Any advise helpful!

[DavidleeCole]

Sir

I would save up some money and get a good quality stock for your rifle remember not to spend big money but a tried and true quality one. The factory stock will cause problems mine did and I would like to think that the recoil reduction was traded off for vibratory inconsistencies. As mentioned above do the scope test and record any elevation and windage data from your scope adjustments for later use. I have got a 15 dollar bubble level from brownells it goes directly on my scope base and it is wonderful. I use a rope hanging from a tree with a 35 pound weight for a plumb bob. I get my rifle level and free of cant then check the plumb bob for true vertical level I do this at 100 yards so use 1/2 To 3/4" rope easy to see. Then do the tall target test. It onlyu trakes a couple of degrees of cant to put you impact high or low coupled with right or left respectively to the wind hold. This POI shift will amplify with distance. After plumb bob and tall target test and you still have a little can't you can use a correction factor to zero that out at any given yardage that is why you want to record the data and do this after all adjustments you will make to the scope and rifle system is done. Until then keep shooting and work on you fundamentals of marksmanship as we all do that will make your shoots more accurate and you will become more confidant. Sorry so long

 

[Litehiker]

sam k, (the OP)

1. bubble level-> My preference is Talley's "top half ring level" i.e. a level in the top half of a Talley scope ring.
2. rifle stock-> I put a Boyd's Classic laminated stock on my Ruger American Predator and it is a real bargain considering the quality. And the great checkering is only $35.!

Eric B.
P.S. My original Ruger American plastic stock was wimpy in the fore arm. If I wrapped my left arm in the sling for better support it pulled the fore arm against the side of the barrel. NOT GOOD! So I epoxied an aluminum arrow shaft the full length of the fore arm. Problem solved.

 

[sam.krapf]

The vitals of a deer roughly cover a 10 inch circle. The rifle and scope you have purchased should be perfectly capable of shooting a 10 inch target at 500 yards. I suspect the problem is that you made a simple mistake dialing in your scope corrections. I ran the ballistic solution you described:



My calculations say that at

V =2600 fps
BC = .404
Sea Level
Level flight

Range 200: Drop is -3.6 in, Correction is 3.6 inches/200 yards = 1.8 inches/100 yards, so dial 1.75 moa on your scope

Range 300: Drop is -13.8 in, Correction is 13.8 inches/300 yards = 4.5 inches/100 yards, so dial 4.5 moa on your scope

I would hazard a guess that you dialed in 3.6 at 200 instead of 1.75 causing you to shoot high. And I would guess you dialed 13.8 instead of 4.5, and that explains why you shot high at 300 as well.

You probably made the same mistake on your windage corrections.

Don't spend any more money. Go out and have fun with your rifle!

The windage/elevation corrections of 1.75/4.5 at 200/300 are precisely what I did. I'd have been waayyy of the paper if I had dialed 13.8. We are talking 3-4 inches high and around 8 inches right at 300 yards

 

[sam.krapf]

Couple of updates:

I installed a tube-mounted bubble level so cant shouldn't be an issue anymore as long as I do my part.

A few people mentioned the barrel may be touching the barrel channel. I noticed it was very close to touching on the left side of mine and if there was any pressure on the forend I assume it could have caused problems. It almost was like it was in there completly crooked to the left. When I took the barrel and action out, the cris-cross mold in the forearm had a few small cylinder looking molds sticking up past the level of everything else that had to have been touching the barrel. (I wish I had taken a picture). I sanded the whole channel out a bit to open up extra space.

Now, when I went to put the action back in and torque it down, the barrel was evenly centered down the channel with a nice free-float in all directions. It's almost like it was originally bolted in the off center??

I am going to take 165gr and 180gr SGKs to test this weekend and hopefully the mods help. I am going to try the box test for sure. I will update if all the advice did any good! Thanks

 

[greenejc]

