Omega finally coming together

[dragonfly]

I posted a previous thread about my Omega shooting disappointing groups. Thanks to all that replied with some great suggestions. After yet another trip to the range, I experienced some dramatic improvement! I can now get consistent groups at 2in. at 100yds. That's good enough to hunt with for now. :yeah:

All I did was retorque all mounting screws, used a spin jag to load, and switched to Fed 209A primers. I suspect the primer change made the most difference but tightening things probably helped as well. Before loading, I tested CCI mag's, W209's, and Fed 209A's with a patched jag against the BP and inspected the burn. All 3 burned thru the patch evenly but surprisingly, the CCI's did not move the ramrod at all. Weird for sure. I thought CCI's were suppose to be hot. Since all other disappointing range sessions were shot with W209's, I settled on the Federals. Also, I noticed the carbon residue in the flash channel using Fed's was much, much easier to clean out.

I tried several different bullet/sabot combos and 2 loads performed best. 100gr BH 209, 300gr XTP's with Harvester short blk and 90gr BH 209, 250gr Shockwave with supplied sabots. Both were 2in groups. I'm gonna hunt with the XTP's for now. I'll play around with other loads next year.

I can now go hunting with a reasonable amount of confidence. Thanks to all!!

Oh....and I didn't have to cut off the QLA LOL!! :lol:

 

[ShawnT]

Great news! :yeah:

It would not take much movement to double your groups size and have shots that are a bit erratic.

I too have noticed much dirtier plugs using CCI209M. Do you get Any soot on the sides of any of the primers?

Just for my curiosity, did you happen to notice if there were any marks in the bottom of the stock from the screws that attach the mounting lug to the barrel?

Way to go hanging in thee with it. :applause:

 

[dragonfly]

The CCI's came out very dirty. The Federals and Win's were clean mostly with a little soot on some. I think the CCI's are a bit shorter in length and don't seal as good in my rifle allowing for blowback. I measured a handful of each and found the CCI's and Federals are much more consistent in length compared to the Winnies. Better QC me thinks.

I did find a small depression mark in the stock lug pocket where the rear lug makes contact but for the life of me, I can't figure out what caused it. Can't be the screw cause the screw comes in from the outside, up into the lug, and pulls the two together. The lug is flat and smooth at the bottom where it mates with the stock pocket and there's just nothing that could cause a mark that I can see. Strange. I torqued the screws down to 50lbs.

Anyhow, I don't know if it was the retightening or changing primers that made the difference but at least I can hunt with this gun. I really think this rifle will shoot better now with a little more tweaking down the road. For now, I'm happy with a 2in group. I had my doubts lol.


thanks for your advice!

 

[ShawnT]

Primers do vary in length. Win usually are about the longest. There is a Sticky at the top of this forum that has a chart in it with length measurements. Maybe your primer pocket could use a small shim. If you have a caliper you can measure an unfired primer, put it in the rifle and close it up then take it out and measure it again to see if it is getting any crush.

Wonder if the mark in the lug pocket is from this barrel or the old one?

 

[dragonfly]

Ok....so ideally, we want the primers to come out clean every time. Right? I think I need tighten the action a bit. It closes with a snap but is not as tight as it was with the original barrel. Maybe then all would be well and not need a shim. As for now, after 20 rounds or so, the bolt face gets pretty dirty and is fiddly to get in there to clean it. I'm sure I'm getting some crush on the primer simply because there's a little more resistance when I close the action.