A few weeks ago I drafted a post to this forum indicating issues I was having with the POI changing on a daily basis with my then new Walther LGU Varmint Hunter .22. Moving approximately 1/2". Could get it to group beautifully, but then without explanation, the entire group would shift together, generally low. Many of you offered suggestions and support.
I immediately began to chrono the rifle on a daily basis, and as you can examine below, the power plant was/wonderfully consistent each and every day over 20 days, actually unbelievable for an out-of-the-box, non custom tuned rifle. Its consistency rivals my custom tuned TX and Weighrauch 97 rifles. I also, just for the fun of it, hand weighed 20 HADES pellets to a range of 15.84 to 15.94 and shot them as a comparison to straight-out-of-the tin. The statistical results were as one would expect with the ES and SD responding accordingly, see below. On my indoor 18 yard range, the groups were so good with each, that not much difference can be discerned between unsorted and sorted pellets, but at a later date I will shoot the same comparison at 50 yards and post the results.
Now back to the POI resolution.... Just to be certain I had all of the basis covered, I changed the Hawke Scope out (which I thought was the cultprit) with a Vortex Diamondback and sent the Hawke back to Hawke for examination. The group POI shift issue still existed, and Hawke verified that the scope was fine. I changed out the Sports Optics fully adjustable mounts with recoil pin, replacing with an RWS one piece 25mm droop mount, the issues still existed. Was tracking the powerplant consistency throughout all of this on a daily basis as previously mentioned, it was near perfect. Finally, I started paying attention to the synthetic stock screws every day (I had tightened up at the start of the process), only to find that they were working loose. Fully understanding that this is a basic place to begin, I didn't suspect they could move as much as they were indeed moving in such short time span intervals. This time, I coated them in blue loctite, and really cranked them down. POI problem solved. Over the course of the last four days, as evidenced by the target below, the POI has held constant and the rifle is dead on, again, especially for an out-of-the-box rifle.
I hope this post may save some of you some grief down the road, knowing where to look and what action to take first.
DZ
I immediately began to chrono the rifle on a daily basis, and as you can examine below, the power plant was/wonderfully consistent each and every day over 20 days, actually unbelievable for an out-of-the-box, non custom tuned rifle. Its consistency rivals my custom tuned TX and Weighrauch 97 rifles. I also, just for the fun of it, hand weighed 20 HADES pellets to a range of 15.84 to 15.94 and shot them as a comparison to straight-out-of-the tin. The statistical results were as one would expect with the ES and SD responding accordingly, see below. On my indoor 18 yard range, the groups were so good with each, that not much difference can be discerned between unsorted and sorted pellets, but at a later date I will shoot the same comparison at 50 yards and post the results.
Now back to the POI resolution.... Just to be certain I had all of the basis covered, I changed the Hawke Scope out (which I thought was the cultprit) with a Vortex Diamondback and sent the Hawke back to Hawke for examination. The group POI shift issue still existed, and Hawke verified that the scope was fine. I changed out the Sports Optics fully adjustable mounts with recoil pin, replacing with an RWS one piece 25mm droop mount, the issues still existed. Was tracking the powerplant consistency throughout all of this on a daily basis as previously mentioned, it was near perfect. Finally, I started paying attention to the synthetic stock screws every day (I had tightened up at the start of the process), only to find that they were working loose. Fully understanding that this is a basic place to begin, I didn't suspect they could move as much as they were indeed moving in such short time span intervals. This time, I coated them in blue loctite, and really cranked them down. POI problem solved. Over the course of the last four days, as evidenced by the target below, the POI has held constant and the rifle is dead on, again, especially for an out-of-the-box rifle.
I hope this post may save some of you some grief down the road, knowing where to look and what action to take first.
DZ
