I meant S2, sorry.
Nope i didn't contact Weatherby. My daughter ended up trading it in for a bow.
Was not scope or mounting issue. I did try Weaver 1 piece base, with 3 different scopes.
Went to EGW 1 piece base again with 3 different scopes.
Would only do 1" group if left sit overnight. I even tried cooling action/barrel with ice bags.
Tried different pressure point on forestock.
Tried free floating.
Bedded action.
Would only shoot MOA for first 3 shots.
Weatherby has a accuracy guarantee which you can read about on their web site, and check out. I believe it is less than 1 MOA for 3 shots with theirs or other
premium ammo. Also, from what I hear, they have a very good warranty service. I'm not a brand loyalty guy so IMO, and this goes for any manufacturer, if I have a problem and don't allow them the opportunity to address it, I don't see much to complain about. If they fail to address it in a timely manner, then I do.
FWIW, I have never heard of anything like what you described unless something was drastically wrong with scope or action torque...or something of that nature. If the first grouping was tight and the following groups weren't, how can we explain that? going from 1" to 4-6" and then 12-18"!
Did the barrel suddenly lose it's rifling? Did the action screws suddenly come loose...did you guys check those, then tighten and torque using the Weatherby recommended procedures? I'm not saying the gun couldn't be a "lemon" 'cause it very well could have been...but if that were true, how did it manage a good 3-shot group in the beginning?
My personal example of something similar...Years ago I picked up a CZ 550 in .270 Win., a rifle with a reputation for accuracy and had the gun shop mount a Leupold VX3, 3-9x40 for me. First time at the range the first two rounds were touching at 100 yds. Then the group started to open drastically. Since my spotter was a member who I had never met, I didn't want to blame the gun for what I'm sure he suspected was my bad shooting technique, I just soldiered on until it was obvious things were not going to get any better. I packed up, went home and found the scope rings were loose, sliding back and forth in the receiver dove-tail. I put a different set of rings on, re-installed it myself and have not changed a thing since 2003...and that rifle easily shoots inside an inch or better with several factory loads.
Anyway, sorry you had a bad experience with yours