Group opening up at 200yrds.

Just condition of rifle I guess bore/barrel.

Are the groups opening up in a particular pattern? Horizontally, vertically? just over all larger?

Personally I would lean towards the scope and reticle, can you swap out for a higher power scope with fine reticle? I have done this to eliminate gear myself when my mind I thought was going.

regulate34 said:
Not sure what details you need.
It's not bedded.
Bbl is floated.
Decent trigger

Weather : clear, +6 Celsius, slight breeze

Bullets are new, clean , first time being seated.

Don't have a crony. So not 100% on velocity
If I went by manuals aprox 2750-2850fps
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How do you figure the reticule. It's not covering the target. It's a standard duplex

I do have a 2.5-8 VX3 I could try on it.
But it has a standard duplex as well.
 
Sounds like parallax error with the scope. I would try another scope before you waste a pound of powder trying to develop a load that will never group well.
 
With my M8 6X I find that I cannot distinguish if I am perfectly on center at 200 yards due to the thickness of the x-hair.

A bit more magnification would help for sure IMO.

I have tightened groups up going from a 14x to a 20 x to 40x+ .Never had a problem being steady but I found once the distances increased I needed more magnification to keep that perfect dead center hold.

I don't believe your load is the cause.

Which way do the groups move or increase?

regulate34 said:
How do you figure the reticule. It's not covering the target. It's a standard duplex

I do have a 2.5-8 VX3 I could try on it.
But it has a standard duplex as well.
Click to expand...
 
I have the same problem I am using Hornady 140 gr. btsp reload with 4831 imr powder at 100 yds it will shoot 1.5 inch and at 200 yds it shoots about 6 inch group low and to the left.
So the next time I went to the range I tried a factory shell that I knew shot well at 100 yards (about 1.25 inch @100yds) so I sent these down at 200 yards they hit in the black at about a 3.75 group for 5 shots .The scope is a vx2 and is only 4 years old. I will try some other ammo at 200 to see if that the bullet is the problem.
 
'Boo said:
Sounds like parallax error with the scope. I would try another scope before you waste a pound of powder trying to develop a load that will never group well.
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if its a parallax issue could I not try it at 300yds. or would this amplify the error.
 
regulate34 said:
if its a parallax issue could I not try it at 300yds. or would this amplify the error.
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300 will amplify the issue. If you hold the rifle and rock your head side to side and up and down while looking at the crosshair and you see the crosshair moving all over the target then you have parallax issues, if it doesn't move your good to go
 
regulate34 said:
if its a parallax issue could I not try it at 300yds. or would this amplify the error.
Click to expand...

Yes you could do that but a simpler way is to firmly set the rifle in a rest and centre the cross-hairs on the bulls-eye at 200 yards. Then, without touching the rifle or scope slowly move your eye side to side and up and down while looking through the scope. If the cross-hairs seem to wander on the target then your parallax is set wrong. All scopes will have some error but most are set to be free of parallax at around 200 yards.

Over the years I have seen a few used scopes where someone has screwed around with the objective lens rather than the ocular lens trying to focus it and in so doing messed up the parallax setting.
 
yodave said:
300 will amplify the issue. If you hold the rifle and rock your head side to side and up and down while looking at the crosshair and you see the crosshair moving all over the target then you have parallax issues, if it doesn't move your good to go
Click to expand...
I will try that tomorrow and see what I come up with
thank you
 
I think yodave has it pin pointed, poor target for 200 yards and six power.
Actually, In spite of their popularity, those are certainly not my favourite target.
I prefer a square of black with an open centre. For 100 yards and low magnification, the square border about one inch wide, with a two inch square open centre, glued on a white background, or the color of your choice. I make these up, but sometimes print them off a target site on the internet.
 
I'm with the reticle/target interface. Experiment with different sized black aiming points, to allow you to either perfectly blank out the aim point with existing reticle, to perfectly quarter the aim point with the reticle, or to aim between perhaps 4 black squares, spaced such that you can judge equal void on all sides of the reticle. Somewhere there, your hold will improve and boom, your group will shrink.

White circles of varying sizes on a black or dark gray background, will also allow sporting rifle shooters to find a sweet fit, so the guess work is taken out of the hold.
 
regulate34 said:
no photos
the group was more or less on a angle. kind of like this " / "
Click to expand...

If your groups look like "/" id say you are having problems with vertical stringing. The causes of vertical stringing can be breathing technique, bedding or a scope issue.

I'm predominately an iron sight shooter but when I'm testing ammo with a scoped rifle I always use an aiming square and line up the cross hair on a corner of the square.

I would let another shooter try your loads at 200 yards just to be sure it's not you. My brother and I often shoot each others rifles if we are having problems, often it's me and not the gun/ammo.
 
This situation is usually the shooter not the equipment... how is your eyesight? A K6 at 100 yards is one thing... at 200 yards it is becoming more of an impediment... 300 yards you would likely triple your groups over your 200 yard groups... Personally, I wouldn't mess with anything until your try a scope with a little more magnification at least 9X, but 12X or 14X would be even better... and something clear without aberration... I bet your groups tighten significantly.
 
eye sight is fine. no need for glasses or contacts

don't have scopes over 8x

I will try a different target configuration ( the ones I am using are sharp and crystal clear in the scope)

I will try to find some one to shoot it. don't really know any "good shooters" only hunters that only take 2-3shots a year.
 
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