im assuming your 8" groups are at 100yds?? not complaing about 8" groups at 500yds or anything right? lol


do you know the rifles history at all? how much has it been fired? etc?

the more i think about it, the more im leaning towards barrel is damaged or washed out...crown or throat damage, bore washed out, ridiculous amount of fouling...i have a gut feeling its something along those lines...

ive shot decent groups with loose scope rings...ive shot decent groups with a rifle that was barely bolted onto its stock! i about beat my buddy with that rifle...i do his shooting for him as he cant handle recoil and is not a very good shooter from a bench...he can kill deer..but cant shoot for squat to check his rifles zeros...when i found that bolt that wasnt the right size for the rifle and barrel/action moving atleast 1/4 from the stock, i wanted to beat him with the rifle...but, it shot fine! i was surprised...but wasnt happy that he KNEW about it and let me shoot it like that...taht bolt could easily gave out and WHAM..barrel, reciever and scope in my face...


ive never fired successive shots to actually see how it does effect accuracy...and different barrels and calibers will react differently...ive shot them WARM and as they heat up you can watch your shots "string"

anyone that cares about their rifle wont shoot it while its hot...and anyone serious about shooting a pretty little group wont shoot their rifle while its hot...accuracy suffers and it can ruin a rifle fairly quickly...

solution? simple...open the action, put the rifle on safe and wait till its cool...not enough patience to wait a few minutes or so (depending on weather..) take another rifle or 2 to shoot while the other cools down...

if im serious about shooting groups or testing a load for accuracy, i wont fire another round until my barrel is the same temp as everything else...


for cleaning, try one of the foaming bore cleaners...you can pick it up at walmart or most anywhere...follow the instructions...do it twice or 3 times if its bad...thats the best stuff ive found to get a bore back to bare metal....and its not a harsh chemical..some of the "good stuff" out there will also eat your rifle if you let it sit too long etc...get it in a little nook or cranny somewhere and its ruining your rifle..

if cleaning doesnt help, and letting the barrel cool down between shots doesnt help, and there isnt any loose screws/bolts on the scope or rifle, id take it to a gunsmith to have it inspected..a quick look with a bore scope and they can tell you if theres a problem inside..i hate to say it, but im leaning towards that going to be your problem....or your rifle really hates being fired while its hot....ive never done anything past a light warm so i cant say what effects a hot barrel will have...so you might get off lucky and not need a new barrel...