Problems with 300wsm groups

Peterbilt · #1 03-01-2011, 12:32 AM

I have been shooting my Savage 12 LPV 300wsm for the past several weeks trying to see if I could consistently shoot 800-1000 yards without spending several thousand on a custom rifle. my shooting had improved and so have my loads but I am having a problem putting each group in the same spot. I am using winchester brass weighed trimmed and turned neck sized with 67.7 gr N560 210 vld's and cci mag primer. It shoots 6-8 in at 813yds sometimes a bit better but after a four shot group and check Target I sit down and shoot another group and it may be ten inches left and a bit high ..... or low or right... u get the point. Thought it was just me so I had a friend bring his rifle yesterday and shoot and almost the same results! He is shooting same gun but a vortex scope instead any thoughts? Wind was very light ... temp mat have changed some but not much I'm guessing I'm missing something major but I'm lost at this point, I've home thru so many different loads, seating depths, bullets, charges.... etc I did notice my chrono was 2991...2992...2989..2978...then dropped 30 to 40 fps on the next four or so and I don't know why they were all loaded exactly the same.

long450 · #2 03-01-2011, 02:23 AM

There is a reason people pay $3,000 for a rifle and $2,000 for a good scope. It is not just for show!
You may be able to get there with what you have, but it will take more time and effort. Sure, every now and again someone will buy a factory rifle that can shoot very close to a custom one, but that process is not consistantly repeatable from any factory.

bigngreen · #3 03-01-2011, 08:32 AM

Sounds like you have some stress some where that is causing a POI shift between strings. Is the action bedded and stress free as well as the mounts for the optic?

Browninglover1 · #4 03-01-2011, 08:55 AM

I had a similar problem with my 22-250 at 400 yards and couldn't for the life of me figure it out because I had set my parallex to 400 yards and everything else I could think of. But then somebody at the range told me just because the adjustable objective said 400 yards didn't mean it was correct. So I set my gun on the sand bags and moved my head up and down and side to side and sure enough the cross hairs were moving almost 4 inches in any direction. So I played around with the AO and found where the cross hairs wouldn't move around the target when my eye was in a different location and immediately my groups started landing where they were supposed to. I felt like an idiot for not having tried it before and whole heartedly thanked the guy that saved me from throwing my gun in the garbage hahaha

Maybe you've already checked into that but if your parallex isn't set right then your groups could easily be off by that much because of how you set up behind the rifle a little differently for each group. If you've already checked that and your parallex is fine that it probably is a bedding issue like bigngreen stated. Good luck figuring it out!!!

liltank · #5 03-01-2011, 09:10 AM

I own the exact same rifle and consistency has been consistent. One thing I did do to make it that much better was to have it bedded. Consistency seemed to increase noticeably. It now sets in a B&C stock w/ aluminum bedding. The factory stock is good though.

Tank

4xforfun · #6 03-01-2011, 10:11 AM

If I am reading your post right, your friend brought his gun along and got the same results......does this mean that you both shot a group in one place, and the next groups with each gun was off, but BOTH off in the same direction?

If that is the case it is the conditions, plain and simple. What are you using for wind flags....how many, where are they placed????

As far as your chrono, if the light changes a bit, and you are not using a good chrono, or are not using IR screnes, a 40 fps change is common (at least from what I have seen).

Keep plugin away........

It's fun, isn't it??!!!!!

Peterbilt · #7 03-01-2011, 11:36 AM

Yes, my friend has the exact same gun and the results were similar.... not exact. If I remember the second groups we shot both went high left but mine was further left. I know a different stock or bedding is going to be necessary but I wanted to see what we could get bone stock first. So far I've only invested 1300 in the gun, scope, and mounts so ive got more to work with. Everyone's input is appreciated and yes we are having fun! That's all were doing this for :-)