how can i make my gun more accurate

[remington250]

This past weekend I was hunting on my last juvenile hunt this weekend and was useing a 7mm-08 my grandfather gave me this past spring. I saw a doe and we have been needing to take some does off the property so being a 16 year old boy i was up for the challenge. i ranged her at 365 so i held plenty high and thought it was enough to conect. but just as my luck i missed. i was wondering if anybody could tell me a way to keep this from happening agian. it is a sako but it is all factory. I have a leupold 4-12 scope on it and it doesnt have target turrets or a bdc retical it just has a plan old duplex. so if u can i would like to know wat a good scope would be to put on it and wat i could have a gun smith do to make it more accurate.

THANKS FOR THE HELP

Cole
gun)

 

[WyoElk2Hunt]

Depending on where you are zeroed in at. If your zero was at 200 yards you would not need to hold over hair because of the flat shooting round and at that distance even out to 400 I never hold over hair. You probably shot over her. A factory rifle can have a lot of things done to make it more accurate. What kind of group are you getting now? Do you reload or shoot factory ammo? Lot of questions about you rifle need to be talked about.

 

[DZelenka]

The real answer is to learn to shoot better. Clearly you have not put in sufficient practice to make shots of that distance. The best thing that you could do is to shoot your rifle from a supported position at various ranges so that you will know where it will hit at each distance. Then practice doing the same from field positions. A BDC scope can help with hold overs but it will not reduce the need to do the hard work. Figure out what kind of field position you shoot from most of the time (including any rest you typically use) and see how far you can shoot 3 shots, including your first one, in a 6" circle. That will tell you how far you should be taking a shot at game.

Dan

PS I chose some arbitrary numbers, but if you can put your first shot in a 6" circle, you should be able to hit the vital area of a deer at that distance.

 

[DZelenka]

Also, you left out a number of important pieces of information:

What load are you using?
At what distance is your rifle zeroed?
How high were you aiming?
What size group will your rifle shoot at 100, 200, 300 yards?
How low should your bullet hit at 365 yards?

If you do not have the answer to any of these questions, you should not be shooting at game at 365 yards.

Dan

 

[retiredcpo]

Along with everything said prior about missing info
What type of scope vxII or vxIII ect
I would suggest a reticle or a cds turret contact leupold see if they can Modify your scope that would be the cheapest way
But once you update your scope you must practice at differant ranges ALOT
you can have great equipment but with out practice its pointless
retiredcpo

 

[DZelenka]

The 4-12x is a VX2 (or Vari-X). Leupold will install either a custom BDC reticle or CDS turrets. I have both and they both work. I like the CDS because I shoot competitively and am used to making sight corrections. I find the BDC to be easy to use provided you have chosen a load you plan to stick with. I have tested mine to 400 yards and the marks are right on the money (with an 1" +/- in elevation)