Airforce Long Range .308

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The Archer said:
2-4moa... OUCH! If I'm not holding, or better than, 1 MOA, I'll stop and retune my rifle... or abandon the slug choice. By far the most difficult rifle I ever tuned was my Zeus .72 Cal. I played with 5 different slug weights and ran full step tune on each weight before I finally found the magic and the beast began producing one ragged hole. Fortunately, my Texan is much more forgiving than the Zeus. What steps have have you taken to tune your rifle?
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Well... I feel like I've taken ALL of the steps... I've tried many, many different slugs across 3 different rifles. I've tried methodically tuning and checking groups. I've tried new barrels, various optics, different pressures and hammer springs. Internal regulators and external regulators. I've tried sorting ammo and using different alloys, sizing to different diameters, different lubes. I've tried different bags and rests, holds and shooting techniques. All in front of a crono.

At least I've eliminated a whole lot of variables.
 
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caliusoptimus said:
Well... I feel like I've taken ALL of the steps... I've tried many, many different slugs across 3 different rifles. I've tried methodically tuning and checking groups. I've tried new barrels, various optics, different pressures and hammer springs. Internal regulators and external regulators. I've tried sorting ammo and using different alloys, sizing to different diameters, different lubes. I've tried different bags and rests, holds and shooting techniques. All in front of a crono.

At least I've eliminated a whole lot of variables.
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What rifle are you shooting?
 
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RM.510bigbore said:
My Texan was about pie plate MOA when I got.it.....Mine likes the power wheel maxed out shot on the regulator at 3625psi. Its likes NOE 450 grain and Accurate Mold 650 grain...That's about it.
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That's interesting. I've found that my Texan will shoot very well with most slugs, it just needs a little tuning and it's ready to go.
 
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The Archer said:
That's interesting. I've found that my Texan will shoot very well with most slugs, it just needs a little tuning and it's ready to go.
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My barrel was so bad when I got it.. It would literally tear shards of lead off that would go into action and bind everything up.. Had major problems twice...Had to fight with Airforce to get my Texan back...Ended up fixing action and barrel myself... PolarisRanger bought a .510 carbine and pie plate accuracy was it for his..His is for sale... I might but a new barrel on in the future probably a TJ...Maybe...
 
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RM.510bigbore said:
My barrel was so bad when I got it.. It would literally tear shards of lead off that would go into action and bind everything up.. Had major problems twice...Had to fight with Airforce to get my Texan back...Ended up fixing action and barrel myself... PolarisRanger bought a .510 carbine and pie plate accuracy was it for his..His is for sale... I might but a new barrel on in the future probably a TJ...Maybe...
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I wish you were close by so we could take that rifle out and fix it.
 
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The Archer said:
What rifle are you shooting?
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Three. Western rattler 357 with various TJ barrels, aea hp ss max (external reg, free floating long barrel, 27", 20 twist, .357) and an aea challenger elite 51 (custom barrel, 30" 1:48 twist).

My current line of thinking is that these problems are harmonics and vibrations. Gonna try something different this weekend... gonna pick a velocity, stick with it, and try to make adjustments to the barrel on my rattler.
 
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caliusoptimus said:
Three. Western rattler 357 with various TJ barrels, aea hp ss max (external reg, free floating long barrel, 27", 20 twist, .357) and an aea challenger elite 51 (custom barrel, 30" 1:48 twist).

My current line of thinking is that these problems are harmonics and vibrations. Gonna try something different this weekend... gonna pick a velocity, stick with it, and try to make adjustments to the barrel on my rattler.
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Barrel harmonics are real! My Texan has a custom carbon fiber barrel shroud, so harmonics don't effect it much. However, my Zeus has a wet noodle for a barrel and the stock rifle shooting 1,100 grain slugs at 4,500 psi literally produced a ten foot pattern at 50 yards. I installed a barrel band and that helped a little. But after two days of tuning with the ramp method, we found the sweet spot and it now makes three shot 50 yard groups that are shockingly small. So a little tuning took a rifle that you could not even get on paper with and turned it into this.

AEA Zeus_50yd target.jpg
 
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I have full .250 thick carbon fiber sleeve on my factory barrel to make a full 1 inch to go in the frame.tight..I use the grub screws at end to really tignten...my barrel is threaded M18-1 and held in tension with a Donny FL...Harmonic vibrations are real...The .250 thick CF tube in tension really stiff and things up.....

17226292668474379144056855835132.jpg


17226292960321666398978082865205.jpg


17226293224691790847256336946168.jpg
 
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The Archer said:
Barrel harmonics are real! My Texan has a custom carbon fiber barrel shroud, so harmonics don't effect it much. However, my Zeus has a wet noodle for a barrel and the stock rifle shooting 1,100 grain slugs at 4,500 psi literally produced a ten foot pattern at 50 yards. I installed a barrel band and that helped a little. But after two days of tuning with the ramp method, we found the sweet spot and it now makes three shot 50 yard groups that are shockingly small. So a little tuning took a rifle that you could not even get on paper with and turned it into this.

View attachment 485027
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Wow... I kinda feel like a rifle that is capable of missing by 5 feet to any side at 50yds... that sounds like a major design flaw, if not a total defect. In any case, glad you got it punching proper holes!
 
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caliusoptimus said:
My current line of thinking is that these problems are harmonics and vibrations. Gonna try something different this weekend... gonna pick a velocity, stick with it, and try to make adjustments to the barrel on my rattler.
Click to expand...
This made a world of a difference. Spent 2hrs at the range today... the rattler (tuned for max power the whole time) went from 4moa or worse down to a consistent 1.5moa @100yds... and the only variable was barrel tension. This was at 300fpe, 178gr. I'm going to be paying a lot more attention to barrel vibration from now on.
 
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caliusoptimus said:
This made a world of a difference. Spent 2hrs at the range today... the rattler (tuned for max power the whole time) went from 4moa or worse down to a consistent 1.5moa @100yds... and the only variable was barrel tension. This was at 300fpe, 178gr. I'm going to be paying a lot more attention to barrel vibration from now on.
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I have to put my Chazsel back on the lathe. All my carbon fiber tubes made it to the USA :) . I have to make the barrel full one diameter...Using O-rings on the outside for perfect fit in frame. Without drastic measures to stiffen accuracy will never be there. You can litterly watch barrel whip,,,,no need for high speed camera..granite it is super light and also super hot for a 22 cal....
 
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