Help! Browning Bar Longtrac .270 WIn

As a retirement gift from the Air Force, I was given a Browning Bar .270 Win Longtrac. The finish on it is ACU (Army Combat Uniform (Digital)). I love the way she handles, looks, and the feel of her, but I have one major problem... the rifle is the most inaccurate rifle I have. At 100 yards my grouping at best is between 1.5" and 2" with Federal Fusion 130 grain. Any other bullet in her, hand loads, 150 grain, other brands of 130 grains... my grouping can be out to 3" at 100 yards.
I know it is not me, because we set it up in a gun vice with a remote trigger, and the results are the same. I have a lever action 30-30 that I can get better results from than this rifle, so you can imagine my frustration. I contacted a few gunsmiths down south (I live in remote Alaska), and they will not touch it, other than reversing the safety for me (I shoot left handed). I talked with one of the local gun guru's and he thinks shortening the barrel or adding a Boss might improve the harmonics of the barrel.
All I know is that I am getting frustrated with it. My Oldest son visited for deer season and i had to take two rifles. One for the brush, and my long range tack driver (30-06). I would love to be able to have the comfort of knowing that at 200 yards or more, I can make a clean kill. Nothing worse than wounding an animal in a rain forest. You'll never find it.
Any help of suggestion would be appreciated.
ChowDawg

Welcome to the Browning Owners Forum ChowDawg !!

Congrats on your retirement...and thank you for your service to our great country !!

Sorry to hear about your problem, not sure what to tell you.

What length is the barrel and have you checked for burrs or dings in the muzzle crown...which will rob accuracy.

Thank you Shooter13!

I believe the barrel length is 22", but I will verify tonight. I looked down the bore and she looks clean. No burs that I could see. Crown looks great. Nothing that I could see mechanical either.

I am really wondering if it is barrel vibrations. The change in Ammo really impacts it. I have never seen anything like this. At first I thought I had improperly mounted the scope. Swapped out the bases and rings with the same results. Then I thought maybe I had a bad scope, so I swapped it out... Needless to say, I am baffled.

Thank you Billy!
Shoots the same cool as it does after a few shots. I tried giving it a cool down between shots and saw no difference.
Tried cleaning after each shot and ended up with same results.

I have the same issue with mine in 7mm rem mag. 1-2 inch spread at 100 yds at best. Just started reloading for it to try and accurize it. Will post data once I got a good load.

s3silver
I have really put a lot of time into reloading and trying to dial in the best load. This last fall I invested a lot of money in trying to get better accuracy out of this rifle. I purchased a lot of bullets (sierra game king, TSX, TSXT, ballistic tips...) and tried each bullet with multiple loads of different powders (4320, 4350, 4831, Varget...). I staggered my loads as you would with trying to dial in the best load and spent several days at the range. I loaded each load in 3-shot groups. Each group was 0.5 grains of powder off from the previous group. Our gun range has solid benches, and I had an RCBS Lead Sled loaded down with lead shot bags and one bag of shot to lay over the scope for added accuracy. I used a remote trigger actuator as well. I did three shot groups of each load, allowed the rifle to cool and cleaned the barrel prior to going on to the next group.

Results
- Powders - Found the faster the powder, the more accurate, the slower the powder the less accurate. I believe this has to do with how hard the gas pushes the action back. The slow powder has too much pressure and throws the action back too hard (guess work on my part, but you can tell the difference in the recoil is a lot higher. Slow powder more of a boom and a harder recoil and with faster powder a sharper crack with less recoil...).
-- Best powder IMR 4320 & Varget
-- Worst powder IMR 4831 & 4350
- Bullet variances
-- Bullet weight - this seemed to have as much play as the fast powder. The heavier the bullet the less accurate. I believe this is going to be more on the barrel harmonicas than anything else.
-- I settled on 130 grain bullet as the most accurate with boat tail in most spitzers. Sierra Game Kings pretty much.
-- I had good results with Barnes TSXT and TSX 130gr. The TSXT was the flattest shooting of all bullets shot, almost as accurate as the spitzers. The shots at 100yds were always 1" lower than the spitzers, so I had to make a choice between one or the the other for best results hunting...
-- I had pretty good results with 150gr round nose soft point boat tails.
-- I had absolute horrid results with the Nosler Ballistic Tip 130 gr. No idea why, but my rifle does not like them. Worst shot pattern of all bullets regardless of load and type of powder. Absolutely no idea why.
- On the rifle side...
-- Noticed that the first bullet of each group was thrown to the up about 1/2" and to the right between 1" to 2". The second two bullets always had pretty good grouping, between 1/4" and 1/2" from each other... I really do not understand this, but the results each time were undeniable. The less the rifle liked the round the further out and up it would throw the first shot.

