ok, so i took the bolt gun out yesterday with the new scope i bought for it..well...it was $hit! and the scope is $shit also. at a 100yards i could barly keep it on the paper. VERY dissapointed this guy was.

so i found a new scope im going to get sometime soon, and i know it'll hold up IT'S end of the bargin, but i was thinking about haveing a gun smith take the rifle and smooth her out a little. I dont really know what this entails, but i know some gun smiths can make the gun its self more accurate. I know re-crowning the barrel is one of them

SO...do any of you guys know a REALLY good gunsmith that can take some time with my gun and make her alittle more accurate?

Quoted: ok, so i took the bolt gun out yesterday with the new scope i bought for it..well...it was $hit! and the scope is $shit also. at a 100yards i could barly keep it on the paper. VERY dissapointed this guy was. so i found a new scope im going to get sometime soon, and i know it'll hold up IT'S end of the bargin, but i was thinking about haveing a gun smith take the rifle and smooth her out a little. I dont really know what this entails, but i know some gun smiths can make the gun its self more accurate. I know re-crowning the barrel is one of them SO...do any of you guys know a REALLY good gunsmith that can take some time with my gun and make her alittle more accurate?

Pro-gun in Victor does gunsmith work, but I can't speek to the quality as I've never used them in this regard

The Custom Shop in Walworth does nice work but the wait is usually long.Fargnoli(spelling?) is also very highly regarded(but in Naples I believe).

The first thting the 'smith is going to ask you is "what's wrong with it", so before you drag it to one, tell us what you have, what you did, and what it's doing and maby we can help you out.
What kind of rifle is it? make/model/cal./stock/...
what kind of rings and bases?
What is the scope?
what are you using for ammo?
Any looseness or obvious defects?
Once in a whikle a rifle comes right from the factory that just won't shoot, but most of the time it's something easily cured.

Quoted: The first thting the 'smith is going to ask you is "what's wrong with it", so before you drag it to one, tell us what you have, what you did, and what it's doing and maby we can help you out. What kind of rifle is it? make/model/cal./stock/... what kind of rings and bases? What is the scope? what are you using for ammo? Any looseness or obvious defects? Once in a whikle a rifle comes right from the factory that just won't shoot, but most of the time it's something easily cured.

lol, i dont want to come out and say it, you'll all laugh at me

ok, what i got.....

  savage model 12 bolt action .308, has the savage mil-spec type stock on it. stainless steel fluted bull barrel, and old skool accutrigger. rifle feels solid as a rock and has an overlarger bolt handle.

when i bought it it was used, and has scope mounts on it.
LOL, ok, the scope.....its a brand new NcStar MARKIII mil-dot 10-40X50. it was "supposed" to beable to stand up to a .50cal.

the problem....right off the bat the scope didnt like the gun..$shit the scope didnt even want to mount it it..after some messin around i got it mounted and tightend down too it to the range and roughed it in at 50 yards with a laser...then took it out to 100 yards with the laser and thats when the MOA adjustments started acting funny. I was adjusting my left/right looking though the scope and it actually started moving up/down at the same time...hmmm....

finally got it with in limits...too 3 shots at 100..all three were about 5-6 MOA apart and about 15 MOA high and 13MOA right.....I adjusted accordingly...next group getting better, about cut that in half...third group ALL 8 MOA low and 15 MOA left!!!
it literally moved from one side of the target to the other. I adjusted a few more times and gave up for the night

Sounds like the rifle's fine.The scope on the other hand....

Quoted: Sounds like the rifle's fine.The scope on the other hand....

I know i know...

the reason i bought it was because i have another one on my AR-15 and at 165 yards I can shoot quarters with it all day long, its been on there for over a year and had about 900rounds though it and its still dead nuts...so i thought for a moment that the same would would hold true to the .308

Pull the scope.
while it's off, make sure the bases are tight. Leupold recommends 15 inch pounds of torque on their bases, so between 10 and 15 inch pounds on "Weaver" type or Aluminum mounts. Make sure the rings bolt together and are concentric, sometime they are not. (a 1" round shaft the more precise the better will help)

Not to insult your intelligence, but make sure the "windage" knob is on the right side of the rifle, leaving the elevation knob at 12:00 (I have seen scopes clocked 90 degrees out more than once)

Set a large, clean target at 25yds. sand bag the rifle and sight the center of the target thru the bore, then while it's still immobile you can adjust the windage to the center of the target. the elevation isn't as critical as long as it's ~4" high (varies depending height over the bore) fire one shot and see where you're at. I would expect you to be 4~6 inches high at 25 yards and damn near dead on at 100.  Lots of hunters have their rifles zeroed 1-1/2" high at 100 to make them very close at 200. I set mine at 100 to keep the math easier, especially with BDC cams.

My friend the Gunsmith uses/sells/recommends Leupold, Nikon, and Weaver scopes almost exclusively. Buying a higher end scope is tough sometimes, but ultimately it's the best way to go....believe me I've been there, done that.
Personally and professionally the Bushnell "Elite" series scopes seem to tow the mark with their 3200 and 4200 series....The 3200 IS being used in theater on M-14 designated marksmans rifles.

well i know the mounts are tight, and the rings are too. the elevation and such is straight also.  but like i said, i was moving the windage looking though the scope with a laser boresighter and as i was moving it to the right it was also moving up(that one confused me)..as for the gun, it has a harris bi-pod on the front and the rear of the stock has an adjustment knob to set it at the elevation. so its a pritty damn solid stance and with me holding it, it dont move a 1/4" on target. thats why i was pissed when the bullet hits on target moved so far from shot to shot because ther was no error on my part when sighting and firing.
Im going to spend a little more time with it the next few days and see if I can get a little better pattern

the scope i was planning on getting was the super sniper 16X40 from swfa.

OK, sounds like you have/had everyting right with the mounting,  just the scopes internal adjustments are screwy (pun)
Get another scope and try again!
The Super Sniper series that SWFA sells is reputed to be an excellent scope. Whenever they appear used in the EE they're priced at close to what they sell for new, so the re-sale seems to be decient.
Not to question your decision, but have you ever used a 16x fixed power scope? Unless you're really shooting a long distance or from a fixed range it can be difficult to use. The up side is being able to see the target with more clarity and definition.
BTW: There's nothing wrong with Savage rifles.  Asthetically they're no-frills, but a pretty rifle a good shooter doesn't make.  

Screen-Name, if you want me to take a look at it I will, I don't usually mess with anything but Remington, but I will check it out for you if you want.

Just because I moved into Engineering doesn't mean I forgot everything I know about building bolt actions.

I might have to take you up on that!!
I has a BSA mounted on a CETME a few years ago and i could never get that thing sighted in..I'd get 6 or so shots on target and then the next 3 would be way off, and the 3 after that would be even further off from that. I gave up assuming that the scope was junk and could;nt handle the re-coil of the gun and was throwing the hairs off.
so when i had it happen the other night i figured it might be the same.

I was looking at the target last night though and it was grouping about 1 1/2 MOA every time i shot, but like i said before the adjustments were acting funny, maybe i just made a mistake? Im going to go todat or tomarrow and spend a little more time and see if i can get her diled in a little better. we'll see how that goes.

also, im shooting steller&ballot ammo, so the gun might just not like it.