ssimo
WKR
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2022
- Messages
- 317
Hi everyone, I already started a discussion about this topic, but I’m bringing it up again since I’ve gathered more information, including real field experience. I am an experienced hunter and a decent shot, my fondamentals never proved to be lacking significantly. I hunted for many years using mid‑quality factory rifles, kept my shots within 250 meters, and usually shot off a backpack, never experiencing any particular issues. For about a year now, I’ve been using a custom rifle built with top‑quality components, assembled by a very experienced gunsmith here in Italy.
At the shooting range, under identical conditions, the rifle is extremely accurate, with groups consistently around 0.2 MOA. This level of precision is achieved only with a properly set rest or with a Harris bipod and a rear bag. Already during range testing, I noticed that the rifle is very sensitive to how it is held and how it recoils, despite not being extremely light (11 lbs) and being chambered in .308 Winchester. When shooting off a backpack, it did not show the same level of precision and the groups opened up considerably (up to two MOA). I also tried to hold the forend with no improvements. The point of impact also varies significantly depending on the support used and on how I hold the rifle. For example, simply using the rear bag horizontally instead of vertically causes the point of impact to shift higher by more than 1 MOA at 100 meters.
After firing a large number of rounds, I’m confident that there is significant point‑of‑impact variability depending on how the rifle is held, and the groups also open up, even though they remain very good. Sometimes, especially after about 10 rounds at the range, there are flyers that land noticeably outside the group. Once time i performed a test in field with bipod and rear bag and shots ended up 1.5 inches above the bullseye at 110 yards! Rifle is decently balanced (considering it has a bipod) and it is fairly comfortable tinger behind.
Using the rifle while hunting, I’ve seen that, as expected, the results in the field are also inconsistent. In particular, despite extremely precise ballistic calculations and the absence of wind, sometimes shots tend to impact higher—by as much as 2 MOA—when the target is either above or below me. When I manage to replicate conditions very similar to those at the shooting range, however, the shot is very accurate. For the fist time i Aldo had one Miss and a near Miss on 2 ore deer at 255 and 310 meters (first clean miss unexplainably, second one aimed at torso and hit the neck, in both cases no wind and did all calculations with a kestrel. This never happened to me with many shots (more than 20) taken with my old rifles at around 200 meters on roes. POI was always where it should have been. Overall, it seems to me that this rifle is definitely too sensitive for hunting use. Reading this post, do you think this is normal, or do you agree with me? Have you had experiences with rifles that are particularly sensitive to shooting position and recoil?
I mean, since while hunting you can’t build a perfect position everytime, even must because of shooting angle, how could people regularly shoot at distances way beyond 350 yards if all rifles used with a bipod are so picky about any minimal difference in recoil management?
Thank you,
Simone
At the shooting range, under identical conditions, the rifle is extremely accurate, with groups consistently around 0.2 MOA. This level of precision is achieved only with a properly set rest or with a Harris bipod and a rear bag. Already during range testing, I noticed that the rifle is very sensitive to how it is held and how it recoils, despite not being extremely light (11 lbs) and being chambered in .308 Winchester. When shooting off a backpack, it did not show the same level of precision and the groups opened up considerably (up to two MOA). I also tried to hold the forend with no improvements. The point of impact also varies significantly depending on the support used and on how I hold the rifle. For example, simply using the rear bag horizontally instead of vertically causes the point of impact to shift higher by more than 1 MOA at 100 meters.
After firing a large number of rounds, I’m confident that there is significant point‑of‑impact variability depending on how the rifle is held, and the groups also open up, even though they remain very good. Sometimes, especially after about 10 rounds at the range, there are flyers that land noticeably outside the group. Once time i performed a test in field with bipod and rear bag and shots ended up 1.5 inches above the bullseye at 110 yards! Rifle is decently balanced (considering it has a bipod) and it is fairly comfortable tinger behind.
Using the rifle while hunting, I’ve seen that, as expected, the results in the field are also inconsistent. In particular, despite extremely precise ballistic calculations and the absence of wind, sometimes shots tend to impact higher—by as much as 2 MOA—when the target is either above or below me. When I manage to replicate conditions very similar to those at the shooting range, however, the shot is very accurate. For the fist time i Aldo had one Miss and a near Miss on 2 ore deer at 255 and 310 meters (first clean miss unexplainably, second one aimed at torso and hit the neck, in both cases no wind and did all calculations with a kestrel. This never happened to me with many shots (more than 20) taken with my old rifles at around 200 meters on roes. POI was always where it should have been. Overall, it seems to me that this rifle is definitely too sensitive for hunting use. Reading this post, do you think this is normal, or do you agree with me? Have you had experiences with rifles that are particularly sensitive to shooting position and recoil?
I mean, since while hunting you can’t build a perfect position everytime, even must because of shooting angle, how could people regularly shoot at distances way beyond 350 yards if all rifles used with a bipod are so picky about any minimal difference in recoil management?
Thank you,
Simone
