Really been trying to work up a load lately for my .54 Renegade. The further out I shoot the more it shoots to the left. Got it shooting good today at 50 yards but the rear sight ended up being adjusted pretty far right to get it to hit center. Is there a fix for this short of buying a new barrel? I could also move the front sight I suppose to the left and split the difference?
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could barrel be bent?
- Thread starter huntswnm
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jtmattison
70 Cal.
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Could be it is bored at a slight angle. I know a lot of guys have corrected this by bending the barrel. If extreme sight adjustment doesn't do the trick you might consider bending it.
Is warranty replacement an option from wherever you got it?
Maybe a tang mount peep sight is a good solution for you. Some have a very large adjustment range.
HD
Is warranty replacement an option from wherever you got it?
Maybe a tang mount peep sight is a good solution for you. Some have a very large adjustment range.
HD
Guest
Huntswmn,
If your barrel is bent, you aren't going to bend it. A fowler barrel is one thing, a short, fairly heavy, barel as the Renegade's is pretty unlikley. I would look into the location of the sights on the barrel or the rear sight itself.
Mark :idunno:
If your barrel is bent, you aren't going to bend it. A fowler barrel is one thing, a short, fairly heavy, barel as the Renegade's is pretty unlikley. I would look into the location of the sights on the barrel or the rear sight itself.
Mark :idunno:
Is this a rifle you,ve had for some time , or one you,ve just obtained? AS was stated it would most likely take a good wack to distort it. If it has the QLA muzzle it may be causing your problem. I had one that wouldn,t shoot patched round balls well with over 60-65 grs. It would start to throw the balls all over as the load went up.
i turned it into a smooth bore and at 50yds. it now will keep a good group with a stiff load. I,d also check the muzzle for damage and/wear. Its not impossible that the barrel was defective from the factory, but I doubt it. TC kept good quality control and I don,t think one that bad would have made it out the door.
Have someone else who you know is a fair shot try it and see where the POI is with the same sight setting?
:thumbsup:
i turned it into a smooth bore and at 50yds. it now will keep a good group with a stiff load. I,d also check the muzzle for damage and/wear. Its not impossible that the barrel was defective from the factory, but I doubt it. TC kept good quality control and I don,t think one that bad would have made it out the door.
Have someone else who you know is a fair shot try it and see where the POI is with the same sight setting?
:thumbsup:
I had the same problem with a T/C .50 caliber. It shot so far left that to get it zeroed I maxed out the adjustment of the rear sight to the right and had to knock the front noticeably off center to the left as well. I sent it back to T/C and received a new barrel under warranty. Yes, they do sometimes bore them crooked.
If your windage is good at 50 yards, it should be good at any range, regardless of a bent barrel or crooked bore. If you think about it, what you're suggesting is that the ball is traveling in a sideways curve, which is impossible, except in the movies.
Sounds to me like a classic example of canting the rifle. If you hold your rifle cocked a little sideways when you shoot, it will throw that ball more and more to one side as your range increases. You can zero the windage at a certain range, but it will hit to one side when range changes.
Lots of ways to check for canting. If you shoot from a bench, steady the gun in place and step back behind it to see how it lines up with gravity. If you shoot offhand, just cant the rifle past where it feels comfortable to you, in the opposite direction of the windage drift, to see if the ball strikes more along the correct windage path. Or, ask a friend to observe how the rifle looks just before you shoot. You're looking to have a verticle line, in relation to gravity, from the sights to the bore, that's what all ballistics are base on. Hope this makes sense and helps. Bill
Sounds to me like a classic example of canting the rifle. If you hold your rifle cocked a little sideways when you shoot, it will throw that ball more and more to one side as your range increases. You can zero the windage at a certain range, but it will hit to one side when range changes.
