Record-Breaking 3-Inch 1000-Yard Group with Factory Savage 308

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By Jordan Michaels | amp.theguardian.com | October 30, 2018


As gun manufacturers crank out higher quality production rifles, custom-barreled actions are becoming less necessary for shooting crazy-small groups. It’s tough to beat a skilled gunsmith, but shooters are realizing that a factory piece can be nearly as accurate and just as much fun.

That trend was on full display earlier this month when Scottish benchrest shooter David Sharp (yes, his real name) posted a 3.090-inch 1000-yard group using a Savage Model 12 F-TR barreled action chambered in .308 WIN, according to a report from AccurateShooter.com. That group set the UK record in the Factory Sporter Class, and his aggregate for all four five-shot groups (6.756 inches) also beat the previous 1000-yard UK record in that class.

Sharp replaced his factory stock with a Choate Varmint stock and his trigger with a Timney trigger. He mounted his Vortex Golden Eagle 15-60x scope on a 20 MOA Ken Farrell rail with Vortex rings. Otherwise, he made no other changes to his firearm.

“My rounds are nothing special,” he told AccurateShooter.com. “I’m using Sierra 2155 155 grain bullets over Vihtavuori N140 powder and CCI 200 primers. I use Lapua brass (large primer) full-length sized in a Redding S bushing die to give 0.002″ neck-tension.”

Sharp shot his record-breaking group at a 1000-yard range associated with the Galloway Small Arms Club in Ingliston, Scotland. While the rugged, mountainous range isn’t known for mild weather, at 9:00 a.m. on the day of the shoot the wind was still, and the temperature was already about 59 degrees F.

Sharp has been wildfowl hunting, clay shooting, and deer stalking for more than 50 years, but he only started benchrest shooting in 2016 when old age began to prevent him from clambering over hills in search of deer.

The UK Bench Rest Association operates under IBS/NBRSA rules for Light and Heavy Gun Classes, according to AccurateShooter.com, but they also host Factory Sporter Class competitions. In these events, shooters may only modify a firearm’s stock/chassis and trigger, but the barreled action may not be re-chambered or throated.
 
"Aggregate" would mean "total" to me. But He didn't shoot 4 groups with a total spread of 6 inches. That would be four groups under 2 inches each.

So I guess it means average. they used the wrong word.
 
Why I asked cause there are different ways of calling the same thing. If the record was 3", there is no way another 3 groups would have been 3 1/2" in total, so I took it to be the average of the 4 group total.

That would make sense and would indicate an average accuracy of 2/3 MOA which is something I have seen numerous times from Savage factory barrels.

Very nice consistent shooting regardless.

Jerry
 
farmer47 said:
what i find most interesting is the fact he is not a young man and just took up bench rest shooting. may be there is hope for me.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of older shooters in the Benchrest game. It is a very technical sport and requires experimenting and testing. Appeals to those with time and patience.

WRT to the shooting side, many invest in gear so there is very little shooter input... thus anyone can do it well, even with some disabilities. Just depends on the style and version of the game you want to play... there is even rimfire and air rifle now.

Great fun for any age.

Jerry
 
Mystic Precision said:
There are a lot of older shooters in the Benchrest game. It is a very technical sport and requires experimenting and testing. Appeals to those with time and patience.

WRT to the shooting side, many invest in gear so there is very little shooter input... thus anyone can do it well, even with some disabilities. Just depends on the style and version of the game you want to play... there is even rimfire and air rifle now.

Great fun for any age.

Jerry
Click to expand...
Before I tear into you , would you like to clarify that comment , are you talking about long range or short range?
 
Mystic Precision said:
There are a lot of older shooters in the Benchrest game. It is a very technical sport and requires experimenting and testing. Appeals to those with time and patience.

WRT to the shooting side, many invest in gear so there is very little shooter input... thus anyone can do it well, even with some disabilities. Just depends on the style and version of the game you want to play... there is even rimfire and air rifle now.

Great fun for any age.

Jerry
Click to expand...

