Accuracy and "true honesty"

[pappy83]

I will jump back in, but with a little background this time. I have to reload for a daughter who shoots palma and smallbore all year long. She shot 3000rds of .308 last year and over 6000rds of .22. Not to mention over 700rds of 7mm saum She is good i use her for all load development. She has had a PC in .308 that would shoot from .4 to .6 all day long with the handload we new it liked. She has a CBI barreled LRP action in a HS stock that is a hammer it shoots better then any factory Savage barrel I have ever been around, worth every penny i think. I reload dont buy ammo, we have pretty good reloading techniques down we have a Giruard trimmer, I trickle charge loads, never have turned a neck though or checked for run out. we use Redding Competition Dies with no button installed and full length size every time. She can make the new Hog Hunter shoot sub MOA easily if she keeps pressure off that crap plastic stock. I believe a sub moa rifle out of the box has a lot to do with the shooter, ammo, and technique. I also have a factory barrel in 300wm that shoots only one load sub moa and the rest are around 1.5 inch. I guess what i am getting at is don't believe all the internet hoopla but there are people out there shooting very good groups with factory rifles of all brands. If you ever see a 5 foot nothing finnish looking girl at a range in MI with what looks like a LRP cut down to 20 inch with a big IOR scope dont make the mistake that she is there to have fun she loves beating customs.

[Jamie]

Before I get into my groups, I have a friend (he is on here as well) that had such good results off the bat with his Savage .308 and 6,5 CM rifles that when it took a little load work to get his .257 Roberts under 1", he was upset with. Yes, we get spoiled that much by out of the box Savages.

To be honest, the only gun I have at the moment that has a factory barrel is my Rock River Arms AR. While I may not be able to shoot this every day, the rifle can. I seldom shoot thisrifle for groups but have repeated this group size when attempted, mostly . Like I said, the rifle will, sometimes I can't. No Tasco here, 6.5-20x50 Vortex Viper with Mil-dot recticle, Leupold PRW rings.
Yep, 100 yards.




Now the last factory barreled gun I had was a LRP in 6.5 Creedmoor. It shot these groups at 300 yards. Again, no Tasco here. Leupold Varminter 8.5-25x50, 30mm tube Varmint recticle. Warne bases with Leupold PRW rings. scope adjustment between groups.




Friends factory Savage .223 Rem. I shot these with 75 grain Amax at 100 yards before rebarreling it a slower twist CBI barrel. It then went to truly to the smallest groups I ever shot with a rifle. Small enough that I had a hard time measuring them.



These were consective 5 shot groups with my new 6.5 Creedmoor while doing load development, McGowen barrel though. 100 yards.

[dnsmith]

all of this is off el cheapo caldwell sandbags, front and back:

My Savage 40 .22 hornet hovers right around 1" groups at 100 yds assuming 5 or more shots and light wind. I can squeeze 3 shots into .5" and .75" here and there. around 1" is the norm, though.

Savage .17HMR heavy barrel is pretty wind-sensitive and I've only got a 2-7x scope on it. it shoots inside the 1" squares repeatedly at 50 yds. 100 yds can be more like 2", but again it depends on how many shots I fire and the wind conditions. I've shot some tiny 3-shot groups with it at 100, more shots open the group.

Savage Mark 2 heavy barrel at 50 yds is very repeatable with CCI SV ammo. The cold bore shot is always a flyer, after that very consistent. I once fired a box of 50 rnds at the same bullseye, group (aka ragged hole) was slightly larger than the 1" squares. No idea how small the groups are at 100 yds, I have a different .22 for that (this one only has a fixed 4x scope and is used for carrying/hunting).

Have a .250 savage Model 16 that seems to put 5 shots into 1.5" to 2.0" at 100 yds. I've shot it quite a bit, but always with handloads using 100 g flat base bullets. I am thinking more handload tinkering is needed.

Have 10PC in .308. It was shooting terrible 2" to 3" groups at first. Finally found some recipes with the 168 g SMK that it likes. It will reliably put 3 inside of the 1" squares at 100 yds (about .75"). 5 opens up the group to around 1" or a little more. Still, very good consistency. More so than the .250 sav. This is with me shooting, and with a 2-7x hunting scope.

Best shooter I have is a Remington 700P in .308. It will do 5 shots into .75" at 100 yds, over and over again. It has put 3 into 1 hole at that distance (.4"? .3"?) on a couple of occasions. It is not particularly picky about ammo, although match ammo with 168's does tighten up the groups. it is also the heaviest rifle I own, and has a 14x scope.

It might seem like a no-brainer, but I've found that the heavy rifles with heavy barrels are more accurate and easier to shoot from the bench than the sporter rifles. High magnification scopes also help significantly for shooting the tiny groups. Those factors make a big difference to me. Peering at a target through 7x with an 8 lb rifle aint anything like the same thing with 14x and an 11 lb rifle.

[bodywerks]

My best 4 shot group at 100 yards - measured at .19" i believe.
Savage fcp-k 308 with an accustock that i ditched the accuwedge in favor of a traditional bedding job, and added a SSS comp trigger set at 1 pound. Prone, Harris bipod up front(firmly pressed up against a 40 lb sandbag), tactical bag in the rear.


Lapua chamber fired brass
Federal 210 primers
43.9g varget
Sierra 175 smk, 2.810coal(.013 off the lands).

[esquared]

I have been shooting for a long time. I have also been loading my own ammo for just about as long. I just bought a Savage 110FCP in .338 Lapua last month and got the scope for it last week. I researched loads for it and settled on a Berger Hybrid OTM Tactical 300 grain bullet with a few grains of US869 as the powder. Nailed it on the first loading and was producing good groups right out of the box. I see no reason to try to improve on this load, on to the 250 grain load with the Nosler Accubond, just need my brass delivery to get here. After this it went south and I found out the scope base came loose so I will have to fix that as soon as I find some better screws and the torque specs for it.

First group five shots


Second group four shots, two in one hole


Third group three shots.


Fourth group three shots


Fifth group six shots fired by a friend who was a former Marine sniper.