Owning a Lithgow LA101

[Oldbloke]

Yr hard to please

mmm, ya pay good money , you expect a good product for $1365 i expect better than just "okay" i reckon that beat up brno 2 i was looking at for $550 woulda bin a better shooter. as it is, i've spoken to the gun shop and have put in a PTA to get my old krico back

Mine and gsons only do abt 22mm @50yards

[bigrich]

Try more ammo

Yeah, that’s on the cards. But I’ve never seen a 22lr shoot as horrible as this thing with ammo it doesn’t like. I reckon the flex in the synthetic stock has a lot to do with it.

Ammo varies considerably, one will give you 15mm groups at 15m, another with give you 150mm groups. But if it's giving you 15mm groups I would think the ammo is suited to it and something else is wrong.

How many .6" groups did you shoot? How far did point of impact move between each group? Did it always move in the same direction? You need to shoot enough groups to know whether the rifle is shooting to different places, or whether the shots are simply grouping randomly within a larger overall group.

Try shooting a twenty shot group without any change in your position and grip (including your cheek weld - even have somebody else swap the mags for you if you can) to determine whether the rifle just groups like that of if something changes whenever you change your shooting position. If it starts expanding the group as you you shoot more than five shots then I would scrub out the chamber and bore and try again. If it keeps happening I'd probably give it back as a rifle that only shoots well from a clean bore is useless. If it maintains consistency until you change your grip on the rifle then it has an issue that is probably addressable, but might take some time. I would start with the scope and mount. I have a Redfield Revolution 3-9x40 that moves point of aim randomly but still groups well.

hey blade , .6" at 50 yards is the best group it shot with eley club . using a proper rest and bag . averge groups are .8" . 10 shots per group . it'll shoot the first few REALLY well , then they start flying all over the place . consistent cheek weld and grip . had my 308 musgrave out there to check zero , pinged groups around 1/2" at 100 consistently , so i don't think my shooting style is wrong . cci standard groups were 2 1/2" at 50. i'll try as you suggest and clean the barrel and retry with the best ammo it likes and pick up a couple more besides . scope is a recently serviced vx2 4-12 loopy that's had parralax adjusted to 60 yards for 22 lr . rings are leupold rifleman, properly tightened and checked . if you guys could see the flex in the synthetic stock i think you'd agree it's probably got a influence on things . it's accuracy level is okay for a farm gun, but the way the reputation of these 101's is built up i was expecting better

[bigrich]

Yr hard to please

mmm, ya pay good money , you expect a good product for $1365 i expect better than just "okay" i reckon that beat up brno 2 i was looking at for $550 woulda bin a better shooter. as it is, i've spoken to the gun shop and have put in a PTA to get my old krico back

Mine and gsons only do abt 22mm @50yards

i just rechecked my shot targets , 10 shot groups . worst is 1.2" average .9" , best .6" all for eley club . the ammo it likes

i've heard Lithgow can be ammo fussy , i'll persevere for a bit longer . i was hopeful the think thank on this forum might've had experience with what i've got going on . i don't think it's bedding properly . i've put the screw tension back to 13.5" lb . poi was moving around a lot at that setting . i'll give it another go

[bladeracer]

hey blade , .6" at 50 yards is the best group it shot with eley club . using a proper rest and bag . averge groups are .8" . 10 shots per group . it'll shoot the first few REALLY well , then they start flying all over the place . consistent cheek weld and grip . had my 308 musgrave out there to check zero , pinged groups around 1/2" at 100 consistently , so i don't think my shooting style is wrong . cci standard groups were 2 1/2" at 50. i'll try as you suggest and clean the barrel and retry with the best ammo it likes and pick up a couple more besides . scope is a recently serviced vx2 4-12 loopy that's had parallax adjusted to 60 yards for 22 lr . rings are leupold rifleman, properly tightened and checked . if you guys could see the flex in the synthetic stock i think you'd agree it's probably got a influence on things . it's accuracy level is okay for a farm gun, but the way the reputation of these 101's is built up i was expecting better

The early Ruger Americans have very flexible forends. Terrible when using a bipod but I don't find it a problem shooting off bags. I solved it by putting an additional mounting stud just in front of the mag well for the bipod. To isolate the issue you could try resting the rifle on the mag well and see if that helps.

