Ruger Precision Rimfire, first round help

[800GS]

I have owned a number of .22 rifles and pistols and they all seem to have first (or first few) round strays from the base group.

In most cases I have some sort of a work-around to get the first round to at least be close to mean group. Like a certain barrel cleaning procedure, or special first round that shoots close even with cold wax in the barrel, etc.

Or, if first shot is predictable, then I can call up my cold barrel dope & either hold off or dial off.

This RPR rifle is puzzler as it shoots great groups but only after at least 2 and sometimes 4 fouling rounds. But, the fouling rounds aren't really predictable.

I was planning on using the gun (among other uses) to shoot gophers & chipmunks at 50-75 yards but the cold bore unpredictability is going to make that difficult.

Now, I only have about 500 rounds down the tube so far so hopefully cold bore will improve with more rounds through it.

I have also been shooting at between 5°f and 25°f here so that probably makes cold bore fliers worse.

Which now brings me to the reason I am posting here___

Any of the RPR .22lr shooters here find any tricks or ???? for cold bore first shot hits with this gun? Or even a suggestion on how to get cold bore first shot predictability? If I could just get first round consistency then I could hold off, or dial off, for first round gopher hits.

 

[silentheart]

Is it in general low and off to 1 side only?
My guess is cold barrel shot issue.

 

[800GS]

Is it in general low and off to 1 side only?
My guess is cold barrel shot issue.

Thanks for responding _

Actually, most go high right but sometimes just high or sometimes more right.

I have shot most of my shots over a chronograph so kept a log on shot sequence vs hit position & it shows that most first shots were 20fps to 30fps faster, to a few that were much higher yet.

That would probably explain the high but not the right.

I have been shooting CCI standard (they are grouping good after first few fouling shots) so tomorrow I am going to ty a 20fps slower subsonic for first shot to see if it hits closer on cold bore.

 

[Booner1334]

What size magazine are you using?

 

[800GS]

What size magazine are you using?

BX-1 (10) round with the spring slackened 2 nut flats. I get good feed with no visible bullet feeding marks.

Gun shoots good groups AFTER a few fouling shots.

 

[JoeB]

Try some ammo that uses a oil lube like SK, Wolf, Eley. CCI SV uses a wax lube at the temperature you are shooting you may have a hard wax problem.

 

[800GS]

Try some ammo that uses a oil lube like SK, Wolf, Eley. CCI SV uses a wax lube at the temperature you are shooting you may have a hard wax problem.

This is a great idea, I really want to stay with the CCI std as I have many thousands of them but a waxless bullet try might help shed some light on my problem.

 

[denalidude]

I have owned a number of .22 rifles and pistols and they all seem to have first (or first few) round strays from the base group.

In most cases I have some sort of a work-around to get the first round to at least be close to mean group. Like a certain barrel cleaning procedure, or special first round that shoots close even with cold wax in the barrel, etc.

Or, if first shot is predictable, then I can call up my cold barrel dope & either hold off or dial off.

This RPR rifle is puzzler as it shoots great groups but only after at least 2 and sometimes 4 fouling rounds. But, the fouling rounds aren't really predictable.

I was planning on using the gun (among other uses) to shoot gophers & chipmunks at 50-75 yards but the cold bore unpredictability is going to make that difficult.

Now, I only have about 500 rounds down the tube so far so hopefully cold bore will improve with more rounds through it.

I have also been shooting at between 5°f and 25°f here so that probably makes cold bore fliers worse.

Which now brings me to the reason I am posting here___

Any of the RPR .22lr shooters here find any tricks or ???? for cold bore first shot hits with this gun? Or even a suggestion on how to get cold bore first shot predictability? If I could just get first round consistency then I could hold off, or dial off, for first round gopher hits.

yeah would be interested in this myself.

 

[Booner1334]

I use a 25 round Butler Creek magazine on my RPRR, as I think it feeds the round square into the chamber, unlike the Ruger mags. Plus my 25 round mag fits tight in the mag well,
But I always get a flier on the first one or two rounds (high and left) on a new mag, this past summer. I haven't shot it since the weather got cold (below 40 degrees). It looks like the weather is warming up so I should be shooting it again within the next few weeks.

But I'm thinking shooting in cold weather introduces at least two different variables that we don't have when it's warmer: the effects of cold temperature on powder burn, and the wax lubricant.

 

[800GS]

I would get another shooter involved and rule out the shooter.

If it's a gun problem....both individuals will see the same shift overy a series of groups.

I guess I don't understand what another shooter will show? I also don't understand the "series of groups".

I'm fighting a first shot cold bore problem not general grouping issue's, we are not talking about a .1" or .2" larger group's across 6 targets (those are fine @ .4" to .6" over the 6 spots using CCI std ammo.

It's my first & usually second shot, & occasionally third (cold bore) that go out to WELL over an inch with some out to over 1.5". Even that would be manageable if they went to the same place every cold bore shot as I could just dial or hold off on the cold bore shots, but they don't.

I have been running an ongoing (50 yard) cold bore (10f°-25°f ambient) test the last few days so have recorded all first cold bore shots on one dot & all second cold bore shots on second dot. With a total of 5 cold bore tests so far the 'first shot dot' shows a 5 shot group of just over 3.2" & the 'second shot dot' shows a 5 shot group of 2.3".

After the 3rd shot from cold bore the thing settles down to no larger than .65" to as low as .4". (if the wind is blowing then obviously slightly larger)

If I let the gun sit in the cold for a couple of hours then the fist shot goes off the reservation again.

 

[silentheart]

Just for fun. Get a hair dryer and blow on the Cci std vel round for a min or so before you fire first round. If it is good, it is the wax coating issue. Let it cool down and hair dry the action and barrel for a couple min so it is not freezing. If that works, it is barrel is cold and inside barrel is a little bigger when cold and rifle lines are not getting good contact.

 

[800GS]

Just for fun. Get a hair dryer and blow on the Cci std vel round for a min or so before you fire first round. If it is good, it is the wax coating issue. Let it cool down and hair dry the action and barrel for a couple min so it is not freezing. If that works, it is barrel is cold and inside barrel is a little bigger when cold and rifle lines are not getting good contact.

I have tried part of that (sort of) by keeping the loaded mag in my inside pocket, not as hot as a hair drier but warmer then outside ambient temps (didn't seem to make any difference over a very cold loaded mag)

I don't have any electrical power on my home range so a running hair dryer would be difficult.

I am going to try the above mention non-wax bullets though. If this shows promise then I will have a direction to proceed.

 

[Booner1334]

I wonder if the harmonics of the barrel change when its cold? After a few shots the interior of the barrel and chamber would warm up due to the expelled gases.

buy some of those chemical hand warmers to keep the ammo warm.

 

[rideshootride]

I have not noticed this at all with my precision rimfire, 1st 3rd and 9th rounds are the same. At temps below freezing I try to keep ammo and mags warm in a hip pocket.