5-6 inch groups at 100 yrds with brandnew savage 10?

Hi all ,
Just joined this site. looks great so far!

I just picked up my first savage, a new savage 10 in 300wsm. here is a link to the same rifle from cabelas website.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Savag...h-All+Products.

I just got out yesterday for the first time with it. Im getting 3 shot groups that seem to be all over the place (5-6in) at 100 yrds. I have a dnz tac one peice mount with a nikon buckmaster 6-18 optic. I was shooting laying down with a bi pod. basicly no wind. ammo i used was factory 180 gr fedral power shok and some fusion 165 gr. I couldnt understand what the problem was. I would consider myself a novice shooter, but shoot regularly. I can get way better groups with my old clunky ak using junk surplus ammo. I checked all my mounting screws to make sure nothing had came loose. everything was still nice and tight. I am not set up to reload right now so that is out of the question. I wasnt expecting to get 1/2in groups with these factory hunting loads but 5-6in??? that didnt seem right. anyone got any clue what could be going on here? any help would be greatly appreciated! thanks!

Check to be sure that your base mount screws are not bottomed out on your reciever, that would make you think that it is tight, but it will in fact be loose.
Have you used that scope on any other rifle with decent recoil to be sure their is not any internal issues with it ?
Check all action screws for tightness, not overly tight though.
make sure the barrel and rear tang are free floated. You should easily slide a dollar bill between the barrel and the stock all the way to near the recoil lug.

I am sure i am missing some other stuff that other folks will mention. That 165 gr fusion ammo should shoot very well for you, you definitely have something wrong.
good luck.

Free Floating IMO is most important... I personally also like to bed everything, the only thing i haven't bedded is my 7mm mag, but it is free flt and will shoot .5 groups at 100yds with hand-loads. Have you properly broke this rifle in? How many rounds have you put through it? Have you cleaned it yet? Bi-pods are great for hunting ect but to properly sight in a rifle IMO it should be done from a steady rest, with the shooter 100% comfortable. This will eliminate muscle stress that you may be putting on the rifle without knowing it. Just my .02$ hope this helps.
Henry.

I am not familiar with the Choate stock or how flexable the forend is. Other Savage stocks made of some kind of plastic flex and with a bipod will flex to the point the stock is touching the forend barrel channel. If thats the case it could be the cause of the wide distribution of your shots. Try shooting off a bench with bags and see if that works. If thats not the problem I would suspect the sope or mounts as that is the usual cause of the problem you are having.

El Lobo

I only have 20 rds thru it. Cleaned barrel after each 5 shots. I'm going to try to find someone with a lead sled or some kind of sight in rest. I have not tried this scope on anything high recoil. No problem sliding a dollar bill all the way up the barrel. I will have to check to see if the mount screws are bottomed out, I dout it but could be wrong.

Use a dollar bill and make sure there is No contact points between the Tang and stock also. 5&6 inch groups I'm thinking its probably more than one problem check tang and have someone check barrel clearence while your proned out and putting pressure on the bipod.

I dont know everything, but what i do know comes with experience, my 2506 didn't clear up till i was about 40 rounds and 4 cleanings in....could just be that its not broke in yet floating tang is very important too.
H.

There are a few things that come to mind thatcould be the source of you accuracy issues. One has been metioned...Scope mount or scope issues. I have had bad luck with buckmasters and will never own another. I know people who feel very differently about them.

Another thing I look at is trigger pull and the individual who is pulling it. Someone uncertain of recoil can often JERK the trigger. If the trigger is too heavy one can pull the rifle off target just trying to squeeze the trigger.

Did you set up your scope for shooting prone? The position of your scope can effect eye relief making shooting uncomfortable.

Good luck.
Fish

Link to youtube that might help. Not the only, best methods, but generally good starting point.

Put this into the youtube search box: dxqIKiBMqmg

Using a rear bag was the biggest improvement to my shooting mechanics. I have also had a problem with a bipod bouncing on a bench causing my group to open up.

The Choate Varmint stocks do not flex but I did have to relieve the tang area on mine.

