need help

[rimfiresniper]

which one would you start tinkering with. the shots are the first cold bore shots on each and had a boresnake run through it. The other two grouped with fouling in the barrel and appoximatly 2 minutes between shots 1 and 2 and the same with shots 2 and 3. thanks Iam a novice at doing this stuff so thanks in advance.
The rifle is my Stevens 200 that I had rechambered to 25-06 from a .270, new stock, bedded action, free floated barrel, homebrew trigger work. it is wearing a Leopold vxII with stoney point knobs on toop of just plain old weaver mounts and a weaver picatanny rail.

first 3 round group.

second

 

[Grumulkin]

I would tinker with the load.

1. Some guns shoot better with a fouled barrel. Learn what yours likes best.

2. Forget the bore snakeing and waiting between shots. Just shoot your groups be they 3 shot or 5 shot. Then let the barrel cool a little if you like.

 

[tomestone]

Nice rifle, I have 2 of them bipods they are poor,a set of sand bags front and back worked better for me.My next bipod will need better legs and a little movment on the mount to compensate for canter.Have a Good Daygun)

 

[flyin lizard]

I use bi-pods and a good rear bag on both of my center fire rifles and on my pistols. When you are shooting try and do everything the same for each shot in a group, consistency is important, breathing, holding the rifle ,trigger squeeze. Also ,practice makes you better. Good luck.

 

[rimfiresniper]

maybe i should clarify what i mean. Ou tof the two loads sould I mess with the top or bottom. The bipod is just for the picture I shoot off bags. as you can tell the first shot out of the clean barrel is always high. the other two are pretty **** good. I was in the army or eight years so I understand the concept of shooting just wanting to know should I mess with the top or bottom load. the fouled shots tear paper on the top but the clean barrel shot is almost an inch high. the bottom doesnt have the paper tearage but are all together a smaller group.

 

[rscott5028]

It looks like you're on the right track. But, there's not enough data to conclude that one load is better than the other.

You may want to shoot several more groups with each load before deciding which one to tinker with.

Or, you can start a complete ladder test if you didn't already do that.

If your barrel is already broken in, then you should only need to clean after 15-20 shots. And if the barrel is properly stress relieved, you should only need to wait for cooling between groups.

-- richard

 

[Bart B]

3-shot groups are not very representative as to what the rifle and ammo's gonna shoot all the time. 10 to 15 shot groups are better. I usually shoot 20. Consider the following:

 

[rscott5028]

20 shot groups are great for long range. And at some point, you need to fine tune your loads at long range.

Otherwise, 4x 5-shot groups, 6x3-shot groups, etc will shed some light on the potential for a hunting rifle.

Either way, one shot doesn't make a group. And, 1 3-shot group doesn't tell you anything about how consistent the rifle, ammo, and shooter are.

-- richard

 

[Bart B]

20 shot groups are great for long range. And at some point, you need to fine tune your loads at long range.

Otherwise, 4x 5-shot groups, 6x3-shot groups, etc will shed some light on the potential for a hunting rifle.

Why not shoot all those four 5-shot groups on one target using the same aiming point? Same for those six 3-shot ones for an 18-shot group. One thing you'll learn (95% of the time) is that the many-group composite's larger than the biggest 3- or 5-shot group. And the group center of each few-shot group's not all at the same place.

 

[backwoods83]

You do need to shoot some more groups, but imo if you can put three shots close then you can do the same with five shots so 3 shot groups work fine. Also your load is weak, I use a heavier charge of Imr4350 under an 85grn NBT. H4831sc is a better powder for 110-120 grainers.

 

[rscott5028]

Why not shoot all those four 5-shot groups on one target using the same aiming point? Same for those six 3-shot ones for an 18-shot group. One thing you'll learn (95% of the time) is that the many-group composite's larger than the biggest 3- or 5-shot group. And the group center of each few-shot group's not all at the same place.

Sure. But, that makes more sense at 200-300++ yds.

At 100yds, a single enlarged hole that just gets a little bigger is harder to decipher.

You can also look at the grid and pretty much tell what the composite would've looked like.

My only point is that a single clover leaf doesn't constitute a great load nor a 1/4 MOA rifle.

The larger your sample size and/or the more samples you take, the more confidence you can have in future performance.

Thanks,
Richard

 

[rscott5028]

You do need to shoot some more groups, but imo if you can put three shots close then you can do the same with five shots so 3 shot groups work fine. Also your load is weak, I use a heavier charge of Imr4350 under an 85grn NBT. H4831sc is a better powder for 110-120 grainers.

A tight 3 shot group is great for many hunting rifles.

But, was it a lucky 3 shot group? Or, can you repeat that again and again and on different days and conditions.

Many rifles will do fine for 3 shots and then they're all over the place.

When I do my initial ladder test, I often only shoot 2 shots per charge since a 3rd shot isn't going to make the group any smaller. Then, I start tuning with a couple of pairs that show promise. But, the number of shots per sample and numbers of samples need to increase for me to be confident that it's repeatable.

-- richard

 

[rimfiresniper]

Thanks Ill look at just shooting more groups. As far as the load being weak I thin I pulled it out of the nosler book. I know it does hella damage on 3/4" gongs at 200 yards. I imagine a yote wouldnt run off with one in his arse.

 

[backwoods83]

Nosler data is way to conservative, speer or barnes are better manuals, as for online go to Hogdons load data page. 58.5grns H4831 with a oal of 3.165" is max. I use 57grns Imr4350 at that length both will put you close to 3500fps from a 26" pipe. Your probably only getting 3000-3100.