“My rifle shoots .2s and .3s” ... huh?

The bench rest is the ultimate support for a rifle system and is a precision mounting for the barreled action that "Will return to the exact same location every time it is fired" if it a good system.
Winchester 70 based high power match rifles in 308 Win clamped in return to battery machine rests have tested 10 shot groups under an inch at 600 yards. One 40 shot group went into 1.92" at 600.

Here's the machine rest with a tube gun:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12787226@N00/albums/72157594303093714/
 
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Varmint Hunter: It won't be two hours before someone responding to your photo says "You shot that group by accident." Or, "Pure Luck:("

I'm still waiting for someone to show proof that you can shoot a group like that "by accident". That I'd like to see. But I notice no one is posting any examples of tiny groups they achieved by luck or accident. That's because when they shoot a good group it is a combination of rifle/ammo/skill. But when someone else shoots a better group it is "luck" or "accident". :D:D:D
 
Varmint Hunter: It won't be two hours before someone responding to your photo says "You shot that group by accident." Or, "Pure Luck".
There are two group types that are 100% luck. Biggest and smallest. Both happen only once.

Some think every group is luck only because it's virtually impossible to duplicate its size.
 
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The ultimate would be a machine rest of the type used in ballistic labs. My 7 year old daughter could shoot .2's all day everyday from these set ups. So what would be the point?

If I had a 2" diameter barrel on a 40lb heavy gun, in 221 fireball, I could probably shoot .2's on demand. So what?

This stuff is comedy at this point. We started out talking about actual practical field rifles. The peanut gallery has devolved yet another thread into a rambling 12 page diatribe about stuff that has no relevance to the OP.
Please feel free to not participate if it upsets you.
 
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As the OP, please allow me to redirect this thread toward my original intent:

For the same rifle, what differences in groups sizes have you all observed when shooting off a sled/rest vs. a bipod or bags?
 
No matter the gun, rest, or bi pod, the wind still plays a tremendous part of group size and the ability to hit ad a distance. If you use a wind flag at the range, you will be a much better shot in the field.

If you are serious about shooting, get some simple wind flags, which will be like going from an outhouse to in indoor toilet!
 
Looks like sub .i inch groups 'are' possible under the right conditions at 100 yards.
Sierra often got some lots of 30 caliber HPMK's testing in the zeros and ones in their California plant's 100 yard range. Some were packed 1000 per plain brown box and sold at rifle matches. They were not polished and still had the lanolin based sizing lubricant on them.

Because they were boxed as they came out of the last forming die, they weren't visually inspected. We checked each one for jacket flaws and 2 or 3 per thousand were scrapped.

They tested a third smaller groups than the bright shiny clean ones sold at retail in green boxes of 100.
 
Speaking for me only, I can always shoot better groups with my Sinclair front rest and heavy sand filled rear rabbit ear bag. I get more movement from any of the Harris bipods I've tried. Can't shoot prone where I live for hunting. I use crossed sticks and a chair for hunting. Good and steady. Fine for up to 500
400 is my self imposed limit for game animals.
 
Varmint Hunter: It won't be two hours before someone responding to your photo says "You shot that group by accident." Or, "Pure Luck:("

I'm still waiting for someone to show proof that you can shoot a group like that "by accident". That I'd like to see. But I notice no one is posting any examples of tiny groups they achieved by luck or accident. That's because when they shoot a good group it is a combination of rifle/ammo/skill. But when someone else shoots a better group it is "luck" or "accident". :D:D:D

Ok, here you go.

Just say you have a rifle that shoots an average of 1.0" groups with an SD of 0.3". Approximately 0.15% of groups will be less than 0.1", i.e. more than 3 x SD less than the mean.

I'm not sure if you have a problem with the math or the language, so let's just say that Varmint Hunter's 16 year old group was a "statistical outlier".

For the statistics nerds out there I realise that the distribution of group sizes may not be perfectly normal, but slightly skewed towards larger groups because of the lower bound of 0.0", but the principle of a small tail under 0.1" remains.
 
I use a front rest w/bag and rear bag for all my load development. I tried the mechanical / lead sled type shooting rest years ago and decided they would not repeat consistently enough for my purposes. I used a bipod a few years ago but just drifted away from it.
I also sandbag both forestock and buttstock for a solid rest. Yes, there is some shooter error involved in this, but I think it is closer to what I want for consistent placement and it gives me normal recoil. I will also use the bipod to see if the group deviates after zeroing, though. Sometimes the group will shift slightly upward from the bipod, but mostly it centers where it was from the bags. Of course, I mostly don't shoot varmint weight rifles (with exception of the 25-06 and the .308Win.), so group sizes are around .6 to 1 inch depending on the rifle.
 
Then there's the issue that the barrel's vertical whip doesn't compensate for the muzzle velocity spread at some range. A rifle shoots a given load into a 1 MOA vertical spread at 1000 yards but a 2 MOA vertical spread at 600 yards.

Time to put a tuning weight on the barrel then adjust its muzzle axis vibration frequency to compensate for each range. All bullets must leave on the muzzle axis upswing so slower ones depart at correct higher angles than faster ones.
 
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