I've been chasing my tail on accuracy since last October. Two new scopes, hundreds of rounds, most were handloads of various bullet weights and charges. Can't find the secret that makes my Savage happy. Three days ago I was at the range to try my latest set of handloads to see if I found the magic. I did not. There were two other guys there, one with an AR who had a bunch of factory reloads to shoot. He has a nice scope on the AR but was only able to shoot 3 1/2 inch groups, more like a pattern than a group. The other guy handed him 10 of his handloads and told him to give them a try. Keep in mind the AR only has a 16 inch barrel. I was watching through a VERY nice NiteForce spotting scope or I never would have believed my own eyes. The next 4 rounds went through the SAME HOLE!! I witnessed the hole get SLIGHTLY larger with each shot but not much. The shooter was convinced that he was missing because his scope was not as good as the spotting scope that I was looking through. So, he took aim at another bullseye on the same target and hit at virtually the SAME POI!!!

The guy who handed him the reloads is VERY good at what he does. He pays very close attention to detail. He sizes and trims all of his brass, cleans it with a sonic clearner and cleans out the primer pockets and does not mix brass types. He double weighs ALL of his charges and all of his rifles shoot the same way the AR did.

He is also a self described "clean freak" when it comes to his own rifle barrels. He scrubs them out after only 20 or 30 shots.

He has offered to help me with my Savage and needless to say, I'm looking forward to the experience. I found a teacher.