Why won't my 10FP shoot well?

Maybe you guys can shed some light on the subject. I'm shooting a 10FP in .308 which I purchased from Cabelas. It has the Choate stock. I have been shooting 168g HPBT Noslers over either IMR4895 and now over 40.5 of Varget. Best I have been able to get this rifle to shoot is about 1 moa. It should do better.

I know someone will tell me to go out and spend $35 or so and purchase Federal Gold Metal Match ammo and try that, but why should it shoot that better than what I can hand load? It's manufactured for a wide variety of rifles whereas my handloads are tailored specifically for this rifle.

I'm seating the bullets approx .010 - .005 off the lands. I'm shooting off a Caldwell bag in front and rear. I've got my Accutrigger turned down fairly lightly, yet this rifle doesn't shoot consistently. I removed the stock, found a couple small burrs on the aluminum bedding and removed them. I made sure the action screws were torqued properly. Nothing seems to help. Scope is tightened, no movement. I'm stumped.


Any other suggestions?

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Originally Posted by mugsie

I have been shooting 168g HPBT Noslers over either IMR4895 and now over 40.5 of Varget. Best I have been able to get this rifle to shoot is about 1 moa. It should do better.

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The reality is not every gun is a 1 holer, especially a factory stock one. You may try stepping up on your Varget if your rifle will let you. 45.5 grains of Varget seems to be an accuracy node for a 165-168 grain bullet.

-Make sure the barrel and rear tang are free-floated.

-Try a different bullet, like maybe a Sierra match king or similar. You could also try the same load you have at a longer range to see if it settles in or not, as some match bullets will do that.

-I load my 168's with 43.4-44gr of Varget, so you may be a little low on your charge(I think 42-46 is the charge range for 168's)

-What scope do you have? Parralax set correctly? Eye relief correct?

all the above+

the 3 savage 308s i load for all shoot the sierra 165gkhp very well over 44g of varget. heck everything 30 cal ive ever loaded for likes this bullet. try them, keep them off the lands. if they dont shoot decent u may have a non ammo problem

Your way low on your varget charge. Max load for a 168 bullet is 46.0gr Varget says it right on the bottle. What brass and primer are you using?

Most guns that don't shoot well usually go back to a bad scope. Just because it is new or it is x name brand done mean that it is good. I would try another scope. I would also suspect some shooter error in the equation. Are you shooting over some kind of flag? A flag doesn't have to be expensive just a few piece of surveyors tape will do the trick. Are you flinching because you are anticipating recoil. Practice dry firing the gun before, and during a shooting section. When you pull the trigger does the gun move?

I'm shooting Rem and Privi brass, however I just ordered 100 pcs of Lapua so when that comes in I'll give that a try. The scope is a Burris and I'm fairly confident it's ok, although I will swap it with another of my guns to see if it makes a difference.

I had been using 44.5 of Varget, but that seemed a little too hot so I was trying to find another sweet spot at the lower end. I'll try more of a charge next time.

As far a shooter error goes, yes, I'm sure there's some of that going on, but with my other rifles, .223, I can usually produce one ragged hole over 10 rounds consistently. They're dialed in nicely. This one however is driving me nuts. It's frustrating.

I'll try upping the charge again. I'll swap scopes. I'm changing brass. Tonight I'm picking up a set of blocks and a surface gauge to measure run out, so we'll see how it all goes.

I guess this is just part of the "fun" of shooting huh?

Wrong bullet, too low a charge. Savages like 168 and 175SMK's, and even 155 scenars. And they like to shoot them FAST!!!!!!!!!!!! I shoot my 175smks at 2745, my 168's at 2800-2825, and my 155's at 2900-2945. anything slower and accuracy suffers .
Also, if you haven't done so, bed the rifle. If you aren't comfortable with that, at least loosen the bolts, slam the butt of the gun into the carpet a couple times, and then retighten the bolts while holding the gun vertical, butt down, to about 60-65in/lbs.

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Originally Posted by bodywerks

! I shoot my 175smks at 7245, my 168's at 2800-2825, and my 155's at 2900-2945. anything slower and accuracy suffers .

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Wow, what load it that!

pretty sure he meant 2745 Greg, but man does it sound awesome the other way around...LOL Prolly have a tad more recoil on those loads I would suspect.....


Instead of just stabbing at different charges, try loading up 5 or 10 of each charge, starting at 42gr and going up in .3gr increments up to max load(or until yours shows pressure, whichever is first). After you see what shoots the best then tweak that load up and down a gr. or so, then adjust seating depths to see what it likes. I usually start my seating depths with a .015-.020" jump.

Before questioning the rifle, do your part. Try some 178 A-Max or 175 SMK's. Work them up to the high end of the loads and see what happens. I suspect you will like the results.

You didn't mention what type reloading dies you are using BUT more case necks are pulled off center by the expander button than by any other cause. This is the reason why high grade bench rest dies don't have expander buttons to add to your problems.

[img width=600 height=210]http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/misalignment-a.jpg[/img]

[img width=284 height=450]http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/misalignment-b.jpg[/img]

Even a bur or ding in the extractor groove of the case and pull your case off center and cause the neck to be misaligned. A simple Lee loader can be a poor mans costly bench rest die, remember 97% of all errors are human errors and only 3% are mechanical failures.

[img width=282 height=450]http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o254/bigedp51/misalignment-c.jpg[/img]

Also partial resizing with full length dies promotes better accuracy than neck sizing.

If you get a runout gauge check for banana shaped cases, warped cases with the base of the case not 90 degrees to the axis of the bore. This is caused by cases that do not have uniform thickness and one side of the case expands more when fired. When these cases are reloaded and fired the case neck is no longer aligned with the bore.

Stay with your present load and work out the bugs, changing cases or the load now will only confuses the issue........KISS (keep it simple stupid)

42 varget someone said 46 that is compressed according to hogdon data and try .005 out of lands

My 10FLCP-K is loving 175gr SMK's with Varget touching the lands. Have been shooting 600yrd F-class with this load

How much Varget? what are you scoring in F-class? I shot the SMK's at a 600 yard high-power target (bullseye is about 1 MOA) and got like a 387 with like 10-12 in the bull on a 40-shot string with the 175SMK's over 43.9gr of varget. Last sunday shot a 398 with 19 in the bull on a 40-shot string launching 155 scenars with 46.5gr of varget. Both are jumping .010". Never heard of either bullet liking to kiss the lands so I never tried??? Regardless, the 155's are my go-to bullet right now...

Been shooting around 192-195 with wind in each 20 round string. The range i shoot at is in Mississippi and in the middle of a bunch of tree farms. The wind acts really weird and we all drop a couple points compared to more open flat ranges. I'll have to go check on the Varget(don't remember off hand, i think around 45gr). Also, I believe the bull on the f-class target is 3".

the NRA official 600 yard target F class is 3 for the X ring and total of 6 on the 10 ring

Those are pretty darn good scores! 45gr is pretty hot unless its running out of a shorter barrel? You should give the scenars a try if you haven't already - they might surprise you...

Have a nother shooter try, if the results are the same i would say its the gun, if he shoots better I would look at myself. I do this when ever I have a problem with a gun it helps to get me going in the right direction to find the cause.

also, are you may try to focus more on your trigger technique and to not "drag wood". I got used to shooting my AR's in Highpower and F-class and it's taken some work to get used to a "standard" stock again to keep consistency.