Accuracy question

I've had some success using the Federal Blue box ammo in my 308 and 243, it was the least expensive I could find for messing around at the range. That piece of advise about letting someone else shoot your rifle is good too. I have a 260 Rem in a Tikka Varmint that was all over the place for me with factory 120gr Ballistic tips. My friend Prosper was there and I asked him to shoot a group in my rifle. Now that boy can shoot, the next were all touching, clearly the rifles shoots well. FS
 
Mikey what trigger like on your rifle? For me I have always shot more consistent groups with a lighter trigger pull. I had a Ruger in 204 that was just OK until I had the trigger pull lightened up, my groups shrunk considerably. If you really have to squeeze your factory to engage the firing pin that too may be part of your troubles. FS
 
First try some other weights & brands of ammo. One of my .30-06's shoots "patterns" with W-W 180gr Supreme loads and nearly one hole groups with el cheapo 150gr Federal bonus packs.
 
Well I guess it's time to step on some toes.

Group size don't mean squat! Here's what matters when you are shooting a rifle at game:

The distance the bullet of the first shot strikes the target away from your intentional point of impact.

Forget about MOA, and concentrate on firing a pair of shots at targets from field positions (prone, sitting, kneeling, or variations thereof) at targets from 10 yards out to 300 yards. Find your natural point of aim. If you aim at a target then let all you muscles go slack, you should not swing off target. Work on your breathing. Learn to shoot on the natural pause between inhaling and exhaling. Learn to shoot when you are out of breath - a short hard run of 50 yards will do it and it will drive up your heart rate as well. Flex all the muscles in your upper body to overcome these distractions.

Find out what the limitations of your shooting ability are, then work to improve them. Damn few people can keep their shots on a pie plate at an honest 300 yards, but unless you work at it, and invest in the ammo to do so, neither will you.

The Russels catalog has 180 gr .30/06 Federal Classic listed at $14.00/box I can't make full powered .30/06 for that. Buy up 500 rounds, sight your rifle so that it hits a couple of inches high at 100 yards with this stuff, then get off the bench and go to work. Work at getting into a shooting position quickly. Practice working the action with the rifle at your shoulder. Work on your breathing and trigger squeeze - this is best done by dry fire at home - put a dime on the barrel at the muzzle and work until you can press the trigger without the dime falling off the barrel. Think about using a shooting sling when you shoot from supported positions. Work at snap shooting at close range targets, 10-25 yards. Practice reloading the rifle with your eyes on the target without looking at the rifle.

Expensive ammo with designer bullets can be bought prior to the season, the rifle re-sighted for it, and enough rounds fired that you get an idea of the drop compared to your training ammo. Normal, run of the mill copper cup -lead core bullets have done the job at .30/06 velocities for the last hundred years though, and will probably continue to do so.

As for scopes, get the best you can afford. The scope's benefit does not come from it's magnification but by the fact that it places the aiming point on the same focal plane as the target. Big game is easy to see at hunting ranges, so you don't need a 20X scope. My 2X scout scope works well for me out to 300 yards, but most folks seem to prefer a conventional variable power scope, and it that is your choice, the low power magnification should not exceed 2.5X. You can get by with an inexpensive scope, but you can't get by with cheap rings. Get the good rings, even if you can't afford them. The scope should be mounted as low to the barrel as the comb of the stock will allow. This ensures a good repeatable cheek weld. On a big game rifle thick wires are a better bet than thin. Don't worry about range estimating reticles, you won't have time to use them.
 
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Boomer, you know no-one likes reality.....it just is not ###y !

Ps, I have the day off, so your gear leaves today.....I shall PM the details tonight.
James.
 
WOW - thanks for all the great info guys. There is no better place than this forum for a beginner taking his first steps.

I have read elsewhere and certainly agree that the trigger on this rifle is not great. I adjusted it to as low as it will go so the pull weight isn't bad - prob around 3-4 pounds. I don't know exactly what creep is when I read people say that but there is just something I don't like about the trigger pull so maybe thats creep?

I certainly will begin to hand load in the future and am excited about all the little things I can do to 'fix' the rifle - for me that is half the fun!

Thanks again guys...
 
Mikeyman said:
I have read elsewhere and certainly agree that the trigger on this rifle is not great. I adjusted it to as low as it will go so the pull weight isn't bad - prob around 3-4 pounds. I don't know exactly what creep is when I read people say that but there is just something I don't like about the trigger pull so maybe thats creep? ...
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Creep can be defined as the movement of a trigger prior to it's release. Creep does not mean the slack that is common on a military two stage trigger. After the slack has been taken up on these triggers, the release can be clean or subject to creep just as a single stage trigger on a sporting rifle. Creep prior to the release of the trigger and over travel once the sear has been released, are the too most serious complaints a trigger can have; and either condition makes shooting accurately more difficult than it needs to be. If a trigger can break cleanly with no apparent movement, you've found Nirvana.

