[whistleman123]

First let me say that I clean my 22lr 970 Traker after every range session. So I started todays range session with a clean bore.
I was at the range today and was shooting dime sized 5 shot groups at 50' and was feeling pretty good about my Tracker. I'd already shot about 40 rounds. I ran a new target out to 50' and didn't even hit the paper! I brought the target in to 10' and barely hit the paper. The rounds that did hit were keyholed, leaving wide holes!
Any ideas as to what happened and why? Someone suggested a fouled bore, but after only 40 rounds?
Any help would be greatly appreciated! This is upsetting!

 

[Panda]

How old is the ammo you're using? Sounds weird to me. Someone will come along in a minute with better guidance. I'm clueless!

 

[Smokewagon]

Sounds like you shot enough to foul the barrel pretty good. After about 100 rounds, my Ruger Single Six accuracy begins to suffer. Not as much as you describe, but I know mine needs cleaning when it does it.

 

[AOCM.RET]

Did you use the same brand of ammo? Did you check the timing of the cylinder? Did you check the boar? Did you check the sights? ....All or anyone of these could contribute to the problem. The report of oblong holes suggest low power rounds or a fouled barrel, causing the bullet to tumble. Also, if a different brand ammo, the dia. of the bullet could be smaller and not engaging the lands and groves of the barrel; it is skipping down the barrel and will tumble when it exits the barrel. Also, if the lands/groves are leaded, it will cause the same thing. ....If the cylinder is out of time, the bullet is hitting a side of the forcing cone and trimming off some of the lead and will cause the bullet to tumble and or become a flyer. ....Now, not hitting the target at 50' and having difficulty hitting at 10' could also be loose sights. ......Check all the things I have pointed and any that others may list and try again. Good luck.

 

[Wasper]

Not sure what it could be, but I do know that my Ruger SP101 22lr had major problems with Armscore ammunition. All the other brands would work fine, but this particular ammo would clog up my gun only after 2 cylinders worth. It effected where the rounds went and after a few rounds it would clog the chambers up so bad you couldn't even chamber any ammo in them. I gave the ammo away to several people with the warnings and they all reported similar problems in all their various guns. Perhaps a bad batch? who knows, but I won't buy any again for sure. If it was a different brand of ammo than what you usually use, that might be it.

 

[whistleman123]

It was all the same box of ammo, the same ammo that gave me very good accuracy at the beginning of the session. I just tore the gun down to clean it and the sight base and rings were tight. The crane screw was tight. And it didn't seem to be that dirty! The only loose screw I found was the one that holds the cylinder release button on. This is quite concerning.

 

[AOCM.RET]

It was all the same box of ammo, the same ammo that gave me very good accuracy at the beginning of the session. I just tore the gun down to clean it and the sight base and rings were tight. The crane screw was tight. And it didn't seem to be that dirty! The only loose screw I found was the one that holds the cylinder release button on. This is quite concerning.

Cleaning it well is good, after doing so, go try it again with the same ammo and see what it does. If it happens again, I would trash the ammo and try something different and if it does it again, I would call Taurus CS and arrange to have it sent back.

 

[Sekol]

I have had the key holeing thing happen to me on several of my Taurus 22's and they went back to Taurus. How many rounds total due you have thru your 970? It could be that the particular ammo you were using is the culprit, but it could be the revolver itself. Check how close the cylinder is to the forcing cone. It is very upsetting when your treasured Tracker is un-well! I certainly feel for you and hope that you find that it was just the ammo you were using.

 

[GhostHorse]

Did you use the same brand of ammo? Did you check the timing of the cylinder? Did you check the boar?

Now now, don't go hogging all the good suggestions.

I just tore the gun down to clean it and the sight base and rings were tight. The crane screw was tight. And it didn't seem to be that dirty! The only loose screw I found was the one that holds the cylinder release button on. This is quite concerning.

Once you've shot it again after this cleaning, you'll have your answer. If you have more from the same box, use that. Keep us posted; we all learn from threads like this.

 

[PolyPro]

I find this to be interesting as I've had similar results in the past with a certain firearm and it turned out that the ammo was a pretty dirty ammo. After a few rounds down range, accuracy sucked. Switched to another ammo and problem went away.

 

[scoutfish]

Even within the same box of ammo, ammo could bad. Ammo isn't manufactured by the box, but by thousands.
Could be a small clump of power was tainted, bad mix, lesser quality. Anything from 6 to 600 rounds could be bad. How many end up in a box or even a whole box is just random chance.

Shoot half the box just fine - maybe have 4 or 5 bad ones and the rest of the box is fine. Might be that you shoot 10 rounds and the other 40 are crap. Maybe 1 round left some lead slag smeared inside the bore right before the crown.

 

[whistleman123]

I guess my gun just doesn't like lead round nose Remington Thunderbolt. I shot it today with some Winchester X-22 copper plated lead round nose. I put 100 rounds down range with no problems. When I switched back to the T-bolt the groups started to spread after 20 rounds.
I can'tbelieve I shot a decent score at a bullseye match with the T-bolt last weekend! Makes me think it could have been even a better score with different ammo!
Thanks for all the advice!

 

[palabman]

I guess my gun just doesn't like lead round nose Remington Thunderbolt. I shot it today with some Winchester X-22 copper plated lead round nose. I put 100 rounds down range with no problems. When I switched back to the T-bolt the groups started to spread after 20 rounds.
I can'tbelieve I shot a decent score at a bullseye match with the T-bolt last weekend! Makes me think it could have been even a better score with different ammo!
Thanks for all the advice!

Yeah, Thunderolts can be iffy. I've had bricks where many of the lead bullets oxidized and would not chamber in my Ruger Mark II. I had to sort them out and and shoot them in my Single Six. I don't know if the lube wears off while being jostled in the box or it is just crappy lube. It was a brick that had been stored for some time so now if I buy them I shoot them up quicker.

 

[Sekol]

Oh my, Thunderbolts are the culprit, not your Tracker; now thst I think about it! I remember that I've had Thunderbolts foul one of my treasured S&W's -but it doesn't happen all the time. I save the Thunderbolts for semi pistols, as when I can't find CCI minimags at least the Thunderbolts will cycle the pistols!

 

[Qwiks draw]

Any gun, especially .22lrf handguns, can be or are finicky about the ammo they like.

All guns have ammo they shoot well with and others that they do not. It's a try as many brands and types as possible to find out what does and doesn't. Even an exact copy of your model belonging to someone else might well like ammo different from what yours likes.

 

[Divebum]

Cleaning the bore and unfouling the bore are two different things. Running a brush and patch down the barrel a few times won't clean lead out of the grooves. If you've been shooting lead nosed rounds, I'd suspect fouling. A good going over with some Gunzilla will soften the lead and a good stiff brass bore brush should clean the grooves. Even jacketed rounds will foul the barrel after a few hundred rounds. Also, check and see if you're using waxed rounds such as Federal Champion. Some guns don't like the wax buildup.

 

[Qwiks draw]

Same here. I've had Thunderbolts that not only fed bad in the Ruger and Taurus pistols, but it was a on and off kind of thing.

Some batches were fine and others weren't. That goes for accuracy as well as duds or functioning in the pistols and revolvers.