I'll try to make a long story short. I have a Model 70 super Shadow in .270WSM that has never shot well with factory ammo. If I got a group under 2" at 100 yards it was a good day. So I decided to try some reloads and see what my rifle would like.

To start off with, I tried to figure out my OCL and the bullet's distance from the rifling. I used the cleaning rod method and got a measurement of 2.860. I figured that was wrong so I did the split case method and got a measurement of 2.867. So now I'm stumped and still not confident in my measurements. I bought a Hornady OCL gauge, a modified case and also the ogive adapter for my calipers. Using the same 140gr Accubond I did the other tests with, I got an OCL measurement of 2.880 and with the ogive adapter a measurement of 2.310. I measured all of the factory ammo I had from the case base to the bullet ogive and I got measurements from 2.210 to 2.272. I got OCL measurements from 2.725 to 2.755. The SAAMI OCL for this caliber is 2.860.

It appears that I will never get the bullets close to the rifling in this gun. Am I doing something wrong? Should I take it to a gunsmith? Sell it? I'm totally stumped.