Lots of ways to check for canting. If you shoot from a bench, steady the gun in place and step back behind it to see how it lines up with gravity. If you shoot offhand, just cant the rifle past where it feels comfortable to you, in the opposite direction of the windage drift, to see if the ball strikes more along the correct windage path. Or, ask a friend to observe how the rifle looks just before you shoot. You're looking to have a verticle line, in relation to gravity, from the sights to the bore, that's what all ballistics are base on. Hope this makes sense and helps. Bill
Dawg sed:
Chances are 99.99% certain that is the case. Many (most?) barrels that are bored after the steel is drawn have a mark showing which flat should be mounted either on the top or the bottom when the rifle is built. Methinks the builder of your gun did not know or observe this precaution. Not likely yer barrel is bent, it is just not pointing the same way as the outside. Sadly, the only fix is extreme adjustment of the sights or a barrel replacement.
Chances are 99.99% certain that is the case. Many (most?) barrels that are bored after the steel is drawn have a mark showing which flat should be mounted either on the top or the bottom when the rifle is built. Methinks the builder of your gun did not know or observe this precaution. Not likely yer barrel is bent, it is just not pointing the same way as the outside. Sadly, the only fix is extreme adjustment of the sights or a barrel replacement.
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huntswnm said:
That's what I'd do and ferget whether it's bored offcenter or not. Since the bore isn't going to be moving around relative to the sights, once you get it adjusted where you want it, the issue is done and over.
I see you're in Silver. I was born there long, long ago in the old hospital.
Thank you all so much. This thread has sorted out a curiosity that has plagued me for 2 years. My TC Hawken 54, a kit gun as the ser.# starts with K, Shoots strait when the rear sight is 1/8 inch off centre. :shocked2: It baffled me. Did the original kit builder draw file the barrel wonky? I couldn't see how he could have caused such a degree of off centre. Now bored wonky, that makes a whole lot of sense. Lucky I have enough room to adjust the sights to match the off centredness of the bore and shoot straight. :grin:
Well thanks for all the responses guys. I had a post about this gun a couple of years ago, bought it from a local gun shop, it was on consignment. Hind sight I didn't really know what to look for in a BP gun, didn't check the barrel, etc. It was a cool looking T/C and in .54 no less so I bought it. Havent really shot it much until this year. The front sight was really loose so I had a local gunsmith try to fix that. I say try because he said that once he got it off it was obvious someone had really messed up the dovetail and thats why it was so loose. He wasn't able to get it to hold by just 'pinging' the metal so he used some sort of metal glue chemical agent which didnt really work cause after 1 shooting sessiong i can tell it is slightly loose again. Anyway I have been shooting off of a bench using a shooting rest. It was maybe 3" left at 25 yards and about 6" left at 50. Not saying the bullet shoots in an arch, that just what I saw. Moved the rear sight way over to the right and got good groups at 50 yards, just a little funny tring to line up with the rear sight so far over. I shoot 90 grains of Pyrodex and patched round ball. Maybe I should try more or less charge and see if it changes POI? None of the sporting goods stores carry .54 cal equipment locally so I have to order things in otherwise I would try a different projectile to see if I get a different POI. My deer hunt is at the end of the month and I feel like I am running out of time to get this figured out.
So I think the offcenter bore tap makes the most sense to me because once I moved the sights it seems to shoot good groups. Would T/C warranty something this old? Since the front sight seems to loosen up again I thought about tapping it left but am afraid it would totally loosen up again and I dont want it wobly as it was before.
Brownbear.....Yes I live in Silver City and I too was born in the old hospital. It was finally torn down a few years ago. Sad to see it go but was in very bad shape.
So I think the offcenter bore tap makes the most sense to me because once I moved the sights it seems to shoot good groups. Would T/C warranty something this old? Since the front sight seems to loosen up again I thought about tapping it left but am afraid it would totally loosen up again and I dont want it wobly as it was before.
Brownbear.....Yes I live in Silver City and I too was born in the old hospital. It was finally torn down a few years ago. Sad to see it go but was in very bad shape.