If the contact between the trigger and the sear is rough you might get a bit of hesitation before the trigger breaks. While fixing this can be done at home, it falls more into the domain of the gunsmith, as the parts must be honed very carefully with no change to the angle of the contact surfaces.
 
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I'm thinking you prolly got flinching a bit after shooting a whole box off for your first time. Its happened to us all. Next time intersperce your ot six shooting with some rim fire. In other words take some breaks from the smoke pole and learn to deal with the recoil slowly. ;)

You'll also likely do much better with a better (clearer image at distance) and more realiable scope. The Bushnell Elite 3200 is a good place to start at ~ $250. Tons of info in the optics section here too..
 
Boomer has compressed a tremendous amount of excellent information in his article. The sad part is that the young hunters who could most benefit from it, probably won't give the article a second thought.
As he states, a big game hunter does not require a high power scope. But, modern hunters are loading their rifles down with huge scopes. A rifle must be a pain in the fanny to carry, and use, with such awkward eqipment on it.
When decent scopes came along after the war, they were, as Boomer has pointed out, highly praised for the fact the crosshairs, or reticule, appeared to be on the same plain as the target. The most experienced hunters of the day quickly decided a low power was what was best. Vast numbers of hunters used the sturdy, clear, well made Weaver K2.5. For prestige you got the instrument most used by the pro hunters, the Lyman Alaskan, 2.5 power.
And when was the last time you saw a shooter slip his arm through his sling, take an extra wrap around the lower arm for a tight sling, then sit down with elbows resting on knees, for a very steady field shooting position.
The trouble with all of this Boomer, is that we are dating ourselves! Oh well, I am glad to have been an active shooter and hunter during the glory years of the sport.
 
H4831 said:
Boomer has compressed a tremendous amount of excellent information in his article. The sad part is that the young hunters who could most benefit from it, probably won't give the article a second thought.
As he states, a big game hunter does not require a high power scope. But, modern hunters are loading their rifles down with huge scopes. A rifle must be a pain in the fanny to carry, and use, with such awkward eqipment on it.
When decent scopes came along after the war, they were, as Boomer has pointed out, highly praised for the fact the crosshairs, or reticule, appeared to be on the same plain as the target. The most experienced hunters of the day quickly decided a low power was what was best. Vast numbers of hunters used the sturdy, clear, well made Weaver K2.5. For prestige you got the instrument most used by the pro hunters, the Lyman Alaskan, 2.5 power.
And when was the last time you saw a shooter slip his arm through his sling, take an extra wrap around the lower arm for a tight sling, then sit down with elbows resting on knees, for a very steady field shooting position.
The trouble with all of this Boomer, is that we are dating ourselves! Oh well, I am glad to have been an active shooter and hunter during the glory years of the sport.
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The only person that I have seen actually use a tight military sling in the field is myself. Does that still count? I prefer the Ching sling by quite a margin. I've had plenty of low powered scopes, but I'll take the opposite position on them. Those little, dim, under powered scopes can go back in time with the rest of the antiques. Give me something like a 3-9 ish range and I'm happy, just like nearly every other shooter in the world. A 2.5x just doesn't fit into my hunting life, even on a dangerous game rifle. I just took one off my .416 that is ten times the scope of one of those coke bottle glass Weavers.
 
Dogleg said:
The only person that I have seen actually use a tight military sling in the field is myself. Does that still count? I prefer the Ching sling by quite a margin. I've had plenty of low powered scopes, but I'll take the opposite position on them. Those little, dim, under powered scopes can go back in time with the rest of the antiques. Give me something like a 3-9 ish range and I'm happy, just like nearly every other shooter in the world. A 2.5x just doesn't fit into my hunting life, even on a dangerous game rifle. I just took one off my .416 that is ten times the scope of one of those coke bottle glass Weavers.
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Let me know what happens when your 12' tall elephant boils out of the 13' high grass at a dozen or so feet away.:D I see a scout scope in your future Dogleg!

Tanzania54.jpg
 
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If I cannot hunt from my hind legs and hold the firearm in my hot little hands I do not consider it hunting.....I get enough shooting at work, I will be buggered if I am going to do the same in my leisure time.
So for my pleasure it is light rifles sporting open sights, small scopes and appropriate slings.

Oh, and 2.5" two shot group from my hind legs at 100 yards is sufficient for me to hunt with.
 
Me...I match the scope magnification to caliber. My .270WSM is scoped high power (leupy of course), then my .375H&H is scoped low power (also leupy) as is my .444. It's not rocket science, just plain common sense. What? :confused:
 
Didn't read the whole thread but here's my 2 cents. Did you correct for parallax? I've known peeps who've had some checked out guns but could barely hit a 4 foot screen at 600m! That's until I showed them what parallax was and how to correct it, then they could shoot a 6 in steel plate 1st shot.

Quick parallax lesson. When you can move head side to side, up and down and back and forth without the crosshairs moving then you've properly adjusted for parallaz.- You have a tactical with a left knob thingy on the side of your scope? :)
 
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