So, you’ve spent your hard-earned cash on a beautiful Mossberg 350 Legend, and you’re super happy with its performance. Only thing is that after 3-4 months, you notice that the accuracy of your bolt action rifle starts to go awry, and nothing about your technique has changed.
Don’t worry – it’s probably nothing you’re doing wrong. In fact, it’s quite common for this type of thing to happen when using any bolt action rifle, as using it may cause misalignments to develop over time. Let’s now look at three of the primary factors that cause this to occur.
Reason #1 – Loose Action Screws
The first reason why your Mossberg 350 Legend accuracy isn’t quite where it should be relates to your action screws. It’s very common – mainly for the front action screw – to work loose, particularly if it hasn’t been screwed in properly by the manufacturer or the user when reassembling.
As such, you should be sure to torque your action screws solidly and periodically check to see whether they’re still firmly fixed in place.
Reason #2 – Floating Barrel Issues
Often, with floating barrel rifles like the 350 Legend, the barrel can encounter issues over time, causing problems with harmonics. For instance, over a long period of time, wooden stocks can warp and begin to contact the barrel where they shouldn’t. The same goes for plastic stocks.
It could also be that the barrel has moved away from the stock (due to contraction), which is also a common occurence.
Reason #3 – Barrel Crown Problems
Another major reason why bolt action rifles like the Mossberg 350 Legend encounter accuracy problems is due to deviations that occur at the barrel crown as it leaves the weapon. Just the smallest imperfection can have big results in terms of your grouping, so it’s something you can only ignore for a short time.
Fixing the problem – i.e. replacing the barrel crown or ‘re-crowning the rifle’ – might be something you can take care of if you’re particularly skilled. However, you might be better off heading to your local gunsmith to do the job for you. It’s best to be on the safe side with this type of thing.
Getting the Best Performance From Your Mossberg 350 Legend
When you invest money in a good rifle like the 350 Legend from Mossberg, you want to use it to its full potential. If yours isn’t playing nice and you just can’t seem to get good groupings, please consider the adjustments we’ve mentioned here in this article.
Check to see a) if your action screws have loosened, b) if there’s any warping of the stock (for both plastic and wooden stocks), and c) whether you have any barrel crown issues.
If you’ve checked all three of these important elements and everything’s as it should be, maybe get yourself down to the range for a spot of extra practice – just to be sure. Chances are, though, if you’re doing everything right in terms of marksmanship principles, it will be one of the issues mentioned above.
