ORIGINAL: BTM
I just had a 'smith rebarrel my 22-250 with a Lilja heavy barrel. Even after careful break-in, it shot terribly (2" at 100 yds). I got out the Stoney Point gauge, and it shows 0.15" of bullet jump. My understanding is that 0.02-0.04" is more the norm, but the 'smith said there's nothing he can do for me.
I've already checked the usual suspects (free floated barrel, scope screws, ammo, etc.), and I think the culprit is excessively long bullet jump. For this I paid $700???
I returned the rifle to him tonight. He said he'd "look at it," but I didn't leave his shop with much of a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Am I getting hosed?
No two barrels are the same. Can't you load some ammo up that has the bulletds seated out more? This will tell you if there's too much throat length. If there is, the only remedy is to set the barrel back one thread and recut the chamberwith a shorterthroat. Or seat all bullets out farther, and use it as a single-shot, if the rounds turn out to be too long for the magazine....