Gunsmithing FN out of windage adjustment

[R Moran]

I hope this is in the right place, as it's a rifle problem and not a scope issue.

Long story short, I have a 1st Gen SPR in the HS Precision stock. Had a local smith skim bed it, cut and thread the barrel, cerakote it, and bed the Badger base. It shoots pretty good as far as I can tell. I shot it prior to the work but could not honestly say there was an issue, never thought of it.
Then I bought a used Steiner, and ran out of windage trying to get it zero'd. Since my co-worker works with the smith, he brought it back, and was able to get my vortex PST to zero and his Nightforce to zero, but did not say how much it took...said the Steiner was a "shit" scope....ok, maybe..
I took the rifle to the range with both the PST & Steiner that I centered the reticles in
PST 5" left at 25yds
Steiner 8" left at 25yds
Weaver V16 2" at 25yds
After I played with the zero stop on the Steiner, I was able to zero it, but it's just about at it's limit of travel.

I brought the gun to Accurate Ordnance...I can not say enough about how great it was to meet & talk with them.

They confirmed something is not straight, but it looks like the barrel is not straight in the reciever. The one smith I talked to, seemed to think the best answer was a new barrel.
Mark is going to contact FN, and see if there is something they can do.

So, after all that, my question is...are there any alternatives? I'm not a big precision rifle, sniper, high ground type dude, all I want is a good basic rifle I can learn with.
I've seen
- Holland guns adjustable picatinny base, but looks like it's only for 700's
-USO 34mm windage adjustable rings, $260..
-Leupold LR STD base, and revert to a 30mm tube scope, I only found 34mm dual dovetail rings
-Burris posi-align, again 30mm scope and made in china these days
-Millet windage adjustable, which I'd like to avoid on principle.

I know the "A" answer is to "slash and burn" as the smith said, and just start over, but man thats going to cost some cash.
I've got a house full of guns, and non of them are "right"...it's frustrating..

Thanks,
Bob

 

[jcm151]

I understand the feeling, and I have had two FN horror stories myself (not the guns fault). First I bought one and had it shipped fedex.. They smashed it and that took 8 months of fighting insurance companies to get my money back.. No gun.. Then I found another one and UPS smashed the stock.. Never got a dime, and my stock is cracked at the end, and the bang pushed the action off center.. Which had to be fixed.. These were both 300wsm models.

The .308 I have shoots .5 with handloads no problem and has been a great gun.

This is interesting though because A friend of mine has a 300wsm also, and his gun was maxed out on windage (withing a few clicks) to get zeroed also.. I don't think he ever did anything about it.. Just got a mil-mil scope so he can hold only.. Shoots great minus that..

Good luck, and I hope you get it all settled.

 

[Pahntr760]

The Burris with the posi-align rings and insers, albeit China made, are great when used correctly. These will align your scope with reticle centered, or atleast very close needing only fine tuning.

 

[supercorndogs]

do the burris rings adjust windage. i thought they were just for elevation. 8 inches would be 32 moa at 25 yards. i would contact fn too. i imagine a rebarrel = bookoo dollar as does the cut and run method. i would take off rings and bases inspect a couple time and put it back together and try it a couple times before i contacted them. sometimes things are so easy they are hard to see. and sometimes the factory lets a lemon go

 

[R Moran]

The Burris inserts can be rotated. I used them on a Savage/Anshutz 64 to correct both windage and elevation by putting them on an angle..sorta..

The guys at AO had the base off, straight edges out, etc. The holes looked straight to them..if you look down the channel of the Badger base, you can see the muzzle is not centered..

I'm thinking the US Optics rings may be the way to go...or the Leupold STD, and sell it..

Bob