Even with the best loads, I am still thoroughly disappointed with this Barr's accuracy. I have two Marlin Leaver Actions (44mag and 30-30) which outperform this rifle significantly from 100 to 200 yards. Yes the 44mag has a significant drop at 200 yards, but I'm still hitting the bulls-eye if I compensate; whereas my grouping with the 270 at 200 yards is uncomfortable at best. I have taken a bear and a nice Sitka Black Tail deer with the 270. But it is not my go to rifle as I would like it to be. When I bagged the bear it was at about 200 yards. I was aiming at the neck and the first shot did not hit it. May have been buck fever, but I felt like I had pretty good control when I shot. The second shot was dead on and the killed the bear instantly.

Sadly, this is not my go to rifle; which I would like it to be. I might send it in and have the barrel re-bored to 7mm-08. Reason being, I really believe the problem is barrel harmonics.

ChowDawg, your last post is very informative. In fact I came on to this forum to see if anyone had experiences with the BAR in 270Win because I do have one and have run about 1000 rounds through it now. Specifically I have been looking for any info on slower burning powders like IMR 4831 to increase velocity yet maintain accuracy. I have very accurate 130gr loads with fast powder (W760) and medium powder (H4350) but they are near max pressures and mild velocities (2790 - 2870 respectively) and I want to go faster for longer distances. Also I never get very low ES and SD readings. Wondering if that is a characteristic of autoloaders or what? So what you said pertains to me.

I am on a quest for a full velocity load...a 130 gr going out around 3000 fps. I want to be able to deliver more power farther away or closer/more penetration/heavier bullet if I ever get to go elk hunting. So I figure I need to move to IMR4831 or slower. RL22, H-1000? I've never tried it because I figured the auto would like a faster powder as you have indicated, since the pressure curve is steeper and the action starts to cycle before the bullet leaves the barrel. If anyone has any more experience with these slow burners I'd like to hear about it. Chowdawg you say 4831 is ng.

Sorry to hear you are disappointed CD. I was too for a while until I honed in on some reasons for inconsistencies. Wondering if you rebarreled it yet, as you post was 6 months ago.

I will post more detailed info if anyone is listening/interested. (Yes, the 130gr TSX drills wild pigs past 200 yards with complete passthrough and good expansion even through shoulder bone, and I have a very accurate load for it.)

I waited a year for my "dream gun" and carefully seasoned the barrel by shooting & cleaning after each shot (first 5 shots), then shooting 10 and cleaning (till reaching 100 rounds total). I am beside myself... This is the poorest shooting weapon I own. Groups average 2.5 - 4 inches. I've tried 130 grain Winchester, Federal, & Hornaday. 150 grain is no better. My scope is a Leopoldo VX1. My Winchester model 1907 (.351 SL) does as well with open sights! I've got a Winchester Model 100 (1964) .308 that "stacks em". Any ideas short of sending it back where it came from? Btw, I clean breach to muzzle with a Bore Snake.

Welcome to the Browning Owners Forum 13B !!

Its a rock solid semi-auto rifle for sure but the BAR isnt known for superb accuracy. Mine was no different. If she didnt like the ammo... she REALLY didnt like the ammo and she barfed out a 3" pattern to prove it. I fed it different ammo and I got it right with 150 grain grey box Winchester (.30-06). Rounds were touching in two three-round groups. That said, a 1.5" group will put food on the table well out PAST 200 yards very reliably.. for many years that was considered good accuracy from a bolt.
Best wishes. Hooah!

First off, thank you for your service.

Thought I was the only one with this issue until I stumbled across this forum. Bought my .270 win BAR 3 years ago and have yet to figure it out.

I went to the range today and came home disappointed again. In the last two weeks I've tried 5 different brands of ammo. Winchester Super X, Federal Fusion, Hornady American Whitetail, Hornady Super Performance, and Winchester Power Max. Weights ranged from 130 gr. to 150 gr. None of them shot well in my opinion. The worst were the Hornady Super Performance 130 gr. and the Winchester Power Max 150 gr. Even on the lead sled the groups were just awful (5"-6"). The best group (3"-31/2") was from the Hornady American Whitetail.

I realize a semi-auto won't be as accurate as a bolt, but this is rediculous. Im pretty much beside myself at this point. There are lots of things I do like about the gun but it's not much good if it's not accurate. Deer season is 2 days away and I'll be leaving it home yet again in favor of my old Remington 721. I'll try getting ahold of Browning either tomorrow or after deer season to see what they say.

PF, I know how frustrating this can be. See my post above. In general, I think factory loads to do not perform as well as handloads because they are too hot, but that's just a hunch. I will review my logs tomorrow and post a configuration that is capable of shooting cloverleaves at 100 yards with Hdy 130 SPs and TSX 130s, and some other observations, though I can't say I can do that with the same consistency as some other rifles I have. It seems to me it's velocity more than powders. I can say that since my last post, I swapped the original 3-9 Leupold with a 5 - 20 Monarch scope, and yes my groups at 100 were consistently tighter because of the magnification. I will also say that the trigger on this gun really has to be learned as it is not a crisp break. It's not my long range rig, but I do shoot decent groups at 200 & 300 yards with it. I love the way it handles and the low recoil.

