Hi All,
I promise that I will not be in the regular habit of posting about boring issues, but I just wanted to see what others might suggest to improve my accuracy after I couple of range trips this past weekend with my new .308 Finnlight. I was able to decide on the .308 after having another boring ejection issue with the original .270 I picked up which was later exchanged. I took the .308 out to the range on Saturday and Monday. The rifle wears a Swarovski 3.5-18x44 4W optic.
on Saturday, I did a barrel break-in procedure (I know people have varying views on these) where I cleaned the barrel after each shot for the first 10 shots, then after 5 shots for the remainder of the first 20 shots. I shot from a bench using a bipod only, initially at 100 yeards with Federal Fusion 165 grain. I knew that this was not ideal for stable shooting but did not have access to a sled at the time and thought I would be able to shoot semi-decently to break it in and further fine tune accuracy with further outings if need be. The barrel was pretty cool if not cold with at least 15-20 minutes between each of the first 10 shots. The next 5 shots had less time in between, perhaps 2-3 minutes each. I was not able to achieve much consistency with only 2 sets of 2 shots being within two inches and the rest being all over the place. I knew I was shooting poorly and was not yet used to the trigger breaking point or the gun in general.
Later on Saturday, I moved down to 50 yards for shots 15-20. I was with a friend who has been shooting his new Tikka .308 Varmint with a nice Nightforce optic quite consistently and I invited him to take some of the shots in the 15-20 range, to see how he would shoot it. For these shots we tried Federal Vital Shok 165 Grain Sierra Gameking BTSP. I put two within an inch before opening wide up again with the third shot and my buddy placed two within two inches, which were low right while mine were high right. We allowed a few minutes between my group and his group, but likely shot them close enough together to have barrel heat be a potential issue. The fluted barrel heated up more quickly than I had anticipated. In between groups of shots I felt were consistently shot, I adjusted the scope for windage and elevation.
On Monday, I went to another range with the same friend to try and have a better performance from the prone position at 100 yards. I used a bipod and a beanbag under the rear of the scope. This time I used Hornady 165 Grain BTSP Interlock to try another cartridge. We took turns shooting 3 shots and then another 2 and could not get it tighter than 3 inches. The timing was perhaps 1-2 minutes between these shots and the barrel warmed up quite a lot. After this, we took turns using the same position to shoot his Tikka .308 Varmint out to 300 yards with his group being within 3 inches give or take and mine 4-5 inches. I know my shooting needs a lot of improvement to see good results, however, shooting the Tikka made me think something more than poor shooting may also be affecting my results.
For my next range trip I am planning to use a sled and make sure the barrel is cooler to narrow some variables down, but would really appreciate if anyone might be able to suggest the timing between shots, specific cartridges to try and a general sight in procedure for this light barrelled rifle. I was disappointed and did not keep all the targets so I cannot be more specific with where we were hitting, but both windage and elevation were off at different points. I know my technique and timing of shots both need significant adjustment. I am just looking for suggestions on how to start to get this right. Thanks in advance.
I promise that I will not be in the regular habit of posting about boring issues, but I just wanted to see what others might suggest to improve my accuracy after I couple of range trips this past weekend with my new .308 Finnlight. I was able to decide on the .308 after having another boring ejection issue with the original .270 I picked up which was later exchanged. I took the .308 out to the range on Saturday and Monday. The rifle wears a Swarovski 3.5-18x44 4W optic.
on Saturday, I did a barrel break-in procedure (I know people have varying views on these) where I cleaned the barrel after each shot for the first 10 shots, then after 5 shots for the remainder of the first 20 shots. I shot from a bench using a bipod only, initially at 100 yeards with Federal Fusion 165 grain. I knew that this was not ideal for stable shooting but did not have access to a sled at the time and thought I would be able to shoot semi-decently to break it in and further fine tune accuracy with further outings if need be. The barrel was pretty cool if not cold with at least 15-20 minutes between each of the first 10 shots. The next 5 shots had less time in between, perhaps 2-3 minutes each. I was not able to achieve much consistency with only 2 sets of 2 shots being within two inches and the rest being all over the place. I knew I was shooting poorly and was not yet used to the trigger breaking point or the gun in general.
Later on Saturday, I moved down to 50 yards for shots 15-20. I was with a friend who has been shooting his new Tikka .308 Varmint with a nice Nightforce optic quite consistently and I invited him to take some of the shots in the 15-20 range, to see how he would shoot it. For these shots we tried Federal Vital Shok 165 Grain Sierra Gameking BTSP. I put two within an inch before opening wide up again with the third shot and my buddy placed two within two inches, which were low right while mine were high right. We allowed a few minutes between my group and his group, but likely shot them close enough together to have barrel heat be a potential issue. The fluted barrel heated up more quickly than I had anticipated. In between groups of shots I felt were consistently shot, I adjusted the scope for windage and elevation.
On Monday, I went to another range with the same friend to try and have a better performance from the prone position at 100 yards. I used a bipod and a beanbag under the rear of the scope. This time I used Hornady 165 Grain BTSP Interlock to try another cartridge. We took turns shooting 3 shots and then another 2 and could not get it tighter than 3 inches. The timing was perhaps 1-2 minutes between these shots and the barrel warmed up quite a lot. After this, we took turns using the same position to shoot his Tikka .308 Varmint out to 300 yards with his group being within 3 inches give or take and mine 4-5 inches. I know my shooting needs a lot of improvement to see good results, however, shooting the Tikka made me think something more than poor shooting may also be affecting my results.
For my next range trip I am planning to use a sled and make sure the barrel is cooler to narrow some variables down, but would really appreciate if anyone might be able to suggest the timing between shots, specific cartridges to try and a general sight in procedure for this light barrelled rifle. I was disappointed and did not keep all the targets so I cannot be more specific with where we were hitting, but both windage and elevation were off at different points. I know my technique and timing of shots both need significant adjustment. I am just looking for suggestions on how to start to get this right. Thanks in advance.