I think there are lots of facts that could be involved as well. My recommendation would be that if you are going to stick with your factory setup/stock, then I would break it all the way down (remove scope and pull the action out of the stock). The Ruger Americans have a good bedding system, but the stocks aren't the best. I would get a broom stick and wrap it some heavy grit sandpaper and take about 1/4 inch out of the front of the stock tip. Then reassemble action into the stock, put your bipod on and get down and load the bipod as you would in the field. Have someone take a thin piece of cardboard or thick stock paper (credit card or better thickness) and have them try to slide it all the way down the barrel to the action. If it's free floated when the bipod is loaded, you should be good. Torque the action back down to the proper specs and in the proper order (front or back first) based on Rugers recommendations.
Now on to the scope. Order a scope level kit from Midway/Brownells or one of the other online shops. The Wheeler one with two levels is pretty good and only like $35. Good piece of kit to have for future rifle builds or if you upgrade you optic down the line. It will always be useful to a shooter, get one. Make sure you base is torqued proper to the action. Get your level on there then the barrel level matching. Now put on your ring bottoms and torque to spec (I always lap rings too, but that's just me). Now get your scope installed and level the top turret to the barrel level. Lock the tops down and re-verify level. Reticals always look canted to me when shouldering a rifle, but I know they aren't. On a pod they always look good. Now you should have a solid platform.
Now run your box test on your optic. You can do this in your backyard without ammo if you can solidly mount your gun in a vice. Just put some dots on a board in a box at equi-distances. Keep count and dial in/out till you hit all points. Then try repeating using the counts you came up with the first time around. Things should hit the same places again.
Next is ammo. Not sure how factory precision ammo is for the 06, but lots have them so would figure should be plenty. You will have to try maybe 5-10 different boxes if you aren't reloading till you find one your rifle really likes.
Finally will be trigger control and form, which have a HUGE impact on repeatable/consistent shot placement.
Also keep in mind that thin barrel will heat up and throw shots after your second or third one, so you should wait about 10 mins between 3 shot groups till your barrel fully cools. Maybe switch out that 06 for a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creed if can swing it. They are known to shoot, even from the factory stock surprisingly.
Good luck!

 

[greenejc]

Ok, now that you've sanded the channel, put it on the bipod and put pressure on it and check it to see if its still free floated. Then fire three rounds with the rifle from the bipod and three from a sandbag rest near the action. Remember to rest the butt of the weapon along with the bipod. If the groups overlap, the rifle is good. With handloads, you should get around 1 inch or less from the rifle. The new Ruger bedding system is one of the best out there, so if it works this time, don't change stocks. When you look through your scope, check the bubble level and see if the scope crosshairs are level with the bubble. If they are, the scope is also level. Don't try to move the dials for elevation. Shoot the aimpoints first. See how it does when you do that. I shoot Shepherd scopes and always use the aimpoints in the reticle. By the way, I just finished zeroing a friend of mine's Ruger American 30-06 with Sierra bullets. Groups were under an inch at 100 yards and it will hit within a couple of inches of the aimpoint in the Shepherd P2 scope out to 500 yards. That's as far as he needs.

 

[imyourhuckleberry]

Try setting zero at 200 for windage. Then shoot at 100 and 300. To see if it helps.
If your groups are 1" at 100 it can runout quick at further distance

^^^^^
I recommend this. Zero you rifle at 200 yards. I've been hunting with a 30-06 for more than 50 years. With the 200 yard zero if the scope is leveled and the box test turns out fine than you can make your necessary windage adjustment for 200 yards. At 300 yards a 165 grain bullet will have under 9" drop from 200 yard zero, requiring you to just adjust 3 clicks if your scope is 1/4" at 100 yards. This quick adjust allows you to keep your deer or elk in your scope sight without you having to look at eh elevation knob...just click three times.

 

[xsn10s]

I use a 200 yard zero for my 30-06. I have a VariXIII 2.5-8X with Premier Reticle mildots on it. I just use the mildots for the different yardage. I've been using 168gr Ballistic Tips and 180gr Partition for years. I may try 178gr ELD-X or Berger 185gr to extend the range on it. But for my areas either the 165gr BT or the 180gr PT is just fine and predictable.

 

[greenejc]

The more I think about it, the more I think it isn't a stock problem. I have an old 1903A3 rifle in 30-06, which was barrelled in August of 1943 and re-stocked with a Ramline sporter stock before I bought it and had been threaded for an M14 front sight and flash suppressor. It shoots just fine from sandbags or from a bipod. Group sizes with 5 shot groups tend to stay around 0.7 to 0.9 with 180 grain Sierras or Nosler Ballistic Tips. It shoots a little tighter with 165/168 grain Sierras or Amaxes. I can regularly hit an 18 inch steel target at 600 yards with it. Check your scope. Level the rifle and see if the reticle is vertical. If the scope is built right, the crosshairs will be level with the horizontal adjustment dial and the vertical dial. After leveling the rifle, you can level the scope by placing a bubble level on the vertical adjustment and using that to get the scope level. Once you've verified your level externally, look through the scope. The Crosshair should be level. If it isn't, the reticle isn't assembled properly. Get another scope or get that one repaired. If they are level, tighten the scope down in the rings. Before you do that, put some masking tape on the inside of the rings. This will act like friction tape and keep the scope from moving under recoil. Shoot the rifle using the aimpoints for distance, first. If it registers properly at 100, 200 and 300 yards with the aimpoints, then try adjusting the turret(s) for drop and windage. If shooting the aimpoints works and adjusting for elevation and windage throws the groups off, you're either making a mistake in calculating your amount of adjustment or the scope is likely bad. Like I said before, I mostly shoot Shepherd P or V series scopes on my rifles. They're matched to the ballistics of my ammunition and rifle combinations and I can aim pretty much dead on the ranging marks in the scope out to at least 600 yards and hit within 2 to 3 inches vertically using their reticle. I can also adjust for windage and see the windage adjustment in the scope reticle. I have shot my .300 winmag out to 900 yards under field conditions with the V1 reticle and hit, and out to 1,000 yards with the P2 reticle on my Ruger in 30-06 under field conditions. I currently have 5 Shepherds mounted on two 30-06's, two 300 Winmags, and one .35 Whelen. They're a little spendy, but not as much as a Leupold or Ziess with a mil-dot reticle. I spent more for the scopes on the .300's than I did for the rifles.

