Model 12 VLP .243, Do I have a so so gun?

[BowElkStalker]

I just can't seem to get this gun to shoot well. Winchester power point 100gn will shoot about 1 moa and have tried 65 up to 105 in my handloads. Now I am new to reloading but I can get my Tikka 270wsm to print .5 moa or better all day long. I just switch out the scope thinking that it might be the problem but again this morning I shot factory winchester and was just over 1 moa with the two three shot groups. Not sure if I should sell it and move on or take it to a smith. Love the gun but not what I was hoping for with the accuracy.

[skoger]

How many rounds? My buddys didnt start to shoot till about 150 rds, hovered 1moa, better or worse, now it will do1/2 moa, same bullets, can of powder, just got broke in and is getting better all the time.

[BowElkStalker]

I bet I am approaching 200rds?

[josebd]

reloads here,right at 3/8 inch group 100 yards.

[Slowpoke Slim]

You might also have to play with your bench technique, and not just play with the loads. I've had a couple of rifles that would change group size significantly if you changed your "hold" in the bags. One in particular I had to rest my off hand on top of the scope, instead of holding the stock. Some may like to be "free recoiled", and some want to be held down firmly both fore and aft.

Have you checked your bedding, and your action screw tension? Is the tang area floated? Try moderate to firm tension on the front action screw, and very little, but just snug tension on the rear action screw and see if the group size changes. If you watch the barreled action in the stock as you loosen either one or both action screws, do you see it "jump" in the stock?

You may have to diddle around for a while to find "your load" for that rifle. It happens. My Stevens 223 will cut .4's center to center with my handloads, but I couldn't get any of the factory ammo I tried to shoot 1" or less.

My 243 likes W-760 and 87 gr Vmax bullets.

Have you played with seating depth?

[davemuzz]

Try H-414 and any Nosler set 20-thousands from the lands.....or any Hornady set the same. Use a bullet under 100gr. Give this a try. I went to this load and got half-inch groups at 200 yards all day long with the Noslers.

I hope this helps.

[DannoBoone]

B.E.S., I have this bad habit of bedding my rifles before they ever shooting them, but I have
three VLP's, one of which is the .243, and all shoot sub-MOA. The barrel does take a breaking
in period (I don't use the proper cleaning regimen, but do clean them a lot in the beginning).
A .25-06 took about 100 rounds, same with a .22-250, but the .243 only took 50-60 rounds.
The .243 hates the 55gr Nosler varmint bullets. It does very well with 70gr Match Kings, but
not very well with 70gr Blitz Kings. Not very well with 65gr Varmint Grenades, but very well
with 65gr Berger Match bullets. And it has done very well with the bullets kissing the lands
with the 105gr A-Max. (Very well here meaning as good as 1/4" groups.) Powders used are
H4350, RL17 and RL25. When shooting for groups or sighting in, I use the free recoil method
in the Shooters Ridge Zero Kick shooting rest. Some would say that is cheating, but it takes
out most of the human factor so that what the rifle/ammo is capable of can be realized.

[BowElkStalker]

Well I have RL-17, RL-19, varget, and H4831sc to play with along with 65vmax, 87vmax, 95sst, 100gn btsp hornady, 105amax and nosler 70 and 95 gn Btips. Any loads you guys might want to give me to try would be great and I will try .02 off the lands.

I am using a lead sled and even bought a different front bag thinking that the narrow one might be throwing me off. I will try to be consistant in my hold. Barrel is free all the way back and the actions screws are all tight.

Any other thought would be great.

[bootsmcguire]

Something else, most savage barrels shoot better a little dirty so don't go crazy with the cleaning.

[243LPR]

I can sympathize,I can't get my LRP 243 to shoot any bullet weight.Waiting to hear back from Savage.

[DannoBoone]

B.E.S., you might try calling customer service and ask to talk to Joe DeGrande. If you have a local
'smith, you might ask him to check out the crown and the fitting of the recoil lug. If the recoil lug
is not fitting square all across where it meets the stalk, it will cause accuracy problems (that's why
I take care of that possible problem by bedding prior to ever shooting any rifle).

For what it's worth, my RL17 load with the 105 A-Max is 40.8gr with the bullet touching the lands.
Cases are prepped prior to loading, and best accuracy has been with the fire-formed to my chamber
cases which are then neck-sized only. This load hovers just above and below 3000fps.

[Dennis]

Try moderate to firm tension on the front action screw, and very little, but just snug tension on the rear action screw and see if the group size changes.

Agree with the above!

Also, I have my VLP 243 doing very well with 55 & 70 NBT's, and 107smk's-39.5 imr4350-.010 off the lands!

Also, mine loves any Federal Factory ammo with 55 & 70 nbt's.

I am also a firm believer in action screw tension as stated above!

PM me and I will send target pictures.

[savvlp]

I can sympathize,I can't get my LRP 243 to shoot any bullet weight.Waiting to hear back from Savage.


Purchased a 243 VLP a couple of years ago with a bad barrel. Should have sent it back to Savage but I've just dealt with it until recently. Now I'm putting a Hart barrel on it. I'll keep you posted on the results. How did you make out on your LRP. I know this is an old thread but still would like to know. Thanks much.

[Robinhood]

What is the difference between the Tikka trigger and the Savage?

[romad97]

I bought a Tikka at the beginning of deer season this year. I had one hell of a time developing a load for it. I tried bullets, powders, scope change, etc... I took the rifle apart and tightened everything back up and same ting. For some reason right around the 100 round mark or so I decided to just clean the ever living crap out of my bore. I **** you not my groups shrunk up to almost .5 MOA. I can't explain why, maybe barrel break in, I don't know but, it worked and I am happy. Now when i say I cleaned it I mean I swabbed the bore out and brushed it out until I was sick of it. I cleaned it out before I ever fired it as well as after every range session but that did nothing for it until I just got ridiculous with the bore cleaner.

[GaCop]

Ditch the Lead Sled and try using a good adjustable front rest and rabbit ear rear bag.

[jonbearman]

One of my favorite loads is h4831sc with any 75 grain or 87 grain hornady.