375 Ruger Hornady 270 gr issues

[KuduKiller]

So this may be an issue or maybe not. Is it the gun, ammo or is it normal?

I posted not long ago that I had my 375 cerakoted. Right after the work I had done I sighted in at 100 yards. I took my rifle home to clean and noticed that the bolt that goes through the stock and to the barrel has a “plate” on it that overlaps the magazine well. The magazine well guard wasn’t seated correctly so the plate was cocked. In saying that the stock/barrel bolt probably wasn’t torqued down right. Regardless, I put it back together correctly.

So, upon request of my PH I sighted in again to shoot nuts at 50 yards. I got the rifle cloverleafing at 50 but I tried a few rounds at 100 and noticed I’m hitting like 8-10” high at 100. What might be going on here? Is it the ammo? Something in the rifle? Scope?

I’m shooting a Ruger M77 Hawkeye African. The ammo is Hornady DGX 270.

The crappy part is I have the ammo to sight in again but I’m out of time. I leave 3 weeks from today but I have no time to go to shoot again.

Opinions?????

 

[375Fox]

If you don’t have the time I’d have someone else shoot your rifle at 50 and 100 to eliminate you as a variable. You can’t use a rifle you have doubts about. Did you go from 50 to 100 back to 50 to confirm still zeroed at 50? No ammo rises 8” in 50 yards. Are you certain you don’t have mixed boxes of 270 and 300 gr? I don’t believe there is 270 gr DGX. I have seen 6” difference in impact between 250 gr and 300 gr 375 H&H and I’ve also seen 6” difference between different brands of 300 gr ammo in 375 H&H.

 

[KuduKiller]

I stand corrected. 270 gr sp/rp superformance

 

[KuduKiller]

You’ve got me wondering now. I may have had a mix of Buffalo Bore solids in there at 270gr and as I got it fine tuned I may have switched to the Hornady ammo near the end.

 

[KuduKiller]

So I went back out yesterday and shot my rifle. I shot at 50 again and I was high by about 1”. I shot at 100 again and I was only about 3” high. So here is the issue. Not having a good rest I began to shoot to fine tune it. After putting around 10 rounds down range I was shooting all over the place. I became mad and still continued to put more rounds down range and everything got worse. How finicky are big bores when the barrel gets hot? Did that play into it?

 

[pilar]

So I went back out yesterday and shot my rifle. I shot at 50 again and I was high by about 1”. I shot at 100 again and I was only about 3” high. So here is the issue. Not having a good rest I began to shoot to fine tune it. After putting around 10 rounds down range I was shooting all over the place. I became mad and still continued to put more rounds down range and everything got worse. How finicky are big bores when the barrel gets hot? Did that play into it?

I shoot mine only 3-4 times then let it cool down in the shade or it gets too squirrely

 

[KuduKiller]

Yeah, I was sitting in the sun as well. Only like 82 outside but that barrel got hot. I hope that’s the issue. I plan on doing 2-3 rounds then let it cool week after next, the weekend before I leave for hippo. I pray it was a combination of a hot barrel and me getting mad at my rifle!

 

[Papa72]

Just a thought: did you use a torque wrench to set the front action screw to the Ruger spec’d 90 in-lbs and the 2 trigger guard screws to the 45-60 in-lbs? I think I am remembering those numbers correctly. I believe Ruger came up with those specs in an attempt to eliminate stock cracking issues but accuracy can be affected as well.

 

[375er]

Is there any contact spots in the barrel channel in the stock after the ceracote??

 

[ldmay375]

Purely based on my on experiences, I cannot shoot to the gun potential nor systemically differentiate between the rifle, scope, ammo, or me issue; if I do not setup a consistently stable & repeatable shooting position. Time spent saves me time and ammo wasted.

Could be any of the possibilities already listed. I know it can be most aggravating. Another shot in the dark, is it doing the wide spread erratic groups with each type of ammo ?

 

[Hunt anything]

So I went back out yesterday and shot my rifle. I shot at 50 again and I was high by about 1”. I shot at 100 again and I was only about 3” high. So here is the issue. Not having a good rest I began to shoot to fine tune it. After putting around 10 rounds down range I was shooting all over the place. I became mad and still continued to put more rounds down range and everything got worse. How finicky are big bores when the barrel gets hot? Did that play into it?

Just one question, why would you “fine” tune without a good rest? That what a bench and lead sled are for.
I only shoot my mediums, .375 Ruger and .416 Rigby, 4 or 5 times per session. Too much of a chance to develop bad habits and a flinch with any more than that.

 

[John Wasmuth]

.

 

[KuduKiller]

Everything is torqued correctly. I didn’t have access to a good rest but felt like I could get it done with what I had. The owner of the property where I shoot does have a sled but he was not home yesterday so that is the plan in 2 weeks.

 

[Bandera]

My buddy was shooting his 375 Ruger and his groups were all over the place. The bases and rings had come loose. We torqued them back down and rezeroed. A week later and about 20 rounds later the bases needed to be re-torqued.
My Ruger well over a 100 rounds through it no issues.