.340 Weatherby Magnum Continued

[Hmaxwell]

@One Day... @Von S. @Luvthunt @JimP @rookhawk
Sorry for the confusion I created during my posts. I started this thread as I didn't want to distract from the other .340 discussion. Here is the whole story on my .340 WBY Mag Mark V. I inherited this gun a couple years ago and last year had a leopard hunt in Zimbabwe and after talking to a few people thought this would be a great gun to go hunt Mr. Spots with. I bought and had mounted by my gunsmith/dealer a Trijicon Accupoint 3-9x40 scope on it. With the inherited gun I received a few boxes of Weatherby factory ammunition 250 grain partitions. So shot the gun and got it close, wasn’t as consistent as I wanted, but wasn’t wildly inconsistent, so worked up the loads and shot the target below. I expected differences between the loads and was looking for the most consistent pattern and load bullets that were the most compatible with this gun. These were the same bullets just different grains of powder.

Based on shooting and results worked up 2 more boxes with 84 g of powder. I adjusted the scope to zero based on the 84 g pattern and thought was good to go. Keep in mind all the same canister of powder, same primers, same box of bullets and this is when things started throwing. First shot was great touching the 10 ring, second shot 4 inches down and right, third shot 10 inches down and right. Figured I had too much coffee so put the gun away for the day and came back the next day coffee free. First shot bull, second shot 12” down and right barely on the paper, third shot off the paper - about 14” down and right. Never touched scope adjustments. Now getting a little frustrated, shoot again off the paper. Put it away and my dad comes over to shoot it. He shoots first shot bull, I shoot the second shot 10” down and right, he shoots the third shot off the paper. Take to gunsmith with targets and show him. He thinks the barrel is touching receiver so glass beds it, changes to magnum rings. He thought barrel was a little close to receiver. He shoots the 84g load after boresighting and gets similar pattern to mine – down and right, but told me if he waits an hour goes back to zero. Now about 2 weeks before leaving for Zim. Shoot again. Target below.

I needed more confidence for hunting leopard than I had in the 340 so I took out my 325 and shot. Swapped the Trijicon onto my 325 and shot it very well and consistently. Was unsuccessful in Zim 2x in 2017 and ended up going to Zambia in December. Had to buy a 375 H&H for this trip and took the Leupold VXIII that was on the .325 and put on the 375 and it shot very well. Both the Leupold and Trijicon scopes worked well on my .325 and the Leupold works well on my 375. I was successful in Zambia. I will take your advice and get the ammunition you discussed. Since this gun is now scope-less do you have any suggestions on glass to put on her? I am looking forward to trying your suggestions!

 

[rookhawk]

Judging by your shot string, the gun is walking from right to left. Most likely reason: your free floated barrel heats up under firing and presses against the right side of the stock pushing the shots left. Further, the heat of the belly of the barrel cannot air-cool because it is covered by the stock, so the barrel molecules on the barrel belly are hotter and thus the barrel is bigger under heat on its belly, it expands, and bends the cooler top of the barrel up. So one issue strings it from right to left, the other from bottom to top. The right-left is a free float barrel issue, the up/down is a something I'm uncertain how you would fix other than not shoot so many so fast.

Just my take.

 

[Von S.]

Hmaxwell,

I like you because I think you are trying And "H" if I say anything that you might find offensive or off color please forgive as I don't mean any unkindness to anyone and I have been in a really bad mood for over 70 years which coincides with about the same time I quit breast feeding!

Here is some easy to answer questions where some can be answered with either a yes or a no.

Did this gun ever shoot right?

Was something done to this rifle and then it acted up?

Has this rifle been shoot a lot of times in rapid succession?

When you proof the rifles capability do you put it in a machine rest?

 

[Hmaxwell]

Yes, first shot is generally 10 ring.
No, nothing modified since I have owned except for glass bed after problems. My uncle hunted with it but didn’t overshoot it. He told me less than 200 rounds when he gave it to me.
Maybe. I know he shot a stud elk in Colorado with this gun and fired at least 8 shots fairly rapidly but that is about all I know.
I have been using a lead sled to zero and shoot with all my guns until zeroed and the off sandbags. No added weight to lead sled just me behind it. With my other guns I know where in the site picture it went off and usually good with knowing errant shots. That is what troubles me with this gun is that they are good shots.

I really appreciate you guys taking me through your checklists. And I hate to give up on this gun as it should be a tack driver!

 

[Von S.]

"H"

When I asked the first question of , " Did the gun ever shoot right", meaning did you ever shoot a group of 3 to ,5 bullets in a row where they were all in an inch or so?

Not one in the center and two more ten to twelve inches away.?

And a lead sled is not a machine rest, but let's say you don't flinch.

Now let's get realistic. Whereas that gun should shoot well he are not known as tac-drivers by guys who can drive tacks normally without a bit of surgery. And by that I mean stuff like new barrel with custom throating and scopes that cost quite a bit. To get a 30-378 to shoot in a sub 1/2 moa . And custom loads that was absolutely the same.

There is no one round fired though any gun that I know of that will heat up a barrel so it will wag on the following shot.

Did you know that there are different radius scope mounting blocks for Weatherby rifles and if you get the wrong one it will never shoot right?

 

[Hmaxwell]

No I didn’t know about the shooting blocks. I would say the best it shot was the factory loads initially and during the load workup.