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I bought a Ridgeline 7mm-08 for my son for Christmas. We took it out a couple weeks ago to start the break in process. I shot the first couple rounds to make sure it wouldn't blow up and then turned the reigns over to my 12 year old. He shot 35 rounds and did great.
The gun was coming into shape when we left with 38 rounds fired. We followed CA's recommendations for break in procedure using Sweet's and finished with some Hoppe's #9 before putting the gun away for a few weeks. We left with my sons last 18 shots all hitting within a 6 inch circle at a hundred yards. Pretty good for the little man!

We took it out again this morning to finish up the break in with hopes of getting it zero'd In at 200 yards. He shot the first 6 shots, we cleaned it and then he shot 6 more. He was hitting all over the place. I was talking to him about making sure everything was perfect before pulling the trigger, breathe, etc. He was pretty confident that he was doing everything right and wanted me to shoot the gun a few times to help him zero it in.
I broke out the good ammo, as I was pretty confident the rifle was was just about broken in. Man o man! I couldn't hit anything. 10 shots down range made the target look like I was shooting a shot gun. Hmmm. Maybe the Nosler ammo was no good? I cleaned the rifle and sat down with a different box of Nosler ammo. Same results...

Any ideas?
I've sent a note to CA already...

We broke the rifle in with Hornday Whitetail 139 grain.
The good stuff that was also scattering was Nosler Trophy Grade 140 grain Accubonds.
We cleaned and scrubbed the rifle with Sweet's 7.62 followed by Hopes #9 before we put it away.
Temperature the first time was about 45-50 degrees.
Temperature when we started this am was about 39, likely 45 when we finished.
Scope is a Leupold VX5 and I'm pretty sure nothing happened to it, as I've been the only person to touch the rifle in between sessions.
Every screw is tight, as I've checked them all.
 
Put a different scope on it before you send to to CA... you might be needing to contact Leupold. Not a lot to go wrong with a Ridgeline. Lots of parts to go wrong in a scope...
Good thought on the crown, Velzey... misadventures with a cleaning rod are too common.
 
I have found that the posted MV on the boxed ammo seldom matches the actual MV. If this is the case with the two ammo's you used - then two MV's equal two different harmonic nodes that will change the POI.
If you don't have a chrono, then switch back to the Hornady and observe the results. If the Hornady shoots well, you have your answer.
Also - Your expectation's of what the rifle can do - may affect subsequent sessions of shooting. I have many sub MOA builds that fail me when my head ain't in the right place, because my ego has swollen. Repeatedly, I have to meditate and get my head "In the Zone", then my rifles shoot right again. This might seem small, but my experience has taught me otherwise.
I have taught many, many people to shoot long range. When they listen to my coaching and make the shot - I will bet anyone that they will miss the next shot. I'm seldom wrong.
 
I dont know if you disassembled that rifle during cleaning, if you did take the action out and inspect the spot bedding, if that has moved or been damaged that may, may be an answer to consider, report back. Easy to fix yourself if that is the answer.
 
We never took the gun apart. Simply removed the bolt to clean with one piece cleaning rods and rod guides. I do remove the break when cleaning with sweets as I didn't want any of that left on the break.
I do have a scope in the safe I could mount on it. I also have a bore scope, but haven't taken a look at the bore for any fouling.
And yes, I've left the range before when things weren't going sideways. Came back another day and things were magically fixed, but this seemed different...
 
And I had the new chrono out too, but never got it to read with the cheap ammo, only the good stuff. I was getting some funky readings and I think I needed to move the chrono away from the side muzzle blast. Either that or the really expensive ammo really sucks... numbers were jumping around by 50 FPS, which I thought was odd, but I've never had a good chrono before.
 
I have the same gun in 6.5 PRC. One thing I noticed is that the free float gap between the barrel and stock is generous... so much so that something could have gotten in there... Kids do dumb stuff. Make sure those action screws are tight. Also, it's possible the muzzlebrake is loose. Can't imagine hand snug would last long shooting before its rattling and changing up the harmonics.

I'm still of the opinion your scope is the most likely culprit. Do a box/ladder test. Leupold is close enough to drop off the scope. C.A. is going to require shipping and that ain't cheap.
 
The first thing id check is the scope mounts and rings. Pull everything off and re-do it. Meaning degrease everything and check for burrs on the underside of the mounts, use blue locktite on your mount screws. Make sure your front mount screw is not making contact with the barrel threads. I also hate to say this, but dont trust a leupold as far as you can throw it. Ive seen many go titz up. Also, check your action to stock fit, without the screws in. If it teeters at all, you know you have problems. When you tighten down your action screws, you will be puting the receiver in a bind, and that will inadvertently affect accuracy. CA are highly overrated for their price tags, but they should be shooting better than what the op is experiencing. Another thing that will affect accuracy is an oily chamber. Make sure when you are cleaning it that you arent leaving oil in the chamber. Dont leave that hoppes in the bore either. It will have a have a detrimental affect on accuracy.
 
I have found that the posted MV on the boxed ammo seldom matches the actual MV. If this is the case with the two ammo's you used - then two MV's equal two different harmonic nodes that will change the POI.
If you don't have a chrono, then switch back to the Hornady and observe the results. If the Hornady shoots well, you have your answer.
Also - Your expectation's of what the rifle can do - may affect subsequent sessions of shooting. I have many sub MOA builds that fail me when my head ain't in the right place, because my ego has swollen. Repeatedly, I have to meditate and get my head "In the Zone", then my rifles shoot right again. This might seem small, but my experience has taught me otherwise.
I have taught many, many people to shoot long range. When they listen to my coaching and make the shot - I will bet anyone that they will miss the next shot. I'm seldom wrong.
Good advice for some i guess. Others are a bit more consistent in their shooting abilities. To each their own.
 
Thanks for input, most of it I had thought about already.
Crown looks good. No screws from the scope base hanging down.
My bore doesn't look great. Some copper fouling seems to be left in the barrel.... my bore scope, which was actually bought for a different purpose, is only 7 inches long, so I can't look down the whole barrel. I'm going to assume that if I'm seeing some fouling at the muzzle, than it could possibly be the whole length of the barrel.
I'm guessing the barrel needs some more cleaning... so more Sweet's? Or should I try something else? Leave the sweets in for longer? Different brushes? I have been using a nylon brush, but have bronzes as well.
 
Watch out with the Sweets. Do not leave it in the barrel for an extended period of time.
I do not have experience with CA barrels, but premium barrels are often finished to a fine degree. For example, I have an AR10 with a Bartlein barrel. During break in, copper fouling was almost non-existent. Using Sweets during break in showed almost nothing on the patches. A finely lapped barrel likely will not need an aggressive copper cleaner like Sweets.
 

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