remington .17 accuracy problems

pm.

hi lads, my m8 has a .17 centre fire remington, and we noticed when i the bog today that his grouping was all over the place when compared to my .223 he had his cleaning kit with him and we cleaned the barrel but it made no difference, he was using hollow points and ballistic tips as well, i taught that the .17 should be more accurate than the .223,anyone else have this problem?

rrpc

Not enough information there. What distance were you shooting, from what kind of rest and what were the conditions like?

And did you try shooting it as well? and did you get the same outcome?

bunny shooter

Did ye clean for copper.....big problem in .17's need to soak at least overnight with good copper solvent ?

Kramer

As rrpc said - not enough information.

Could be a myriad of things from poor shooting to a bad or badly mounted scope (moving etc.). I wouldn't be so quick to blame the rifle to be honest.

pm.

rrpc wrote:

Not enough information there. What distance were you shooting, from what kind of rest and what were the conditions like?

And did you try shooting it as well? and did you get the same outcome?

the distance was 250 yards, we where using his bi pod lying down on the back of his jeep and the conditions where good, i also tried and found it to be really bad at grouping, his scope is a s&b €1300 worth so i doubt its that, we only cleaned it with oil and a pull through ?

bunny shooter

pm. wrote:

....... we only cleaned it with oil and a pull through ?

.17 needs to be cleaned with copper solvent and bronze brush approx every 20 x rounds otherwise accuracy goes to pot. I used to soak overnight with hoppes copper solvent every 20 x rounds and accuracy was very consistent. Main reason I got rid of it....too much cleaning..........

jaycee

Have to agree ,

All the faster calibres do a great job of coating up the bore with copper.
as soon as they do , accuracy is only just ok .

Be careful using oil with a pull through , pretty easy to leave a film
of oil that pushes pressure through the roof with the next shot.
I'm told it can even damage the bore.. ( Leaving "Oil rings" ? ) I understand
its fairly common on shotguns but can also effect Rifles .

A couple of dry patches before shooting is recommended after cleaning.
A good cleaning rod, and quality patches make a big difference.

rrpc

bunny shooter wrote:

.17 needs to be cleaned with copper solvent and bronze brush approx every 20 x rounds otherwise accuracy goes to pot. I used to soak overnight with hoppes copper solvent every 20 x rounds and accuracy was very consistent. Main reason I got rid of it....too much cleaning..........

That's pretty frequent. I'd be concerned with that amount of bronze brushing and fouling that the barrel would be shot out in no time at all.

bunny shooter

rrpc wrote:

That's pretty frequent. I'd be concerned with that amount of bronze brushing and fouling that the barrel would be shot out in no time at all.

I totally agree. The .17 rem is not a target round it's a varmint/fox round and generally doesn't fire too many rounds at one time. It's one and only drawback is copper fouling as stated, other than that it is a fantastic round. But to maintain accuracy this is what has to be done.........or endure less consistent accuracy........This cleaning regime is excessive and the expected barrel life is short, irregardless if the cleaning regime adopted

pm.

that would turn off a lot of people buying a .17, that and the bullets are so expensive, my m8 is now thinking of buying a swift at €2 a shot i think he is mad not to go for the .223 witch has more than enough power to knock a fox at 200 to 300 yards imo.

foxhunter

pm. wrote:

that would turn off a lot of people buying a .17, that and the bullets are so expensive, my m8 is now thinking of buying a swift at €2 a shot i think he is mad not to go for the .223 witch has more than enough power to knock a fox at 200 to 300 yards imo.

I agree the .223 is an excellent round for mr fox but 300yrds is a little optimistic i think. Ive been shooting one for a couple of years and found that
the 200 yrd mark is nearly the limit for definate kills

bunny shooter

foxhunter wrote:

I agree the .223 is an excellent round for mr fox but 300yrds is a little optimistic i think. Ive been shooting one for a couple of years and found that
the 200 yrd mark is nearly the limit for definate kills

Had 223, totally agree. Swift is a very good round, however, ammo expensive, and you still need to maintain a regular cleaning regime too. Tends to copper up very fast especially with lighter (40 Grain) bullets which adversly affect accuracy. This is the drawback to the faster, lighter bullets. I used 55 grain in the swift and it didn't tend to copper up too quickly. Using .204 Ruger now, great round and doesn't seem to copper up too quickly considering the speed the bullets do. Been taking foxes and rabbits out to 300 yards no problem too