[bigrich]

hey blade , .6" at 50 yards is the best group it shot with eley club . using a proper rest and bag . averge groups are .8" . 10 shots per group . it'll shoot the first few REALLY well , then they start flying all over the place . consistent cheek weld and grip . had my 308 musgrave out there to check zero , pinged groups around 1/2" at 100 consistently , so i don't think my shooting style is wrong . cci standard groups were 2 1/2" at 50. i'll try as you suggest and clean the barrel and retry with the best ammo it likes and pick up a couple more besides . scope is a recently serviced vx2 4-12 loopy that's had parallax adjusted to 60 yards for 22 lr . rings are leupold rifleman, properly tightened and checked . if you guys could see the flex in the synthetic stock i think you'd agree it's probably got a influence on things . it's accuracy level is okay for a farm gun, but the way the reputation of these 101's is built up i was expecting better

The early Ruger Americans have very flexible forends. Terrible when using a bipod but I don't find it a problem shooting off bags. I solved it by putting an additional mounting stud just in front of the mag well for the bipod. To isolate the issue you could try resting the rifle on the mag well and see if that helps.

been resting the rifle just in front of the mag well . i'll sit it directly on the mag well and see if that helps . wish i had a big backyard and lived rural . waiting for ranges to open so i can get back into this is frustrating

[bladeracer]

been resting the rifle just in front of the mag well . i'll sit it directly on the mag well and see if that helps . wish i had a big backyard and lived rural . waiting for ranges to open so i can get back into this is frustrating

Yeah, that would suck. Even worse with handguns.

[bigrich]

well i have a plan . a good mate of mine has a shooting cradle that i can clamp this rifle into to eliminate me, and possible stock flex out of the equation. also going to swap some powder for numerous different types of 22lr ammo that i haven't tried yet . i'll clean the barrel and try these different rounds after 20 or so rounds of eley club to get some lead back in it . might also try some aluminium tape in the receiver channel to try tightening it up to see if that makes a difference . i used that trick , borrowed from rim fire central, to work out my krico needed a bedding job . i hope my krico forgives me .....

[Oldbloke]

Before you try a group.
Best to put 4-5 rounds through it, then shoot a group.
Do you do that?

[bigrich]

Before you try a group.
Best to put 4-5 rounds through it, then shoot a group.
Do you do that?

to compensate for the change in ammo , yes i'm aware of that

[bigrich]

went to 2 gun shops this morning and picked up some more ammo to try . norma tac 22, eley sport, subsonic, HV and SK standard . already tried eley standard and clun , cci standard , blazer, and one i can't remember . if i have to pay for lapua midas or similar priced match ammo to make it shoot, i'll sell the bloody thing

[Oldbloke]

Just looked.
RWS Target was best, but not fantastic, in my M2. IIRC exy. So went with RWS Club.

[GreyDog]

Just thought I'd chime in here with a few comments, having now owned my Lithgow LA101 synthetic stock for 16 months and using it at the range for competition metal silhouette shooting out to 100+ yards. First up, I can't really fault the rifle. The trigger is Goldilocks (not too light, not too heavy, just right for my purpose). Possibly(?) I'd lighten it off a little for serious competition ring target shooting. I've no issues with the stock and it shoots as good as I can hold it. For the budget conscious shooter, I've found mine shoots well with CCI Standard ammo. I was impressed to find my rifle seems to particularly like Aguila Subsonic 38g hollow point ammo. It will shoot under 1 moa up to 100 yards metres if the ammo, wind and shooter are up to the task. I'm a happy camper!

[allan]

Pretty hard to go wrong with an LA101 if the design fits the purpose at hand.
I've owned two of these (2015 & 2016 models) and put 18,000 rounds through them without issue.
Here's one that Rolf Hey up-graded for me earlier this year:

https://i.imgur.com/fIHNOoa.jpg

[GreyDog]

Very nice Allan. I'd like a timber stock on a couple of my rifles, one day. About the only extra I want for my LA101 is a ten shot magazine, but I'll hold off on that until the dust settles re any new Qld weapons regulations.

[flashman]

HI only Lithgow I own is a 1B boys rifle single shot , a top bunny gun 4 the farm............

[allan]

HI only Lithgow I own is a 1B boys rifle single shot ,

My first 22!!!! Given to me by my Grandma in the late 50's