newbie bullet grain question

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heavy metal

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I was out shooting my Savage Axis 30-06 at 100yds with 155 grain rounds trying to dial in my scope before heading to a longer range. I was grouping them nicely and had some 180 grain rounds to burn, so I fired them down range and my grouping was all over the place! very very frustrating.

short of it, is there a problem with my rifle? the rounds? me? any help would be much appreciated, thanks.
 
Lots of variables here. Some of the more experienced guys will chime in with better responses.

Looks like your barrels twist rate is 1 in 10. I would think that is fine for 180gr bullets. Someone with more experience will have a better idea than me.

Rifle may just not like that paticular ammo. Was the rifle in a rest or what was your shooting position?
 
It sounds like what you are saying is that one type of ammo (155s) groups well and the other (180s) don't. that is very normal. My 270 shoots 130 gr Winchesters very well and sprays the 15gr. Try shooting your 155 at the longer range and they should still be grouping well. The ony other factor I can think of is wind. if you were shooting out to 300 yards + you may have been getting some wind drift.

Hope I understood what you were saying. George
 
you know how a bat has a "sweet spot" where if you hit it just right, you can send the ball anywhere you want it- same deal with rifles- so much depends on your ammo brand, selection, bullet weight, etc- ie you CAN'T define it on ONE brand of ammo and one bullet weight- the 06 "standard loading is a 180, but yours appears not to like those-or the brand you chose- your home may be with the 155s. or 165s, or with the 200s- that's the whole fun of LOAD DEVELOPMENT- and i wouldn't give up on the 180 as it's "better" on heavier game than the 150 class- ie moose, elk and bear-
 
I have seen this with different weight bullets in the same rifle, this is very common. I assume you're using factory loads.

You'll notice this same phenomena between brand names with the same weight bullets also. This is one reason you hear of the term "load testing," among reloaders. Different rifles like different loads/powders/amounts for different weight bullets.

Remember the brand name of the 155's that grouped nicely for you. You'll probably go through a few brands with 180's before you find one that groups for you, or you might not find one at all until you begin reloading for yourself.

It's a whole science, and I guess how far you go with accuracy issues depends on how deep you want to get in the sport of shooting. Are you a hunter who can get by with knocking down an elk with the amount of accuracy you get with the 180's you've fired allready? Or do you want to get into precision shooting.

Whatever the answer is, it's a decision you make on your own. In short, the problem lies in all the variables involved in the shooting sport. In the mean time, have fun in your fact finding endevors. :)
 
I have a savage 111 in 30-06 that I was doing some groupings with. I was shooting 150 grain Federal Blue Box soft points and some 180 Remington Core Lokt rounds. At 100 yards I could get an 1.5 group with the 150's and with the 180's the best I could get was just under 3 inches. Just have to shoot around until you find what works best.
 
wow awesome answers!!! much much thanks

I was shooting form a bench with my bi-pod and sand bag at 100 yds with no wind that day, using federal blue box for both. So I'm guessing I'll stick with the fed's for the 155's and experiment with the heavies.

Again much thanks, very frusturating for a new shooter to finally be getting a zero and have it all go to s**t.
 
180s should group in a 3006 but there is alot of varibles.
by reloading you can start to decipher what your gun wanting to tell you instead of you telling the gun what it can have.
 
You could try a different brand of 180s and they could shoot great. It's a bit of witchcraft that goes into finding a load for a rifle. Some rifles like different things and two rifles that came off the production line one after the other could shoot different ammo completley differnt. Don't be discouraged, try a different box of 180 grains and give her.
 
I'm not a fan of bench shooting with a bipod. They bounce funny and can give weird results. The other possibility is that the 180s kick harder (fact) and possibly are making you flinch (quite possible). Third is the voodoo answer - your rifle may hate that particular ammo. My Savage LE2B hates 168 GMM but shoots handloads quite tightly.
 
BigUglyMan said:
I'm not a fan of bench shooting with a bipod. They bounce funny and can give weird results. The other possibility is that the 180s kick harder (fact) and possibly are making you flinch (quite possible). Third is the voodoo answer - your rifle may hate that particular ammo. My Savage LE2B hates 168 GMM but shoots handloads quite tightly.
Click to expand...

it does kick like a mule with the 180, but even with that I made it a point to watch for the flinch. I'm thinking it's the voodoo, it is a very light rifle which doesn't help keep it on the table.
 
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