Bisley .22 Key holing

[mcwoodduck]

Last month I shot in our clubs bullseye shoot and at one stage I pulled out my Bisley in .22 and used it at the 25 yard targets.  I normally do not use this for competition but was having problems with the red dot on my browning ( It was dead and I didn't have a spare)  I have the Bisley as a small game gun and it does well at that.  When I retrieved the target I had four rounds in the area the size of a quarter but three of them had key holed.  There were other shots on the page that too had key holed, but I was surprised that the four rounds were so close together.  If a gun is key holing is it normally accurate?  Have any of you had this problem?  I have tried other Ammo and almost all brands or weights.  I had one or two that still started to Key hole. Any Help?  Is this normal as it was designed as a target gun?  The key holing helped my score on a few rounds.  Should I just buy a single six and change my hammer and grip frame?   

[KN]

Two things that come to mind first would be to check the crown for any damage or abnormality. Then I would check chamber to barrel alignment. If I couldn't find any thing there I would send it back to Ruger.

[mcwoodduck]

Thanks.  No Damage to the crown and it does not spit any lead.  I cleaned the gun and saw some improvement but.... It still puts bullets where I aim the thing.  Is key holing a bad thing if it's accurate?

[Flash]

Key holing means they're tumbling. Scrub the bore and try different ammo. Shooting Remington Lightning ammo???

[mcwoodduck]

Thanks Flash.  I did and the lightning ammo is what worked best, behind the RWS Target but who can plink at $6.00 a box.  I even tried the 60 grain Aguilla SSS rounds.  But occasionally one would be oval in the target at 25 yards of all brands and bullet styles that flew strait.  Have you ever had or heard of a gun that Keyholed be accurate?  Again out of a 10 shot string I had 4 in a group the size of a quarter.  Three Keyholed and one went strait through.  Do you think the bullets are being disrupted when they hit the cardboard because a tumbling bullet can not fly strait for 25 yards and under that I do not seem to have a problem.
Maybe I need to find someone with a high speed camera and see what happens in flight s it hits the target.

[Keith L]

My son's new Buckmark had problems with keyholing after about 300 rounds.  When we cleaned it we got a LARGE chunk of lead out of the bore.  After it happened a second time it went back and got a new barrel.  It never happened again.

[mcwoodduck]

Thanks.  All three of my Buckmarks run just fine.  I have one my father gave me in 85 when I was on the Valley Forge Military Academy pistol team.  I have tens of thousands of rounds through it and it is still shooting strait with the original barrel.  I upgraded the rear sight.  But no other modifications until I installed a Red Dot three months ago.
I think I have fixed the problem by changing ammo, but wanted to see what you all think.  Unfortunately it is not as easy to replace a Bisley barrel or I would have a new one winging it's way to me by UPS.   
When your son's Buckmark went wild was it throwing bullets in the same place?  Could you get rounds to almost touch?  Out of a 100 score I was in the 80's at 25 yards slow fire.  Again I wonder if the bullet is disrupted on impact with the target. 

[Keith L]

No, they were all over the target.  My Buckmark is as reliable as the day is long, so that is one main reason he got his.  Now after the barrel change his works great also. 

[mcwoodduck]

Again thank you Keith.  I think the problem IN in in the rifling and the bullet rather than the tumbling action of a given tube.  Thank you for your information.
McDuck