 

[hunterbob]

Hello all.


I am new to the forum and just getting into the idea of long range hunting. College guy on a budget. I am from Southern Idaho so I am wanting to be confident taking 300-500 yard shots for desert elk/mule deer. Most of my deer hunting so far has been in the 100-200 yard range so I haven't had any issues so now I am just wanting to extend my range.


I've slowly been building up my set up with a Ruger American 30-06. I was able to snag a 4x16-44 MOA Vortex Diamondback Tactical before they went on backorder. The hollow, light stock in the -06 was beating the crap out of me so I have added weight to the stock which took care of that problem. I also added a bipod. With a 165gr Sierra Game-Kings I shoot 1-1.5 inch groups with some under 1 inch on rare occasions, usually depending on how I'm doing on the particular day. So I have some questions about a few different things. I shoot good groups at 100, 200, 300 yards. Precision (acceptable for hunting imo) is fine, however accuracy is not. Know knowing theoretically at 200 yards my SGK drops 3.8 inches and at 300 yards it drops 13.8, I dial my elevation accordingly with a 100 yard zero as well as adjust parallax at each range so the reticle doesn't move on the target. This is with little wind. With each 100 yard increment my bullets impact farther to the right and up of my aiming point. About 2-3 inches at 200 yards and about 8-10 at 300.


So..

1. My scope was mounted and torqued level at the local gun shop. I have double checked it, so the scope to my knowledge is level so there shouldn't be cant. I do my best to make sure the scope is level at all times. However, does anyone have experience with the anti-cant bubble levels? Are they installed easy?
2. I have worked hard at developing better trigger control as that was an issue for me at one point. I have the trigger set as low as possible, 3lbs. Since I shoot good groups at 100 dead-on I have a hard time thinking its me pulling.
3. I have a known astigmatism in my right eye and I shoot right handed with a righty set up. Probably not ideal. I found this out after I purchased the rifle as I have always shot every gun right handed. Does anyone have experience with this? Could it have something to do with my POI being off to the right at longer ranges? Would it be worth making the switch if so?

Any input or constructive criticism would be appreciated. I'm sure I will have many more questions as time goes on as I am just a greenhorn when it comes to this. But hey, we all have to start somewhere. Thanks!

The first thing you have to do is get a job,
the second is save your money $$$$$$ Wait,,a couple more $$
the 3rd is get a mentor and you will have fun , guaranteed

 

[xdHammar]

You can use that reticle to "Kentucky Windage" your shots or drops. Meaning instead of dialing in your drop for 200 yards, or 300 yards, or whatever distance you use your reticle for those distances. That will eliminate and problems with tracking in your dials.

Agreed. I would not use the dial for adjusting elevation and windage. With budget scopes you need to use the etched reticle for your hold overs. Also, do you have another scope or a friend that would let you try his so you can make sure there isnt something wrong with the scope?

