots went into 2 & 5/8" and the remaining 2 shots opened the group up to 3 & 1/2". Seven shots were within 1 & 7/8". A photo of this second target is shown below ....



All in all, I am very encouraged. This is a huge improvement over the old barrel. Also, my eyes tend to water when shooting in the cold in the winter time, forcing me to keep blinking to try and keep the target clear 100 yards away. I find this distracts from my concentration, which led to a few sketchy shots that were among the last 10 fired, where my sight picture was less than sharp. All this to say that I think the gun actually shoots better than I was able to give today. I want to do further experimentation with different bullet weights and with cast bullets. I'm not sure how much I'm going to get done this winter, but once the snow starts melting, I'll do some more load development.

[Ysabel Kid]

Interesting post Kirk! Any idea on how the old barrel got the bow in it?

[KirkD]

I suspect it happened during shipping. One of the two rifles shipped to me this year had a box that looked like it had been bent. I can't recall for sure if it was the 30-30 box or the 44-40 box, but I think it was the 30-30 box. The 44-40 shoots straight.

[Ysabel Kid]

That's a bummer! Well, it does look like you are on the right path. You can send some of that cold and snow down this way - anything with moisture is welcome!!!

[J Miller]

Kirk,

I'm glad your new barrel has improved the accuracy.

When I shoot my 94s, or any of my leverguns to be more specific, I hold the forearm with my hand as if I was shooting off hand and rest my arm on the rest. That way none of the rifle contacts the rest. I "used" to be able to get consistent 2" groups at 100 yds that way. I'm long out of practice, I wouldn't even claim to be able to do that now.

Now as for the bend, here's a good story to tell. It's a levergun, it was in the saddle scabbard and the horse rolled on it. Better story than being bent in shipping.

Joe

[LeverBob]

Howsabout this one;

You went into a saloon lookin' for a bounty bird...he got feisty & you cracked him on the nut to calm him down! "Yep, bent mah barrel over a runners head, got him cuffed & on the way to the calaboose"! Had to buy a new barrel!

What do ya' think...huh?

LeverBubba

[Old Savage]

Kirk, shows some promise. Which shots are first? I do something similar to Joe resting my hands and arms on the bag rather than the gun itself but you have shown us some good groups before with other rifles.

[KirkD]

The target with only five shots was shot first, but the carbine was resting close to its balance point. The target with 10 shots was shot second (with the carbine resting near its rear barrel band), but there are two 5-shot groups on that target. The first has the holes circled in red ink. Of those first 5 shots, 4 of them were within 1 & 3/8". Out of the total of 10 shots, on that second target, 7 of them were within 1 & 7/8". If I could get all 10 shots within 1 & 7/8" I would be ecstatic. Time, loads, and practice will tell.

[Old Savage]

What I meant is what was the group for the first three shots. I wonder if the cold up there magnifies the effect of a hot barrel?

[Mojo]

Those vertical strings could also be the result of a sparkling clean barrel. All of my Marlins will string vertically with a clean barrel until the bore is sufficiently fouled which usually takes five to eight shots.

The old Winchester sight used to have a barrel break-in procedure posted. Believe it or not it is still posted at http://www.winchesterguns.com/services/ ... .asp?ID=28 . I have found their recommended procedure to work quite well.

[KirkD]

Old Savage, that is a good point. There is a much greater range in temperature here from a barrel at air temperature and a warm-to-the-touch barrel. My binoculars cannot resolve a 30-30 hole at 100 yards and I didn't feel like a 200 round-trip walk after every shot, so I don't know which were the first three shots. In retrospect, it would have been a good idea to take the walk through the snow to the 100 yard target, at least for the first 5 shots to see the effect of barrel warming.

Mojo, thanks for that info. I did start with a spanking clean barrel ... in fact the barrel was spanking new. I'm busting with curiosity as to what this barrel will do with 170 grain cast bullets, so I'll probably clean all the copper out of the barrel and load up some 170 grainers next. Unfortunately, my work schedule is pretty heavy for the next two and a half months with a lot of traveling away from home, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to do this.

[Bigahh]

Thats fine shooting Kirk with open sights at 100 yards, and a new barrel not yet broke in. Maybe that barrel will like 170 grain bullets even better.

[Ben_Rumson]

Nice report Kirk.. Glad you got the rifle back up & running..Looks very encouraging.... It's probably barrel harmonics as you suggest... OTOH moving the rest farther forward decreases the amount of pivoting you get between your shoulder & fore arm...
Good luck

[Griff]

Sounds like a definite improvement! A 1/32" off plumb wasn't going to let ya shoot around corners, so ya did the right thing!

[Marlin .35]

I have found, in my experience, if I rest the receiver of the levergun on the bag and fire, I have more constant groups. Yes, I know that the lever hand does not have that much room to work with using this method, but it is sufficient for my purposes!! Art

[JReed]

Looks like she will turn out to be a fine shooter after the bbl breaks in. I hardly ever shoot off a bench but it seems like you have it well in hand. Keep us up to date as she breaks in and you find the load she likes best.

[20cows]

Also, my eyes tend to water when shooting in the cold in the winter time, forcing me to keep blinking to try and keep the target clear 100 yards away.

Yep!

[w30wcf]

Kirk,
Glad to see that you are getting some decent results with your "new" .30-30.

w30wcf

[Dave]

That isn't bad for a first time out. If you are letting the barrel kick up freely you might consider trying a few shots holding the fore end like you would normally with the back of your hand on the front bag.
I have found that this gives me better groups with a lever off bags than just letting the gun ride the bags like a bolt gun. YMMV