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Thanks for the info. I loosened my V-block screws too, and straightened my barrel. I put a level across the front sight ears and across the picatiny rail until they were both level.
I will try it out at the range on Sunday.
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It worked for me. Just make sure your extractor cut in the chamber and the extractor on the bolt are lined up too.
Confirmed today. 100 yards. Zero'ing group of 5 was low right.
Made one correction and after that it put them right in there. Rear sight is only slightly adjusted left. Nothing I would call excessive.
After about 200 rounds of consistently hitting at 100 yrds using it's iron sights I'm feeling better about it's future.
Here are the key learnings for me. If anybody else is having a similar issue try these things. You need to know how to correct this stuff on your own.
*Loc-tite and witness mark everything (sight & picatinny rail screws, take down screw, barrel v-block bolts, even barrel to receiver joinder)
*Use a bubble level to get the feel for what an un-canted rifle feels like. I'll swear it's level and after checking I'll be off. For me I'll think the ears of the rear sight are level and the front will seem canted but once I had the level on it.... front sight lined up good with the bubble.
*Loosen V block bolts and re-install barrel using a level. Watch the torque on the barrel V block bolts. 25 lbs is not much at all. I'm thinking this is where some of the trouble was coming from. The elevation changed drastically (about 10"s as you can see in the pic with the zero'ing group) just from those bolts not be mashed down I think.
*The rear aperture sight assembly is slightly eschew as compared to the picatinny rail. The sight portion is on a fixed tang connected to the rail held together with one allen bolt. The site assembly on mine is a few thousand's of an inch off to the right as you can tell by the bevels on each side of the rail. There's no fix. You can try to persuade it to one side or the other when you have it apart to apply blue loc-tite to the bolt but where the hole is drilled will prevail. The rear aperture is now centered down the rail but since the sight assembly is off to the right 2-3 thousandths the aperature is left the same amount to line everything up.
*The front site can be slightly off in it's milled dovetail slot. I can just barely catch a nail on it on one side and none on the other. You may have to align it. I did not.
All of these conditions will lead to an excessive windage or elevation issues. Mine is GTG now but it took me two adjustments of the barrel with live fire confirmation to get it all correct. I've done two range trips since firing around 200 rnds each time and getting this typical group at 100 yrds. I am now satisfied.