TargetTalk

I have a 1907 that has less than one season of prone in it and the rifle sudddenly stopped shooting accurately. I thought it might be a bedding issue, but since having it bedded it still is inconsistent. This change was literally overnight.
I shot a conventional 1588 and then took the rifle with me on a business trip so I could practice dryfire in my hotel room. I put the dryfire firing pin in for the trip and when I returned a week later I put the real firing pin back in the bolt and the rifle shoots lousy ever since. I bought the rifle new and this change occurred shortly after the warranty expired.
Does anyone have any clues what could cause a rifle to do an about face like this?

Is the muzzle crown banged up? Nicked, or has a hanging burr?

check the action screws for proper torque/tightness, check that sights front and rear are tight, the and apertures are locked down.

Charlotte,

as well as the above, check that the spring for the "live" firing pin is on properly. If it's not it might be casuing light strikes, or inconsistent ignition.

Another thought is that the dry firing pin was too long and has dinged the barrel face enough to cause a burr.

Tim S
Taunton
UK

when my rifle starts getting loose groups I brush the chamber area, seems to build a carbon ring right in the leade area and about a dozen short strokes straighten it right out. The brush that I use to do this with is brass of course, but also fits loose enough to allow it to go back and forth. I follow this up with pushing a tighter brush down the entire barrel removing it from the rod after it exits the barrel, I do three passes. I have one barrel that it will take about 10 shots to start grouping again, another takes 4-5 shots. Hope this helps
Rod

I've been through everyone of those things. The crown is perfect, the action screws have been torqued properly, the barrel and chamber have been cleaned and inspected with a bore scope and it is free of all fouling.
The one thing that always bothered me about this rifle is the soot streak that shows up on every case. The brass comes out clean on my CM-2 but this rifle has always ejected dirty brass.

You need to find out if it is the action or the stock that's causing this.
Test the action (only) in a vise with your best ammo. OR: borrow antoher stock and shoot.
How does it perform? Good? Then you have a problem with your stock. Bad? Then it is the action.

Problems can occur due to bad firing pin springs. I would get a new set of Wolf springs to eliminate that possibility. It is cheap to eliminate that possibility. Good luck.

Have you had the Headspace checked and the Chamber looked at, something not quite right there?

Martin

One thing that will cause erratic shooting is oil under the loading ramp.
Remove the action off the stock and remove the ramps. Clean and rebuild, test.

Kiwi bob

You wrote that you brought the rifle on a business trip.
A different climate and humidity can change that wooden stock, if you are unlucky. That would be my first thing to check.

If the rifle suddenly stops to shoot, you search for a million different things here and there. You HAVE to do it methodically otherwise you might be really lost for a long, long time.

I would:

1. Check the position and screws of your sling, buttplate and handstop.
All OK?
2. Test the stock and action separately, an If both pieces are OK, then;
3. Check the rear and front sight.

Are you testing accuracy? just by shooting it prone as you normally do, shooting from a bench rest or a machine rest?

I don't know how many times I've had shooters tell me there is something wrong with their gun, we lock it in the machine rest and it shoots just fine. That still can mean a problem with the sights, but it quickly eliminates a lot of other issues.

The initial feedback I got from the people I shoot with was that there couldn't be anything wrong with the rifle, that it had to be me. I had another shooter try the gun and it shot lousy for him. I shot two other rifles, the CM-2 using the Anschutz sights and I shot fine, the sights were fine and I was able to call my shots. I shot with a CZ sporting rifle in the prone position using BRNO 1950's era aperture sights and I shot just fine and was able to call my shots. I cannot call my shots with the Annschutz.
Bad shots with my CM-2 are 9's, but with the 1907 I'm shooting 7's and my muzzle/front sight response to recoil doesn't justify it.
I'm an iron sight only shooter but did try the rifle with a scope off the bench and got dismal results.

Charlotte wrote:I've been through everyone of those things. The crown is perfect, the action screws have been torqued properly, the barrel and chamber have been cleaned and inspected with a bore scope and it is free of all fouling.
The one thing that always bothered me about this rifle is the soot streak that shows up on every case. The brass comes out clean on my CM-2 but this rifle has always ejected dirty brass.

Charlotte I brought up your recent message to comment on an earlier reply of mine.
This is not normal in a "Match" .22 the Round cannot be sealing correctly in the Chamber causing a larger group, I may be totally wrong not having seen it but it should be looked into.At least get the Head Space checked.

Martin

Martin, I definitely plan on having the headspace checked. Thanks for that point. This whole thing has me completely puzzled.

How many rounds have you aprox. fired thru the barrel?
Ammo that used to perform earlier might not do so after 2-4000 rounds in a new barrel... The barrels character change. Have you tested some new batches?

I've gone through about 1 case of ammo in the rifle. I was practicing with SK Std Plus and using SK Match in competition.
I'm going to drive the rifle to Chuck Gartland.

Did you check to see if the trigger screws holding it to the action came loose. If it did, the vibrations and ignition would change on every shot.

Hi Charlotte,

i think you use the normal 1907 wood stock. Is it possible that the stock ist broken? I mean not realy broken, i mean a hairline crack possibly in the butt. Is there any bad or unnormal feeling when you shoot the rifle?


Best wishes from Germany

Frank

About the ammo...
Are you using the same batch as before? And is it batch tested to your barrel? Do you have any better ammo than the SK to test?