"Play" in upper and lower fit

Dmcgee

Dmcgee

New member
How much "play" between the upper and lower is normal? How much does a little play effect accuracy?

Reason I ask is I am having accuracy problems all of a sudden. RRA coyote carbine, 3x9 Nikon buckmaster, RRA one piece mount. Had the gun for about 4 yrs and until now it has been the most accurate one I own. I could alway shoot a 5 shot group I could cove with a bottle cap without much effort at all. Checked All screws and gave it a good cleaning. Was at the range yesterday and thought I had it figured out but missed a coyote 6 times this am. And 4 of the shots he was standing still. Back to range next week and if I'm still having problems I will upload pics and ask more specific questions.
 
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A good cleaning might be part of the problem. Some rifles like a dirty barrel. Did the crown of barrel get dinged or knicked? Factory ammo or reloads? If all mounts are tight I think the first thing I'd do is feed it to be sure the barrel isn't "too clean" for the rifles tastes. Or if you have more scopes/mounts than ammo, put a different scope on the verify your scope isn't the culprit. If those 2 things don't work and the muzzle crown is good, I would be kinda surprised. The play in receivers is normal and shouldn't affect accuracy as long as you're lining up consistently. I did try one of those accu wedges in mine, it tightened it up but there was no accuracy difference, just made it a PITA to get my rear takedown pin loose. I also hear a foam earplug slightly cut down does the same job as the accu wedge.
 
I had some play in my remington r-15, so I put some electrical tape on the contact between the upper and lower around the rear takedown pin. There was still a little play so I put some up by the front takedown pin, more it's locked up like a vault.

Oh, and I trimmed the tape with a razor blade so nothing was visible and nothing extended into the interior of the receiver.
 
I've got that same setup and it shoots like a match rifle, off bags. Might be something in the scope or could be copper fouled. I would give it a dose of Wipe Out or Sweets, then try it again. Mine is new and the first trip to the range I ran about 50 rounds thru it. Accuracy was just as good on the last 3 rnds as the first 3. After I got home, I gave it a shot of Wipe Out. Let it set about 6 hours, and was surprised at how much blue crap was in the bbl. My Predator Pursuit did not copper foul very bad at all.
 
Originally Posted By: 07yzrysder
For the shots on the yote did you mis judge the distance or were your distances ranged prior?

I have been hunting this place for 10 yrs. all of the shots were within 300 yds the first being inside 150 should have been dead at least 4 of the 6 shots. 2 were running so I almost expect to miss those.

Gonna take it to the range and shoot some groups before I adjust anything.
 
Two times my RRA loses accuracy. When it is squeaky clean or too dirty. Fortunately there is a large round count in between. I'd bet the upper/lower fit has no effect on your accuracy. The lower just holds your ammo and makes it go bang. Check the scope, mounts, and ammo. Foul it back in too. looking forward to the range report.

Just remembered something that happened to me once. I had the same problem shooting groundhogs. Wouldn't hit for crap and it was a great shooter before. I checked it on paper and it was all over the place. Come to find out, the sling stud in the free float tube had come loose and the bipod was flopping around on it. Tightened it up and problem solved. Were you shooting off of a bipod by chance?
 
It was off of sticks. Just put the rifle on a vise and sprayed the barrel with foaming bore cleaner with the barrel pointed down. Gonna let it sit for several hrs. I don't have a high rd count so I don't think this is the issue but I don't think the scope is bad with so the range will tell.
 
If the 'slop' bothers you (no effect on accuracy), stuff one of those foam ear plugs under the rear ear on the upper and that will usually correct it..

I'd be more inclined to think your scope has gone bananas on you...I had one of my varmint scopes that worked for several years that suddenly went haywire on me at the range for no reason...The reticle had to have popped loose and must have been floating around...Targets that usually had great groups, all of a sudden looked like a shotgun patterning board...
 
Originally Posted By: OldTurtleIf the 'slop' bothers you (no effect on accuracy), stuff one of those foam ear plugs under the rear ear on the upper and that will usually correct it..

Castration bands work well also. Have had the same 2 bands doubled up for 8 years in one rifle, still no slop noticed.
 
Take a real good look at your crown, I had a .17HMR do the same thing to me and it turned out my crown had gotten damaged some how, I suspect banging around on the snowmachine.
 
Finally had a day off that wasn't super cold or windy. Took the rifle to range again. First three shots were almost same hole at 50yds. Made a couple adjustments. Next 3 were touching 1/4in low at 50yds. Moved out to 100. 10shots all could be covered with a poker chip 1.5" high. Good enough for me! I suspect with a vise or more sandbags I coulda tightened it up a lot. But it ain't the guns fault if I miss again. The barrel must of been a little too dirty.
 
At the ranges you described a coyote is easy to injure or flat out miss. If you look at the anatomy vs the kill area at a coyote it can be miss leading. BTW I sent a trigger group to Widow Maker over this "argument-discussion". So you can see who won that one! Widow Maker has a lot of knowledge and builds some unbelievable firearms from materials the majority throw away!! The slop between the upper and lower is more annoying than anything else. IMHO it just doesn't feel natural to ME. But it shouldn't result in your last outing.
 


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