Best changes to help get consistent groups

[Wodez]

How are you measuring OAL? I’ve found that seating depth can really help tighten things up. Use a comparator and measure off the Ogive.

For the 243 I remember seating a bullet bit by bit until I could close the bolt. I then set the die another .0010 down and left it at that.
For the 300wm I have to seat to suit the magazine. And from memory there’s a bit of jump there.

 

[Wodez]

What about your shooting technique? Basic fundamentals of marksmanship?
I shoot a lot at my backyard range and when I’m not meticulous my groups show.
Just throwing out some thoughts.

Yeah I have caught myself with being too confident after shooting 2 or 3 good groups and then shooting a bad group from not doing my bit.

 

[Nealm66]

If I was to buy either of these guns from you,( which I’m not) the first thing I would do is to clean till it was surgically clean. Then I would take it to a gunsmith and have them check it out. Then after some fowling shots, if it still didn’t group every time, I’d put the scope on a gun that I know does. If scope is fine I would start looking at a custom barrel. Maybe 300 prc?

 

[Nealm66]

I will say that of the 4 300 win mags I owned, my best groups came from the one that had a muzzle brake. If yours doesn’t have one, that might explain one rifle.

 

[Wrench]

Your method of weighing powder would be the first order of business for me. That has to be dead repeatable.

 

[FLS]

If it’s occasionally shooting good groups, it’s probably mechanical or shooter related. Give it a good cleaning, loosen the action screws then torque them to spec, and check your optic and mounts. Get some good ammo and focus on technique and see what kind of results you get. If you and the rifle shoot well with good ammo then start working on your reloading technique. Otherwise you’re wasting your time.
Pick a bullet that’s easy to tune.
Good brass and brass prep. I clean up the flash hole, full length size, pushing shoulder back .002, and expand the neck with a carbide mandrel.
Optimal charge weight. Use a good scale for consistent results.
Seating depth. Don’t worry about depth till you have your charge weight nailed down.
Only change one variable at a time , or you’re wasting time and material.

 

[tdot]

If you have the ability to borrow or try another rifle that the owner knows is consistent, try it. See if you can shoot consistently with another rifle.

Or have someone who is a consistent shooter, shoot your rifles and see what happens.

Also, maybe focus on one rifle each range session, the 85 and A7 are similar, but not the same stock or functionality. There may be some slight differences there, that could be causing problems. Also the recoil is quite different between those two chamberings, you may be inadvertently reacting differently to each rifle.

Dry fire your rifle a number of times before pulling the trigger for real each day. Your reticle shouldnt move.

 

[bmelton22]

I have had luck with going back to a manual powder scale and recalibrating every 20 drops or so. That and keeping brass lots together. Also started annealing the brass recently which has helped.
Panhandle precision has a great series of videos that I've learned a lot from. Good luck

 

[bcbower]

1. Scope that has quarter inch increments. if your serious about shooting, you need good glass leupold is the best bang for your buck. Great glass and is cheaper than a nighforce or schmidt. plus they will customize your turrets if you have the load data and specs you want.

2. Stock. Must have steel/ aluminum bearings to hold those set screws down without any wiggle. They also prevent you from screwing in too deep. so if you ever want to take your stock off you wont be able to screw it down into the exact same spot as before. This will destroy accuracy.

3 Trigger. I keep my trigger at a 1.5 Lbs. The Timmney Calvin Elite is amazing. It goes all the way down to 8oz. And thats not too light. if thats what you shoot than thats what you shoot. practice practice practice. YOur trigger control is huge. Too much weight on a trigger and you will send a shot 2 inches to the right or left at 100 yds. Thats roughly 3 ft at 600 yards shooting a 180 grain pill out of a 338 Lap.

4. Barrel. PRoof carbon fiber. You get the ridged qualities of a steel thick barrel. Less vibration and more stability with a round. Yet the light weight of a thinner "hunting" barrel. Nough Said

5. I love to reload. Ive mimicked many factory loads that shoot good through my rifles. But dont shy away from factory loads, as a lot of the times they are more consistent than what you can load. when the time comes for that one shot, you dont want to be second guessing your loads. So stick with something that gives you consistent results. ON THE RANGE.

Obviously there are are a bunch of factors to count for. But when it comes to the systems you use they are pretty black and white, and the rules have been set and fact checked by hundreds of articles and shooters from the very beginning. And yes, the more you pay the better result you are going to get. Its about finding that sweet spot between outrageous prices and cheap. And if you can buy it used than do it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I think both rifles came bedded on aluminum blocks.

I use a Caldwell tack driver front bag and some other of the shelf rear bag.

The 243 has optilock rings so I think there should be no issues there. But the 300win mag has Burris signature zee rings. I was talked into them by a friend at the shop but I wasn’t overly confident with the single grub screws here and there on a 300wm. If this was the issue I would have thought I would be getting more than a 1moa problem. And the same thing is happening with my 243 with optilocks.

I was expecting someone to say it is normal, that not many over the counter set ups shoot under 0.5moa all day every day. I thought that perhaps everyone only talks about their good 0.5moa days and never talks about their flyers or there bad days or bad groups

sounds stupid but I was using a crappy old bipod and my groups sucked. I started shooting off a Caldwell bag and was actually able to steady the rifle if that makes sense and all of the sudden my groups shrank. Go figure.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

I like to load snap caps. I'll have one of my kids load the magazine for me. Throw 1 or 2 snap caps in there. When I cycle the magazine I close my eyes so I don't know if there's a live round in the chamber. This procedure has really helped my shooting. I would have never thought I flinched or anticipated because I don't really feel recoil sensitive. I had more anticipation that I thought. This led me to more dry fire practicing using the snap caps. Overall, this really helped my shooting not to mention bieng OCD when it comes to reloading.

 

[Hillclimberwv]

A couple things I have changed that have helped. The first is shooting earlier in the day when its cooler and there is less mirage. The second thing I did was make my target more rigid. My target was able to move from front to back in the breeze and was causing my groups to suffer.

 

[16Bore]

Holy shit.

 

[Mosby]

Weigh your bullets and your powder charges. Chrono your loads to make sure they are consistent. Use wind flags at the range and shoot each shot in the same condition. Wait for a cool barrel between shots. Use a higher power scope on the rifle. I have found that changing your scope can result in the fastest reduction in groups.