I am not really a precision shooter, but the almost new savage 11 groups horizontally with lots of different loads. the group is over an inch wide at fifty years, but less that a bullet diameter high. I thought you guys might have a suggestion. Thanks
243 groups horizontally
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If your set up is properly installed and tight.......Parallax, bedding, trigger squeezing, grip or pushing with shoulder come to mind. I have seen similar just from people with their first prescription eyeglasses. Sometimes it's a combo of a poor scope and-or head/eye position. Other times it's poor factory trigger or pulling the trigger other than straight back. Wind is a big culprit with horizontal stringing sometimes especially if high or you are shooting longer distances.
There are some pretty handy folks here on the forum and with more info on brand of scope/rifle/mounts/rings/offhand/benched/bipod/etc. I bet someone can help you sort it out.
There are some pretty handy folks here on the forum and with more info on brand of scope/rifle/mounts/rings/offhand/benched/bipod/etc. I bet someone can help you sort it out.
Thanks guys, I will look into the bedding issue, that is probably what it is. I am shooting across the hood of the pickup, in a gravel pit, with a couple jackets on the hood. No it is not a bench but I can hold it pretty still. I can shoot my '06 which is a military mauser in a ram line stock to a ragged hole at 50 yards, this 243 of course does not kick much, and \i am not flinching or pulling it.
The horizontal stringing is caused by bullet seating depth I see this all the time while working up loads start from the lands and work your way back until it tightens up.
It will go from horizontal to one hole and then vertical stringing , sometimes it is hard to get things to go tight and different primers will help.
It will go from horizontal to one hole and then vertical stringing , sometimes it is hard to get things to go tight and different primers will help.
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- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
Just for laughs, next time you go out, set up your rest the same way, and dry fire a few times paying extremely close attention to the reticle on the target. Some stock shapes make it particularly difficult to press the trigger without some lateral movement, and what the reticle covers when the shot breaks, is where your bullet will go. I had a custom .243 that drove me crazy for this reason, the shape of the stock made it very difficult to break the shot without my shooting hand adding pressure to the side of the rifle, and the degree of error was inconsistent, so it could not be solved with a simple sight adjustment. Adjusting the trigger pull weight to the minimum that was safe with the factory trigger helped, but didn't completely resolve the problem; I've never owned another rifle that behaved that way. If the reticle jumps to one side of the bull when you dry fire, no amount of work at the loading bench, and no selection of factory ammo, will fix that, and its not a problem that can be solved through a change in technique, although a lighter grip with the firing hand might make things better, or worse if the light grip results in an inconsistent trigger pull.
I don't know for sure which way you have to go but for example if you are tight to the lands then you would need to go shorter.
Like I said when developing loads this occurs quite often when playing with OAL , some guys mentioned bedding , paralax, setup , something loose etc these could also do it .
OAL is what I would try first in this case , I have seen loads that were within 7 or 8 fps string horizontally or vertically because of OAL.
I'll almost guarantee bedding or parallax is a variable for you here. You also said "lots of loads". Does it act similar with factory rounds? How did you develop these loads? What type of bullet/case/primer?
While seating depth is important to accuracy, a properly developed load should not do that at 50 yds, all rifle specific variables dealt with. This is also providing every round is consistent. While working up a load, vertical stringing tells me add more powder for the next accuracy node.
While seating depth is important to accuracy, a properly developed load should not do that at 50 yds, all rifle specific variables dealt with. This is also providing every round is consistent. While working up a load, vertical stringing tells me add more powder for the next accuracy node.