For precision and power beyond that I have a Savage 7RM that is capable of < .5 MOA with handloads after I learned how to overcome the recoil. (It is currently having a brake installed though because it's just a little too much recoil for me on the bench or prone to shoot more than around 20 rounds in a day.)

Timbrowning, Thanks for the reply.
Any info you can give me on handloads would be greatly appreciated.

After shooting in a vice without success I did some reading on barrel harmonics and have a hunch that factory loads are just not working with the barrel vibrations. I agree the key is to work up a load with the right velocity so it leaves the barrel at the right time for optimum accuracy.

On a positive note, I'm learning a lot from reading posts on here so thank you all for you sharing your knowledge on this matter.

Forend tightness can be a significant factor in BAR precision, IME. Also, mine was badly over-gassed as delivered. Turning down the gas operating system was useful. NOTE: This may make the rifle less reliable if you change anything at all about ammunition, or even go hunting in very cold weather. Also, Browning says to not mess with the gas system, so do this at your own risk and only with good understanding of the whole system.

This is a pretty late reply, but hopefully you still have your BAR and haven't given up on it. I just bought a new 30-06 BAR January 2016 after reading extensively to make sure I wouldn't regret it. I've shot a friend's A-bolt 2, and could pick which corner of a 1" square I wanted to hit at 100 yards, so I was pretty impressed with that. But it's the 2000s, so you'd think someone could make a semi that would also be accurate. I got to the range a month before deer season to check out my BAR, and was very pleased with the results, once I found ammo it liked. The cheapest stuff produced inconsistent results, as one might expect. But one step up made a huge difference. See attached pics, with cheap ammo on the top target at 100 yards, then 2 shots into one hole with the new ammo, then adjusted the scope a bit to produce the bottom 2 holes within half an inch of each other. The next picture is my first 2 shots onto paper out of any gun at 300 yards. Sweet! The new ammo is Winchester Power Max bonded 150 grain.

Oh yeah... apparently the biggest issue to watch for is an over-tightened fore-end on the BAR, so check that and get back to the range!

Packers Fan~ Ditto here, sorry for the lagging response. Here are a few loads that I've found to be very accurate in my BAR. I bump the shoulder .004" compared to a fired case so I know it will cycle in properly. START LOWER ALWAYS WORK UP LOADS

This load often shoots 3 of 4 in a cloverleaf + 1 a half inch or inch away (maybe me) at 100 yards. Mild load but accurate. ~2840 - 28270fps

52.0 gr Win 760
130gr Hdy SP (flat base or BT, flat base maybe even more consistent)
COAL 3.280
Ogive 2.820 measured with Hornady comparitor
Rem 9 1/2 primers

Another more powerful load, because Barnes like to be pushed for accuracy ~2940
These will drill a wild pig or any size deer at 300 yards. Doesn't matter shoulder bone, whatever, full thru and thru with decent expansion, pulverizing everything in their path.

54.0gr H4350
130gr Barnes TTSX
COAL 3.345
Ogive 2.865 measured with Hornady comparitor
Fed GM210 primers


53.0gr H4350
130gr SST
Ogive 2.800
Fed GM210

A fun fast ~ 3100+ and very accurate load is:

56.7gr Win 760
110gr Sierra SP
Rem 9 1/2 primers
Can't find length measurement at the moment

All of these loads are capable of producing under 1". I get frustrated over fliers and think it's probably me because the trigger on this gun is a little squishy and I only have a 3 - 9x scope on it. When I put a 20x my groups were more consistent. Overall I love this gun. It shoots very smoothly due to the weight and autoloading. I never feel undergunned with it. But I'm not confident with it at 500 yards on game, so have a 7mm RM Savage 24" + muzzle brake bolt action and 5 - 20x scope for that and beyond. But for under 400 yards, the BAR is fine. And mine is a special edition, all engraved, beautiful wood, etc. If I can get within 300 yards, it's dead.

I would also recommend a Browning Xbolt. Very accurate. I would like one in 6.5 Creedmore. The thing about Brownings though is that barrels are not easy to change out.

I was happy this day with the 130gr Hdy sp flat base. 52.0gr W760. 200 yards up a hill. Didn't want to risk ruining it with a 3rd shot! LOL

This target is more typical...3 shot cloverleaf with a flier 1" away. 100 yards. 130gr sp. Hate those fliers and not sure if it's me or what but again, only a 9x scope. Not a precision long range do everything rig, but fine for most of my hunting needs. Gotta love the 270 round in this smooth shooter. I can shoot 30 in a day mixed with other guns and not be bothered by recoil at all.