Group patttern that is a vertical line.

[levallois]

I took the Springfield out yesterday to the range and a couple of times the group pattern for an 8-round clip was in a vertical line. I didn't look in the spotting scope during these clips but tried to keep everything the same, aiming at 6-o'clock each time and just relax. I used 10 different clips. One vertical group occurred toward the beginning of the shoot and the other toward the end. What would cause two of 10 of these clip-fulls to go vertical like that? The other eight sessions were your normal round-ish group of holes. Could it have been the clips? Thanks!

John

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[JustPassingThrough]

Check to make sure you dont have any wood from the stock touching the barrel. You can use a dollar bill and should be able to slide it forward and back along the barrel. Make sure the rear handguard has a business card worth of gap between it and the receiver. Next make sure the gas cylinder isn't forced against the front handguard. It should have a small gap.

If you're shooting from a bench make sure the rifle is supported behind the lower band.

[Bob Seijas]

Could be your breathing. Vertical strings are sometimes caused by that, horizontal strings are often flinching or jerking the trigger.

[superdave269]

I had that happen once. Had to sand a little wood away from the rear handguard. Hope this helps.

[Badger]

Could be your breathing. Vertical strings are sometimes caused by that, horizontal strings are often flinching or jerking the trigger.

When I did my sniper training, any vertical stringing I had was usually breathing ....

Although heating of barrels which then bear against wood causing the "free floating" of the barrel to be disrupted also drastically affects accuracy. It's why most military rifles when converted for hunting are bubba'd on the forestock and cut back to eliminate that.

Regards,
Badger