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Just got off the phone with Bushmaster technical support. They were not warm and fuzzy. Guy asked me to describe the problem. Told him that my Varminter would put 2 or 3 rounds within an inch of each other, then the next round or two would be 2 inches away in some random direction. It might or might not put another round in that location, before moving another couple inches in some random direction.
His reply was That sounds like shooter error.
I said that I also shoot a Howa 1500 and get ¾ groups with it.
His reply, Thats what everybody says.
I told him that as far as I was concerned I had eliminated the shooter as a cause, and that Id tried two different scopes with the same results. I also tried factory Remington 55 gr. Ammo and hand loads known to be accurate in another AR.
He agreed (sounded reluctant) to issue me a RMA. I want to check a couple of things first, but if I dont find anything obvious then Ill send it in.
On my last target on Saturday it went like this:
Shot #1: 1 high, 1 left
Shot #2: 2 high, 1 left
Shot #3: 3 high, 1 left
Shot #4: 3 high, 2 left
I came back Sunday and paid close attention to the parallax adjustment on the scope. I found that with a setting of 100 yds on the scope I got about 2 movement of the crosshairs on the target if I moved my head without moving the rifle. Adjusting for zero movement put the indicator on the scope at 150 yds(!). I need to talk to Vortex about that.
I thought Id found the issue when the next 3 shots were in a 1 group, but then it bounced 2 up and 1 right and just kept going. I then tried a known good scope off of a competition AR. Same results. It might put 2 or 3 shots within an inch of each other, but then it would walk 2 or 3 inches.
The only thing I can see thats not right on the rifle is theres a small nick on the rear face of the empty cases near the ejector mark, like when they milled the bolt for the ejector slot they left a burr on the bolt face. Seems like too small a thing to cause this problem, but thats one thing I will look at before sending this rifle off. If anybody has any clues (yes, Im going to check the torque on the barrel nut) Id appreciate some input. I have to say Im not thrilled with Bushmasters attitude.
His reply was That sounds like shooter error.
I said that I also shoot a Howa 1500 and get ¾ groups with it.
His reply, Thats what everybody says.
I told him that as far as I was concerned I had eliminated the shooter as a cause, and that Id tried two different scopes with the same results. I also tried factory Remington 55 gr. Ammo and hand loads known to be accurate in another AR.
He agreed (sounded reluctant) to issue me a RMA. I want to check a couple of things first, but if I dont find anything obvious then Ill send it in.
On my last target on Saturday it went like this:
Shot #1: 1 high, 1 left
Shot #2: 2 high, 1 left
Shot #3: 3 high, 1 left
Shot #4: 3 high, 2 left
I came back Sunday and paid close attention to the parallax adjustment on the scope. I found that with a setting of 100 yds on the scope I got about 2 movement of the crosshairs on the target if I moved my head without moving the rifle. Adjusting for zero movement put the indicator on the scope at 150 yds(!). I need to talk to Vortex about that.
I thought Id found the issue when the next 3 shots were in a 1 group, but then it bounced 2 up and 1 right and just kept going. I then tried a known good scope off of a competition AR. Same results. It might put 2 or 3 shots within an inch of each other, but then it would walk 2 or 3 inches.
The only thing I can see thats not right on the rifle is theres a small nick on the rear face of the empty cases near the ejector mark, like when they milled the bolt for the ejector slot they left a burr on the bolt face. Seems like too small a thing to cause this problem, but thats one thing I will look at before sending this rifle off. If anybody has any clues (yes, Im going to check the torque on the barrel nut) Id appreciate some input. I have to say Im not thrilled with Bushmasters attitude.