Big Groups.
Are you preloading the bipod ??

After checking the screws you might try some different ammo and maybe a different bullet weight as well. I have a 116 that'll barely put 125gr coreloct on a pie plate but puts 165gr into clover leafs.

I have the same rifle in 308,and it shoots extremely well,and even out shoots my model 12-308. The stock shouldn't be a problem,more than likely it is somewhere in the scope/mounts,and also not having the barrel broken in yet.

Have you let anyone else try shooting it? It could just come down to shooting technique.
Are you letting the barrel cool between shots? A 300wsm will heat up quickly,especially on a new rifle.

I shoot most of my rifles using a bipod and a rear bag,and have never had problems getting sub-moa groups out of my Savages.

thanks for everyones advice. Im going to try to get out again tomorrow with some bags, no bipod, some different ammo, start over mounting the mount and scope. hopefully get a buddy with a little more high recoil experence to put a few rounds down the pipe. I cant beleave i would be jerking the trigger that bad? I guess I could be wrong. I hope i can get this figured out, its driving me nuts! Thanks again for everyones advice

I find, for me, shooting off a Bipod that my groups open up a little.
I dont think that scope has a parallax adjustment so maybe that is part of it ??
Hard to say really.

With a group that big with a magnum, I would first suspect the scope, if the mount and screws are tight.

I would say with different ammo if you shoot it 5-6 times tomorrow off of bags and its still open that much try a different scope.

In order to shoot my groups at 100, I first lightened the trigger pull and shortende the take up so that I was not jerking the trigger. Then I adjusted the scope to my needs in regards to eye relief, and the black ring you get from longer distances. For me, that meant moving the scope closer to my eye. I also shot off a set of bags, and tried to control my breathing.

If your scope, stock and action screws checked out to be fine, then contact Savage CS ask for Effie ask her to pay for the shipping send your rifle for replacement or repair. the last few rifles I bought from savage were lemons, be aware it will take few months before you see your rifle again. On the last one they replaced it with another faulty barrel, so I contacted Jim from NSS and got barrel replacement and my groups shrunk from 3 - 4 inches to 0.25" so there are many choices just pick one and Good Luck...

Is this a 308 or a 300wsm??
The link goes to a 308 for me, and I didn't know they made that particular gun in 300wsm.

I have that 308 from cabelas, though mine came with a 26" barrel, not 24". It shoots great, I'm shooting federal gold medal out of it. That choate leaves little doubt as to whether the barrel is floating, I could fit a magazine under mine.

Proper torque, start with the action screw in front of the trigger, work back. I torque mine to 55 in/lbs, as per the sheet that came with the rifle.

One more very important thing to check is the crown. Check it with a q tip for burrs. Put q tip in bore and pull it out dragging it on the inside of the barrel as you pull it out. If a burr is present ,you will see the cotton fibers snag on the burr.

One more thing that is very rare, but happened to my brother with a remington. He had a brand new remmy and it would not shoot at all, big groups like your getting. He gave up and took it to his gunsmith to check out. Believe this or not, the rifling stopped about 1/2 inch before the muzzle !! The smith cut and recrowned the barrel and did some other work for him. Gun shoots great now.

So check to be sure there is rifling all the way out.

+1 on all the above recommendations.

Since you consider yourself a novice shooter (your qoute - and that's a good thing, bad habit should be at a minimum) Bi pods with a big gun can be tough. Recoil moves the POA and you may not be getting back behind the gun the same. Until you get used to the gun shoot off sand bags to begin with, I use a big bag of rice, cheap, great rest and very handy if you get hungry. Also, try lightening the trigger break point and squeeze very, very slowly and be surprized when the weapon fires, then settle back in behind the gun the same every time:
1. settle in on the gun put the x hairs on the POA
2. close your eyes for a few seconds
3. open your eyes, see where the x hairs are
4. move to get back on POA
5. repeat 1-4 as needed - then send one down range
I do this on every shot.

With so few rnds through the gun you probably haven't knocked the burrs off the machining in the bore. It may take 50 rnds before it begins to settle in.

Good luck with this, it'll work in.