Hello everyone,

First, I did my best to post this in the appropriate forum but I am not sure if this is the appropriate place. My apologies if it is not.

I am new to semi-serious rifle shooting. I grew up shooting muskrats in the local canals with a Ruger 10/22 but that is about the extent of my shooting experience. Recently, I have been buying some accessories (Redfield 4-12X40 Acu-Range scope and a UTG bipod) for a pre-64' Winchester Model 70 that my dad gave me so that I can practice varmint shooting at 300 yds plus. I went to sight in the gun today at 100 yds and I finally got on paper when I took my first 3 round shot group. I was using a bipod and a sand bag underneath the butt. I was giving the trigger nice consistent squeezes as well, but my groups were all over the place. The last group that I shot was about 3". As far as I can tell, I was doing my part to get the bullets out of the barrel as accurately as possible.

There are some other things to note that I think are possible answers to my accuracy problems. First, the gun was not taken care of very well. As far as I know, when my dad owned the gun, he never cleaned the gun at all, not even the bore. He probably did not shoot more than 40-60 rounds though. I do not know the condition it was in before he got it. I cleaned the bore thoroughly yesterday with swabs, solvent and brass brush. Second, the gun was getting pretty hot by the time I got on paper. I had taken 12-15 shots or so before I took my first 3 shot group.

Taking all of this into account, is it likely that I will never have an accurate varmint rifle with this barrel or do I need to let it cool off and try again? Any other questions advice and/or insights are appreciated greatly.

Thanks in advance,
Matt