Hunting rifle accuracy

montana sam · #1 12-18-2005, 02:50 PM

I'm in the market for a new hunting rifle and was wonderin' about the accuracy of out of the box rifles. I just sold my little Remington Mountain Rifle LSS 30-06 because it wouldn't shoot a group to save it's life. I tried several different ammo combinations but nothin seemed to work. It had a new Leupold Vari-X III on it so I assumed it was the guns fault. I'm a little nervous about spending a bunch of money on a Winchester Super Grade III .300WSM, that I have my eye on, only to have a sub-par shooter again. Was the Remington a fluke or is this a major issue regarding these huge gunmakers. The Remington by the way was lucky to keep it in a three inch group at 100 yards. I'd be happy with one inch groups at 100 yards as I will only be shooting at 500 yards maximum for deer and elk. Just want to hear your opinions and rifle suggestions on this matter. Thanks in advance, montana sam

Ankeny · #2 12-18-2005, 06:27 PM

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I'd be happy with one inch groups at 100 yards

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To the best of my knowledge, the only factory rifles that have a 1 MOA guarantee are the Varmint weight Savages and the sub-MOA Weatherby. Everything is a crap shoot and if you get a lemon you are at the mercy of the warranty department. For instance, Rugers meet specs with a one inch group at fifty yards. On the bright side there are a lot of factory rifles that will shoot one MOA with the right load. Good luck.

bailey1474 · #3 12-18-2005, 07:04 PM

Forgoy about the Sakos. They have a 1 MOA guarantee.

grit · #4 12-19-2005, 06:09 PM

I've purchased several new winchesters in the last few years. All of them will shoot under one inch at one hundred. They also come with a nice adjustable trigger. Of course, Remingtons have always been reputed to be accurate rifles. I have personally never come across one that shot so poorly. I did own a remington in 6mm with a synthetic stock. The stock was flexible enough, a little pressure on the forend would result in barrell contact and change point of impact.

huntem · #5 12-19-2005, 07:51 PM

Montana Sam,

By no means is anyone pointing fingers or blaming anyone but there are way to many variables that come into play as to why your last rifle was less than accurate. Could it been made to shoot..nobody will know.

At this point, I see that you have a couple options. Buy a used rifle off of a friend that you know is a good shooter. Spend the money on a custom rifle or have an existing rifle rebarreled. No guarantees on accuarcy but I bet if you go to a good gunsmith they can provide some level of acceptance. When I politely asked what my gunsmith's level of acceptance on a "accurate rifle". He smiled and said "The gun will shoot better than you can shoot it. If not, I'll give you one of mine that does". The other option is try your luck with another "guaranteed" rifle from HS precision, Sako, Weatherby.

BTW, Kimber's level of accuracy is 1.5" @100 yards.

keithcandler · #6 12-20-2005, 05:17 AM

Sam, I am sorry that you have had such bad luck with your LSS. Like the previous poster said, there are many factors that could have contributed to the rifle's inaccuracy. Email me at:keithcandler@msn.com and I will give you a list of things to check some are commonly known and other's are not. I have two 7 Mags in the LSS and they both shoot 2" or less at 400 yards with some tweeking.

montana sam · #7 12-20-2005, 06:27 PM

Thanks for the replies everyone. There is one issue that I forgot to mention. I used Leupold Dual Dovetail rings and bases and have heard that if the rings are not alingned perfectly they can cause stress on the scope tube resulting in poor accurcy. Could this have been the problem? Anyway I think I'm gonna go with Burris Signature rings next time. Anyone tried these, opinions? Thanks again, montana sam.