Sighting In

FlyingHigh

FlyingHigh

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so i decided to sight in my rifle today. i'm shooting a Remington 700 SPS DM in 7mm Rem Mag. i was shooting from roughly 100 yards (gravel pit). i'm using a Bushnell 3200 3-9x40mm scope. i was shooting Federal PowerShok 150grain ammo. i was using a bipod as a rest.

the best grouping i got was something like 1.5 inches. terrible, i know. it's acceptable for the hunting trip i have coming up, but it's not good enough for me. i want smaller groupings.

i don't know what i'm doing wrong. maybe my shooting posture and technique are wrong. maybe i'm not using the right ammo. i usually shoot Remington Core Lokt 150 grain, but the store didn't have any.

i noticed after i was finished, the instructions printed on the target package stated that i should sight in at 25 yards. then my shot would be 1 inch high at 100 yards.

any advice?
 
Try some more different types and weights of ammo. 1.5 inches at 100 with factory ammo and no rear support is quite adequate. I rarely have luck with 150 grain ammo. I have my best luck with 175 grainers. Slower but longer bullets. Then once you have a good load gather up all that once fired factory brass you just used for the last while and buy a reloading kit for cheap and lop off a .25" to .5" with good handloads. You wont often hear of accuracy shooting and factory ammo mentioned in the same sentence or even paragraph. (at least not too often)
 
thanks for the tip. i'll try the 175gr and 180gr stuff next. i'm pretty sure my gun likes the Remington Core Lokt stuff, so that's next up for testing.

also, when it comes to reloading, will Federal brass and Remington brass make a difference? should i use one brand of brass for consistency? or doesn't it matter?
 
To shoot well off a bipod takes work and a lot of practice. It isn't as simple and just throwing a bipod on the rifle and expecting 1/2 MOA groups. Ammo selection is also important, you may not find hunting ammo to be as accurate as match ammo.
The only way to know if your 25 yard zero will be 1 inch high at 100 yards is to shoot it at that distance. The target manufacturer has no idea what rifle, ammo, caliber, and height your scope is mounted above the bore.

Does brass make a difference? Yes, I would at least keep them separated by headstamp. I am not a big fan of Federal brass so I wouldn't reload them.
 
Replacing the rubber feet on the bipod with skis helps reduce group size for a lot of people. The regular rubber feet tend to catch when the gun recoils. It reduces accuracy if you don't apply pressure the right way. Baically, you want to pull the gun tightly into your shoulder, while at the same time, lean into the bipod. The lip at the bottom of some of the McMillan stocks was made especially for that purpose/reason. Notice that high qulity bipods use skis (AI, Sako TRG). Google "bipod jump" and you should find a lot of info on the subject.

Skis are available here:
http://www.phoenixtactical.com/products.html
 
Inch and a half might be all you are able to get factory ammo to do.

As stated above, the use of the bi-pod does not ensure good groups. You should have a soft contact under the legs, for the same reason that your rifle will not shoot well with a hard contact under the fore-end. When shooting, lean into the bi-pod until you feel some resistance. If possible, support the rear of the stock on a bean bag. Try this at home, and if you can dry fire the rifle with a quarter on top of the barrel near the muzzle without upsetting the coin, you are on the right track. Even though you are shooting from the bi-pod, slinging up will put positive pressure on the legs and might help tighten your groups, or it might not. Generally the more solid the gun is the better it will shoot, particularly with a robust cartridge like the 7 mag. If the legs bounce off the ground in recoil, chances are it will help.
 
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1-1/2" with a factory rifle and factory loads off of a bipod isn't really that bad.As previously stated,I would try other loads and bullet weights.My own 7mm remmags did best with 140gr bullets,and worst with 175gr bullets.
 
thanks for all the info guys.

are those bipod skis universal? will they fit my Shooter's Ridge Rock Mount?

i'll try that quarter thing. if i can't keep the quarter balances, what am i doing wrong? am i flinching?

next time i'm out, i'll try slinging up to put pressure on the fore end.
 
I'd just go out and shoot and enjoy it, don't sweat the groups, off a bipod, 7mm mag. factory ammo, that's about as good as it gets. Most of the groups you read about here and other places didn't really occur, they came to people in the form of dreams.
 
Definately don't expect hunting ammo to produce target groups.

If you're just looking to sight in for hunting, sounds like you're there. Blast away and enjoy.

If you want to see how tight of groups you can get, get some Federal Gold Match or Hornady Match in a few different weights and see which one groups best.

If you're obsessed with tight groups or are shooting alot, reloading will become your friend/your nightmare.
 
just tried that quarter thing. i have no problems sqeezing off a round with the snap cap. the trick is keep the quarter balanced while i bring the rifle into position on my shoulder. once i'm set, no problem keeping it there and pulling the trigger.
 
I have tested quite a few out of the box hunting rifles off a bench with a 24X scope. I usually load match bullets if I have them for that caliber. Ammo is always handlaods, not factory.

5 shot groups typically run 1.5" to 3.0" The only rifles that consistently test close to 1" are the Remington 7400 pumps.

Your groups are excellent, given what you have. Practice some standing and sitting shots and go hunting.

You muight feel a little more confident if you tried a different weight bullet (but one still suitable for what you hunt) and a different brand ammo, same weight bullet. Most rifles will have a "preference". It is a good idea to sample a couple different loads and choose what ever seems to work best.

I have two 7 mags. Both are properly bedded. here are some 100 yard test results off a bench using hunting bullets (handloads) and the hunting scope on the rifle. Probably something in the order of 7 to 9 power.

Sako L61R bullets 162 to 175 gr

1.2"
1.6"
5.1
3.1"
2.4"

Savage

2.8"
0.675"
2.25"
2.1"

Feel better?

My best groups are shot with Word...
 
7 Mag

I SHOOT A REM 700 AS WELL. JUST LOADED BERGER 168 vld'S WITH IMR7828SC AND THE GROUPS CAME DOWN TO .6 INCHES OFF A REST. Try it if you reload, it may make adifference off your bipod.
 
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