Thanks for the review. Nice shooting. Subtract 0.308" (bullet diameter) from your group measurements for your final group size. Congrats, you're shooting sub-MOA (0.692" MOA) with an out of the box rifle using factory ammo. Things can only get better (and cheaper) with tweaked handloads.
I'm no pro F-class shooter so take my advice with a grain of salt. A few things that could cause stray shots could be possible flex in the stock making contact with the barrel. You can try and pre-load your bipod or shoot off a rest closer to the middle of the rifle. The more costly remedy would be to bed the stock or upgrade it to a higher quality one. Rifle shake caused by unsteady shoulder anchor. Try using a squeeze bag (there's a CNGer, skullboy ??, who sells great ones for around $30) under your buttstock to adjust the alignment. Improper comb/cheek rest height on rifle stock in comparison to your scope height (in this case, your scope is mounted pretty high above the bore) could make for a bad cheek (or chin) anchor point to help index your setup. Look at installing an adjustable cheek rest like a Tac Pro or on the strap-on ones so you can get a proper cheek weld. No option to adjust for cant. Look at mounting a bubble level to your scope making sure that it is square to your reticle. Adjustment for parallax. Check your focus/parallax by moving your head side to side or up and down and check if the crosshair is floating around the area of the target. If so, adjust it so that the crosshair is fixed. Don't always rely on the markings on the parallax dial.
I could be talking out of my arse so I'm sure the seasoned long range shooters would correct me.
Thanks for the tips, there’s a lot to remember and I guess a lot of repetition and practice ahead of me before I develop some muscle memory and start getting some consistency.
The stock for the 10TR is a bit softer than my 700 Police, so when I squeeze the stock against the barrel, it flexes more than the 700, and I am able to flex the Accustock enough to touch the barrel. I understand that it free floats the barrel, but there is still the chance of contact on firing.
I also pre-load the bipod, but the surface of the wood bench is smooth, so the rubber pads of the bipod feet don’t grab it so well. There’s also patches of carpet I see people resting their bipods on. The underpad of the carpet is rubber, but if the surface of the wood is dusty, then it doesn’t grab so well. Either way, sometimes the bipod slips a bit. I might try wiping the surface next time, see if I can clean the dust off. I know this would be less of a problem in prone, if the bipod is buried in the dirt, but at the bench, I’ll try to clean the surface, get a better grip, or maybe just rest the front on a sandbag. I know that pre-loading the bipod has a great effect, as long as the bipod doesn’t slip.
The 10TR has the Accustock, which free floats the barrel, but also has an aluminum bedding block that covers the entire area of the action. Would I have to re-bed it on top of the aluminum bedding block?
For the shoulder rest, I have the butt stock resting on a small sandbag, but I also try to pull the stock into my shoulder pocket (at the same time as loading the bipod...which is a concept I’m still trying to master). I’ve been looking into a squeeze bag and was thinking about making one.
I think I might need to fine tune the cheek rest, as well as length of pull, and also eye relief. I’m not sure I have the best set up yet, so I’ll tinker around with that. I might get the Tac Pro for my Remington (keeping the HS Precision stock because it feels right), but I’ve gone ahead and ordered a chassis system for the 10TR. I know, I know, what’s a noob doing ordering a chassis system when he can barely shoot the factory stock. I dunno, I don’t have a good reason other than I want it, it’s got some nice features as far as adjusting the comb and LOP, and besides that, I had a couple of extra pistols I had lying around so I flipped them to get the chassis.
I saw those bubble levellers. I was thinking if I should get one or not, maybe I’ll look into it.
Adjusting parallax is something I also tried. I have really, really $hitty eyes. Can you completely eliminate the float of the crosshair or is there always going to be a bit of float? I have to admit, I don’t pay as much attention to the dials as I should, and I’ve always adjusted the elevation, windage and parallax, as well as the fast focus for the eyepiece just by looking through the scope and turn the knobs until it’s clear.
Anyway, I think I’ve gobbed off enough for now, but thanks for all the tips! It’s good to know what sort of things are really important to work on and continue to improve those fundamentals.