Quote Originally Posted by Euclid440 View Post
The last time you fired it, did you use the same ammo?
Was the rifle cleaned properly immediately after the last firing? And how did it shoot then.

Was the rifle free floated or is it factory free floated?

Assuming the barrel is good, stock and scope tight, it is probably the free floating. Accurized 303’s and factory models generally, are/were not free floated

Additionally, depending on when the rifle was made, during the war clear properly dried wood was in short supply, inferior wood used to get rifles out the door.


Look at the barrel, stock for shrinkage & tightness, switch ammo and check free floating.

4 MOA at 50yards is not great for a rifle. I have handguns that will hold an inch at 50, handheld, all day long.


“Just read up on copper fouling and cleaning it out. I do not think that thorough of a cleaning has ever been done on the rifle” ...

That’s too bad, surplus ammo is/was corrosive.
Yes I used the same ammo as last time (which did NOT work). I will first try to shoot some older ammo that worked before.
I use the bore snake right after shooting it every time (at the end of the day)- likely not a thorough enough cleaning.
I have no idea if the barrel was free floated at the factory or after, but I had a gun smith re-do all wooden parts 20 some years ago

On that 30-06 with 4 MOA, it is likely the ammo. It was shooting under 1 MOA last year with different ammo.