I’m going to assume your post had no malicious intent but was rather a comment made by some one that has never competed in sbr and has no idea what it takes to win in competition.
“Many invest in gear so there is very little shooter input , thus anyone can do it “
This would imply that by just buying good equipment one should be able to win , I’ve seen new shooters take this advice come to a match , get crushed, then never come back again , it’s bad for the sport ,
Sbr requires the following to have a chance at success , equipment that is capable of getting you on the playing field , this means a proper bench set up with front rest and rear bag , along with that the shooter needs to have excellent bench manners ,meaning absolute consistency from shot to shot , do even the smallest thing different and the shot goes out of the group, the rifles weigh a max 10.5 lbs for lv and 13.5 for hv they do not have the forgivesness of heavy rifles in the bags.
Now the rifle , given that these are the most accurate rifles for short range ther is (contrary to the internet you don’t see savages or sleeved Remington’s being competitive, actually I haven’t seen a savage at a match that I have been to) . The harmonics of the rifle have to be excellent and you will need a good barrel, mediocre barrels don’t cut it in this crowd , barrel needs to be capable of 5 shot high teen to low .2 aggs for club shoots and mid to high teen aggs for big shoots, that’s 5x5 shot groups ,cuts down on the lucky group lottery factor ,a barrel shooting .3 aggs is a tomato stake unless you like finishing at the back,
Now that you have that you will need to be able to tune the rifle through the day, how do you do that you ask? Look at what each bullet does on target , read the bullet holes ,the shape of the group and where it forms on the target , the bullet holes will tell you the most,nobody has won a big sbr match in the last few years preloading ,could work the odd time if the weather stays absolutely the same all week end but that is rare , what shoots in the calm rarely shoots in the wind , now you need to chase the load all day to keep the rifle at its best tune for weather and wind , here’s the tough part tuned bullets move less in the wind than untuned bullets,yah , I know that is supposed to be impossible but that’s how it is, ignore that and you lose ,
Now the flags , those pain in the butt wind indicators , need to be able to see conditions changing , whats happening all the way to the target left and right and on the bullet path , when your trying to put them all in the same hole you will need to be able to hold off, shooting off your last bullet hole is a sure way to finish well down the list , you must know where the bullet is going to go before you pull the trigger (no hoping and no guessing ) this requires both eyes on the flags all the time as well as looking through the scope to manipulate the cross hairs (dot ) where it needs to be to put the shot in the group .when you break the shot which way did the cross hairs go , did they drift left ,right,up or down on recoil , didn’t see it ? , oh you just got beat again bye one of those feeble old guys that does see it , takes many thousands or hundreds of thousands of rounds to do any this proficiently.
So , it takes good equipment to get you on the playing field , but it also requires a tremendous amount of shooter input to do well in sbr , I would imagine that any shooting discipline would be the same,very rare that a beginner wins in sbr, when it does happen look at the equipment , coach and conditions , when the weather is dead and you get what we call a “trigger pull” it can happen ,
Competing in sbr at the national level is hard ,people that do this seriously are not looking for feel good participation awards they are interested in competing against the best in the world to see where they really stack up and this discipline allows that , not to many sports where that is possible , I got in because I’m to old ,too fat and to busted up to do the physical sports anymore. the good part is competitors know this and are very open and willing to help anyone interested in getting better , in this discipline the older you get the better you can get,(need to work at it ,no short cuts ) really appeals to those with a competitive nature ,
If you just want to shoot locally or socially that’s fantastic and can be a great way to spend a week end
 
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Just to add
Peter Smith from Ontario shot a potential world record in hv100 at western Wayne in Detroit a few weeks ago , an incredible .1046 agg ,
groups were as follows
match 1 .046
match 2 .120
match 3 .153.
Match 4. .072
Match 5 .132
His HV grand agg , which is an average of 10 targets , 5x5x100 and 5x5 200 was a .1436 , a potential NBRSA record
Some really fantastic shooting,lucky for us Peter will be on the Canadian world benchrest team in Calgary in 2019
 
Pesky ab, why don't you pump the hate brakes fella. Jerry has an idea of what he's talking about (lol) and your posturing and eagerness to take immediate offence is laughable.
 
No worries everyone... Pesky Ab has been in the SR BR game a good long time. He knows his stuff. My post was simply to encourage a shooter (previous post) to look more into the game, come on out and give it a try.

Today, we spend way too much time talking about shooting games and often, it can get into a p!ssing match. That is no fun, and not a good way to motivate newbies to join. Without a doubt, to win at any precision shooting game, things can get very expensive, complicated and for beginners overwhelming. So they just don't bother to give it a try.

In my Business and my Shooting, I always try and get shooters out to the range regardless of their background, experience or gear. EVERYONE starts somewhere... and every level of shooting can be fun.

Yes, I could easily suggest that to be fully competitive in F class, at a National Level, you would need to invest thousands of dollars (10's of thousands actually) and takes years of development... not a good sales pitch.

Better to encourage they come out with whatever they have, join in the fun on a club day and see if this is their thing. There will be enough gear for them to try, they will quickly see if this is for them. And if this is for them, budgets are more flexible.

I appreciate that some shooters are extremely passionate about their sport and can worry a bit much about the details. That can intimidate newbies and just drive them away.

We are in an odd time in our sport. New shooters are coming into the sport with full meal deal gear ... likely what they have seen or been sold.

They have not worked up through the simple stuff, gaining experience and skills. They have spent alot of money for the latest goto gear and believe they are ready to race. Most are shocked by how complicated and demanding some of these sports can be... some don't even know the basics of how their firearm works.

Discouraged, they typically aren't seen from again. Better for them to have started slow, learnt the ropes and enjoyed the process????

For some shooters, a 1/3 MOA group at 100yds or to hit a 20" gong at 1000yds would be a life goal...... for many deep into their respective sports, neither would seem that big a deal but consider taking a step back and just helping shooters start their journey.

Jerry
 
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