Barrel Heat

use a mix of 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water. Douse a wash cloth till it is dripping and rub it on the barrel UNTIL the solution is dripping off the bottom of the barrel. This will cool the barrel very quickly, oil the barrel when you get home.

You could have all kinds of issues, start with WIND, then bedding, then freefloat, but keep the barrel cool inbetween 3 shot groups. You may see a big difference, front rest, rear bag, slapping the very stiff trigger pull, not to mention the barrel does no like that load.

Are you shooting factory loads?
 
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It's not the scope. I have a vortex viper hs-t on it. Checked all the screws as well. I know I can shoot. I shoot 1/2 MOA with my other rifles. I have tried factory loads with no luck. Now trying reloads. Barrel is also free floated. Dollar bill goes all the way up and down with no problems.
 
I've worked with a lot of Ruger Americans, fantastic rifle for the money in my opinion. There is one very crucial thing though with the American in my experience and that is to make dang sure the action screws are torqued evenly and plenty tight. It makes a differemce. I had one in a 223 that I sold because I decided I didn't need a 223 but it shot really well with 53 gr Vmax over Benchmark and 75 gr HPBT over Varget.
 
Originally Posted By: luckyhuntermichI am having problems with my barrel heating up very quickly. I only get about 3 shots out of my 223 before it is extremely hot. I am not running very hot loads either. Once it heats up, the accuracy on my gun is awful. Any suggestions on how to correct this?

Copper fouling could be the culprit. Clean out the copper and hand lap the bore.
 
Originally Posted By: CAFROriginally Posted By: luckyhuntermichI am having problems with my barrel heating up very quickly. I only get about 3 shots out of my 223 before it is extremely hot. I am not running very hot loads either. Once it heats up, the accuracy on my gun is awful. Any suggestions on how to correct this?

Copper fouling could be the culprit. Clean out the copper and hand lap the bore.

This just might do it...it helped quite a bit for me. But...mine didn't suit me until I put a Timney trigger, bedded Boyd's stock and X-caliber barrel on it.
It seems like the barrels are a crapshoot. You might get a good one, many guys have and that is great. But, you might not. It sounds like your luck is about like mine...zero chance of getting anything that just does what it is supposed to.
All I wanted was a "truck gun", something that would shoot somewhere around a 1" group that I had no reason to cry about if it got scratched. In the past I have found Rugers to meet this need. This rifle shot a good solid 2 1/2"-3" group all day long. After the Timney and floating the factory stock it got down to about 2", then I lead lapped the barrel and actually got it shooting pretty good. It still walked bad as it heated up though. I think now, looking back that I really should have sold it and moved on at that point. I now have a lot of money and time tied up what is still just a Ruger American.
 
Originally Posted By: msinc All I wanted was a "truck gun", something that would shoot somewhere around a 1" group that I had no reason to cry about if it got scratched. In the past I have found Rugers to meet this need. This rifle shot a good solid 2 1/2"-3" group all day long. After the Timney and floating the factory stock it got down to about 2", then I lead lapped the barrel and actually got it shooting pretty good. It still walked bad as it heated up though. I think now, looking back that I really should have sold it and moved on at that point. I now have a lot of money and time tied up what is still just a Ruger American.

a t/c venture would of been you huckleberry.
 
Originally Posted By: NdIndyOriginally Posted By: luckyhuntermichSorry for the late reply but it is a standard barrel I believe. It is a ruger American Predator model. I don't think its me because I can shoot my 308 and 17 hmr in 1/2" groups at 100 yards and I am using a lead sled. It was almost 90 degrees out when I was shooting so I am guessing that had something to do with it. I still cannot find a load that this gun likes [beeep]. Im about ready to sell it. It shoots decent and is perfect for hunting but for shooting groups not so much, and I wanted a gun that I could shoot good groups with and also hunt with (why I didn't buy a bull barrel). So I am not sure what road to go down now.

Ruger makes decent stuff. It's possible you got a lemon but not super likely. Have you run the bill down the barrel? Checked all the screws?

You can't ethically hunt with a rifle that can't do more than 1 shot before it's off to who knows where. There's enough variables involved in a clean and fast kill under the best conditions. Race guns imo are ok to just fail for whatever reason. Worst case you lose a match. When you're dealing with taking life you owe it to the creature to do it right. Even if you're just smoking varmints.

Every rifle model, especially in the budget class will have dogs, 90%+ report excellent groups and then there are the ones that take major tricks including new barrels to make them work like you want. Note that a dog is a dog, and many manufacturers will replace one that is shooting sub standard to an abnormal degree.

I got Savage to replace a Varmint barreled .17 HMR because it was shooting 1 to 3 inch groups depending on the ammo. I had to make the case that I could show half inch groups with another HMR, and the rep told the store manager to give me a new one, the new one shot half inch groups with the ammo it liked.

I've gotten to where I try four or five factory loads and if it won't shoot anything under an inch I'm done messing with it except to fiddle with action torque and barrel float/pressure. Seems like I can always find someone who's happy with a rifle that holds it under an inch and a half.
 
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