Can't figure out what's wrong..

[desertcj]

Scope and I didnt see you mention cleaning the bore at all?

 

[deerkiller]

Always a possibility as well, but I'm curious why you prefer them? Don't really know anything about it.

With hunting season approaching, I'd rather just fix whats wrong and worry about changing stuff later..

210M primers are federal's match grade standard rifle primer - I've been told both that they are no different and that they ARE better, it's not a big deal to me to "error" to the possibility that they are better so I use them nearly exclusively - cci200 are "cci's" standard rifle primer and lower brisance than cci BR2 benchrest primers

I TOTALLY missed that you had already used 210M's ... MY bad

 

[cornfedkiller]

Also, if you have damaged threads on the barrel in the front base hole, shorten the screw until there is zero contact. That can, and absolutely will produce wild groups.

How do I know when the screw is short enough?

And I will certainly shorten it up, but I assume its been that way since the first time I mounted a scope on it last fall, so its not something that recently happened to it.

 

[cornfedkiller]

I didnt see you mention cleaning the bore at all?

I did clean the bore on the mesa and it made no difference. Haven't cleaned the Bergara.

I TOTALLY missed that you had already used 210M's ... MY bad

I used the federal 210's, not the 210M.

And thanks for the info on the primers.. I didn't know any of that!

 

[oenanthe]

How do I know when the screw is short enough?

Use a Sharpie to color the very tip of the screw. Mount the base to the receiver and torque to spec. Disassemble. Examine the tip of the screw. If it is bottoming out it will be obvious.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Use a Sharpie to color the very tip of the screw. Mount the base to the receiver and torque to spec. Disassemble. Examine the tip of the screw. If it is bottoming out it will be obvious.

Perfect thanks!

I played with it a little while I was on my lunch break on took the scope mounts off and measured how much screw was protruding from the bottom and got 0.12", and then I measured the depth of the hole and its 0.16, and the center of the ring base sits up off the receiver a tiny bit as well, so I should have enough clearance. I don't know if I used the wrong screw once or it bottomed out at one point, I definitely got contact once, but I shouldn't be now. The bottom of the screw is a little marred up too, so not sure what was happening.

I will mark it up with a sharpie and check it out before I put it all back together!

 

[16Bore]

What bases/rings are you using?

 

[cornfedkiller]

What bases/rings are you using?

Talley Ultralight

 

[16Bore]

Make sure they are torqued properly. If I remember correctly they are “flat” where they contact the receiver. Not round on round and I think will flex some.

Digging back in the recesses of my mind, been awhile since looking at mine.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Make sure they are torqued properly. If I remember correctly they are “flat” where they contact the receiver. Not round on round and I think will flex some.

Digging back in the recesses of my mind, been awhile since looking at mine.

They have a little recessed channel in them - at least the front one does for sure. Bases set to 24 in/lbs, and ring screws set to 20.

 

[Outlaw99]

Don’t clean your rifle. Your groups and POI will change with a thorough cleaning. It’s not hurting anything a little dirty, and that’s one more variable you can rule out

 

[cornfedkiller]

Didn't realize I was out of bullets until I went to load some up last night so waiting on them, and also trying to find a scope to try in the meantime as well. I have a vx-3, but its a 1" tube, and I don't have any 1" rings for that gun.

Will update after getting to do some shooting.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[tdhanses]

Go buy some factory ammo while you wait. Also I do agree it is probably the scope but it sounded like to me you didn’t do any load development for the Mesa, I wouldn’t assume a developed load for one rifle automatically will shoot well in another.

If you can rule out the scope I’d clean the bore and then put 20+ rds through it and start over. I’d also measure to the lands again and see if that measurement has changed.

I saw where you said you had torqued the bases but didn’t see a response on the action screws, but might of missed that.

But now that you have two rifles go buy a quality scope that is known for being dependable and try it, you need a second anyway

 

[Lawnboi]

Also pull your Mesa action out of the stock. Look for cracks, assess CA bedding, mine was messy to say the least, plus quite a bit of barrel contact, needed cleaning up. Make sure your mag box is not binding, the metal box between the action and bdl should have a little play.

Torque up the action to spec, write it down so you can duplicate if needed. new scope and I’d try some factory ammo to rule it all out.

I recently put a scope on a gun that gave me fits. 80 bucks in ammo later and I pulled the scope, threw on an swfa and made a one hole 5 round group. Before you waste too much get your hands on a different, proven scope.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Go buy some factory ammo while you wait. Also I do agree it is probably the scope but it sounded like to me you didn’t do any load development for the Mesa, I wouldn’t assume a developed load for one rifle automatically will shoot well in another.

If you can rule out the scope I’d clean the bore and then put 20+ rds through it and start over. I’d also measure to the lands again and see if that measurement has changed.

I saw where you said you had torqued the bases but didn’t see a response on the action screws, but might of missed that.

But now that you have two rifles go buy a quality scope that is known for being dependable and try it, you need a second anyway

I don't have access to any factory ammo locally - the eldx bullets will be here before before I get somewhere to buy factory ammo. And I tested several different loads with the mesa with both accubonds and eldx.

Action screws were torqued to 65 in/lbs on the mesa, 55 in/lbs on the bergara.

A buddy dropped off a vx-6 this morning, so I will put it on the rifle and hopefully get to shoot it a little this evening!

And no need for two rifles - once I get all this figured out, one of them will be getting sold, but I like the thought!

Also pull your Mesa action out of the stock. Look for cracks, assess CA bedding, mine was messy to say the least, plus quite a bit of barrel contact, needed cleaning up. Make sure your mag box is not binding, the metal box between the action and bdl should have a little play.

The mesa is back at the CA factory right now - I would assume they'll check all that and clean up anything that needs cleaning up.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Update:

Put the vx-6 on the gun and grabbed the ammo I had loaded up with the federal primers.. Took a shot or two to get it on the paper and then I shot the center sticker.. not a terrible group. Let the gun sit for a few mins, adjusted the scope a little and shot another group at the top sticker. Minus the couple flyers (not sure what happened there?), I'd say that's a pretty acceptable group.

I then thought maybe I'm just having a decent night shooting so I switched the scopes out quick and shot at the bottom circle.

Thoughts?

 

[Cahunter805]

What scope base and rings are you using? The original scope is a Zeiss? What model?

 

[cornfedkiller]

What scope base and rings are you using? The original scope is a Zeiss? What model?

Talley Lightweight rings, Zeiss V4 4-16x44.

 

[cornfedkiller]

Got a shipping notification that the Mesa is on its way back to me.. Won't know any details til I get it back (Christensen doesn't exactly communicate anything), but I assume because of the quick turnaround, there were no issues with it - which I kinda figured after all this.

Anyway, the scope is on its way back to Zeiss right now.. Hopefully that's a fast turnaround.

Thanks again to everyone!

 

[tdhanses]

Got a shipping notification that the Mesa is on its way back to me.. Won't know any details til I get it back (Christensen doesn't exactly communicate anything), but I assume because of the quick turnaround, there were no issues with it - which I kinda figured after all this.

Anyway, the scope is on its way back to Zeiss right now.. Hopefully that's a fast turnaround.

Thanks again to everyone!

I wouldn’t expect a fast turn around from Zeiss unless they have drastically improved their service.

If I was you I’d get a new scope and sell that one when it comes back.