 

[WildRose]

The more I think about it, the more I think it isn't a stock problem. I have an old 1903A3 rifle in 30-06, which was barrelled in August of 1943 and re-stocked with a Ramline sporter stock before I bought it and had been threaded for an M14 front sight and flash suppressor. It shoots just fine from sandbags or from a bipod. Group sizes with 5 shot groups tend to stay around 0.7 to 0.9 with 180 grain Sierras or Nosler Ballistic Tips. It shoots a little tighter with 165/168 grain Sierras or Amaxes. I can regularly hit an 18 inch steel target at 600 yards with it. Check your scope. Level the rifle and see if the reticle is vertical. If the scope is built right, the crosshairs will be level with the horizontal adjustment dial and the vertical dial. After leveling the rifle, you can level the scope by placing a bubble level on the vertical adjustment and using that to get the scope level. Once you've verified your level externally, look through the scope. The Crosshair should be level. If it isn't, the reticle isn't assembled properly. Get another scope or get that one repaired. If they are level, tighten the scope down in the rings. Before you do that, put some masking tape on the inside of the rings. This will act like friction tape and keep the scope from moving under recoil. Shoot the rifle using the aimpoints for distance, first. If it registers properly at 100, 200 and 300 yards with the aimpoints, then try adjusting the turret(s) for drop and windage. If shooting the aimpoints works and adjusting for elevation and windage throws the groups off, you're either making a mistake in calculating your amount of adjustment or the scope is likely bad. Like I said before, I mostly shoot Shepherd P or V series scopes on my rifles. They're matched to the ballistics of my ammunition and rifle combinations and I can aim pretty much dead on the ranging marks in the scope out to at least 600 yards and hit within 2 to 3 inches vertically using their reticle. I can also adjust for windage and see the windage adjustment in the scope reticle. I have shot my .300 winmag out to 900 yards under field conditions with the V1 reticle and hit, and out to 1,000 yards with the P2 reticle on my Ruger in 30-06 under field conditions. I currently have 5 Shepherds mounted on two 30-06's, two 300 Winmags, and one .35 Whelen. They're a little spendy, but not as much as a Leupold or Ziess with a mil-dot reticle. I spent more for the scopes on the .300's than I did for the rifles.

Usin any kind of tape on the rings to keep the scope from moving is a bad plan and if you find it necessary the rings need to be lapped.

We used to use double stick scotch tape for the same purpose but then I learned better.

 

[Paul Watterson]

Hello all.


I am new to the forum and just getting into the idea of long range hunting. College guy on a budget. I am from Southern Idaho so I am wanting to be confident taking 300-500 yard shots for desert elk/mule deer. Most of my deer hunting so far has been in the 100-200 yard range so I haven't had any issues so now I am just wanting to extend my range.


I've slowly been building up my set up with a Ruger American 30-06. I was able to snag a 4x16-44 MOA Vortex Diamondback Tactical before they went on backorder. The hollow, light stock in the -06 was beating the crap out of me so I have added weight to the stock which took care of that problem. I also added a bipod. With a 165gr Sierra Game-Kings I shoot 1-1.5 inch groups with some under 1 inch on rare occasions, usually depending on how I'm doing on the particular day. So I have some questions about a few different things. I shoot good groups at 100, 200, 300 yards. Precision (acceptable for hunting imo) is fine, however accuracy is not. Know knowing theoretically at 200 yards my SGK drops 3.8 inches and at 300 yards it drops 13.8, I dial my elevation accordingly with a 100 yard zero as well as adjust parallax at each range so the reticle doesn't move on the target. This is with little wind. With each 100 yard increment my bullets impact farther to the right and up of my aiming point. About 2-3 inches at 200 yards and about 8-10 at 300.


So..

1. My scope was mounted and torqued level at the local gun shop. I have double checked it, so the scope to my knowledge is level so there shouldn't be cant. I do my best to make sure the scope is level at all times. However, does anyone have experience with the anti-cant bubble levels? Are they installed easy?
2. I have worked hard at developing better trigger control as that was an issue for me at one point. I have the trigger set as low as possible, 3lbs. Since I shoot good groups at 100 dead-on I have a hard time thinking its me pulling.
3. I have a known astigmatism in my right eye and I shoot right handed with a righty set up. Probably not ideal. I found this out after I purchased the rifle as I have always shot every gun right handed. Does anyone have experience with this? Could it have something to do with my POI being off to the right at longer ranges? Would it be worth making the switch if so?

Any input or constructive criticism would be appreciated. I'm sure I will have many more questions as time goes on as I am just a greenhorn when it comes to this. But hey, we all have to start somewhere. Thanks!

Would recommend a scope level - Vortex make some good ones. A slight
cant to the right will result in left and high impacts. A cant to the left will result
in right and high impacts. Align vertical in scope with a plumb line drawn on
a piece of cardboard. Use vertical precision laser for best results. Before doing
this secure stock in a no cant position using a level, make sure it does not
move and align vertical in scope to plumb line. Then adjust scope level to the
level position. Hardest part of this whole thing is tightening the rings and keeping
the scope plum while the stock in secured in a no cant position. Tightening the
rings will twist the scope out of plumb so alternate screws while doing this, you
may have to play with this until you can get it exact. Good luck