Last week I took out my Savage 10FP for the second time. I brought a box of 180gn Federal and wanted to just get in some trigger time without expecting too much in terms of precise groups.
I start off at 25 yards to sight in. elevation was right on, 1" to the left. Made a correction and second shot was right on.
I dialed the scope up 12 clicks and went for the 200 yard target. Bullseye.
Feeling pretty good that things were dialed in nicely and as expected, I took the second shot at the 200 yard target. Expecting something within a couple of inches of the first shot, I didn't see the round land on paper. I looked and saw that the second shot was high and right way out at the 6 ring! As Bob Uecker would say "Ball 2, just a bit high and wide!"
Pretty sure I had the sights pretty much on target and a good trigger pull... but didn't expect the shot to land way out there. I took the third shot and it was at 12 o clock high at the 8 ring.
After a few more shots, my group resembles what I can achieve with a SKS, open sights, and surplus ammo... not what I expected from this rifle with Leupold optics and factory ammo.
I did notice vertical stringing pattern, so that gave me some clues... starting first with reviewing my shooting technique, followed by scope/bases, ammo, etc. My fear was a faulty scope, but I have shot MOA with it in the past, so that was unlikely. I've never shot this rifle with this ammo, but even so the grouping shouldn't have been that disperse.
Last thing to check- the stock bolts... and sure enough, they were really loose and barely took any effort to unscrew them! &%$*
I'm hoping this was the culprit, we'll see on the next trip out. The main thing I learned about this experience is what to think about when things go wrong. I'm sure once I get all this equipment stuff out of the way, then it will be about reading the environmental conditions, improving my technique, and of course ammo.
I start off at 25 yards to sight in. elevation was right on, 1" to the left. Made a correction and second shot was right on.
I dialed the scope up 12 clicks and went for the 200 yard target. Bullseye.
Feeling pretty good that things were dialed in nicely and as expected, I took the second shot at the 200 yard target. Expecting something within a couple of inches of the first shot, I didn't see the round land on paper. I looked and saw that the second shot was high and right way out at the 6 ring! As Bob Uecker would say "Ball 2, just a bit high and wide!"
Pretty sure I had the sights pretty much on target and a good trigger pull... but didn't expect the shot to land way out there. I took the third shot and it was at 12 o clock high at the 8 ring.
After a few more shots, my group resembles what I can achieve with a SKS, open sights, and surplus ammo... not what I expected from this rifle with Leupold optics and factory ammo.
I did notice vertical stringing pattern, so that gave me some clues... starting first with reviewing my shooting technique, followed by scope/bases, ammo, etc. My fear was a faulty scope, but I have shot MOA with it in the past, so that was unlikely. I've never shot this rifle with this ammo, but even so the grouping shouldn't have been that disperse.
Last thing to check- the stock bolts... and sure enough, they were really loose and barely took any effort to unscrew them! &%$*
I'm hoping this was the culprit, we'll see on the next trip out. The main thing I learned about this experience is what to think about when things go wrong. I'm sure once I get all this equipment stuff out of the way, then it will be about reading the environmental conditions, improving my technique, and of course ammo.
