ORIGINAL: game4lunch
Good stuff everyone. Thanks. I am religious about cleaning guns after shooting, or even taking them for long walks. It has a synthetic stock (all weather model) and piller bedding (on any Ruger) looks like it would be a nightmare! The scope gets checked regularly. And it's a Nikon Monarch, good quality.
I just noticed that I can not slide a dollar bill between the barrel and forend of the stock! A neighbor suggested it. Could that cause irradic shot placement?
The fact that you cannot slide a dollar bill between the fored of the stock and the barrel means nothing, UNLESS YOU KNOW FOR CERTAIN that the dollar slid in there OK last year when the gun was shooting OK! Maybe the stock was always touching the barrel out there.....
IF the barrel bedding has changed, it might account for erratic shooting. However, a synthetic stock should NOT be weather sensitive. As everyone has already stated, buildup of bullet jacket fouling in the bore might be responsible. Cleaning will cure that.
However, there are a number of other possible causes, such as one or more
loose scope mount
screws, a loose guard screw, a
change in ammunition, etc.
Do you load your own ammo? If so, are you using the same load that shot well previously? Powder from the same can, bullets and primers from the same box, etc.? If you use factory ammo, are you using ammunition from the
SAME LOT of factory-loaded ammo that worked OK last year?
Even a change in LOT NUMBERS of the same kind of ammo from the same maker can shoot very differently. This is one of the reasons why tailored handloads are better.....
There are other factors that affect where a bullet hits at 200 yards besides ther gun and ammo. Things like wind and mirage, for example.....