I inherited a rifle from my dad who got it from his last fall. It's an old Sako .243. I have some experience with bench shooting a couple other Savages I own, and can repeatedly shoot sub 1/2 moa. I absolutely cannot get this rifle to shoot. I've cleaned the snot out of it, tried different weight bullets, even did a couple of paths of bedding to float the barrel. Still 2 to 3.5 inch groups at 100. Do you think new barrels are available for an old gun like this? Should an average smith be able to change it out? I wanna keep it as an heirloom, but find an inaccurate rifle worthless. Thanx for any ideas.
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Newbie needs direction.
- Thread starter Superdog
- Start date
243 is not a terrible barrel burner, but it is very possible it is shot out. A good smith should be able to check the bore with a bore scope and determine if you need a new barrel, then fit it to your rifle. I would make sure the smith has a good reputation and does rifle rebarreling work frequently. Last thing you need is a smith that takes your gun all apart and cant get it back together.
Teslong makes a great bore scope. They are $50 on Amazon. Cheapest way to determine if the barrel has issues.
It will let you see if there is a carbon ring in the throat which can cause issues.
A bore scope is good to have, not just for looking down the bore.
It will let you see if there is a carbon ring in the throat which can cause issues.
A bore scope is good to have, not just for looking down the bore.
Superdog, I was in the same boat. Had a .243 that I was going to set up for the nephew. However the barrel was so pitted and when I checked into the cost for a new barrel I decided to keep it as a "memento" rifle instead of spend the money. To really get it up to what I wanted out of a rifle would have required a new stock, trigger, and bottom metal.
No sights on barrel. I know enuff it has to be a barrel issue. I tried diff weights again today with diff scope. Same shit. 2-2 1/2" groups. I might have a lgs scope it. I'm guessing it's gonna end up a momento, I can't sell a rifle that won't shoot better than that. End up buying another Savage, or Ruger, $500-$600 gun. I like the 243 cartridge. Prolly get a set of dies too.
You get into that scenario of my fathers hatchet. I've replaced the handle three times and the head once but it's my fathers hatchet.
I had an L579 Forester in 308 with similar problems. It was shot out. I weighed up my options, it didn't belong to my grandfather or anything, and ended up just using the action and trigger for the base of a custom build. Sako actions are phenomenal as was the trigger on this rifle. New barrel and off she went. I didn't bother looking for a barrel that said "bofors steel" on it, just went with a new production barrel.
