weather and accuracy

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Jan 2, 2010
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Hi, I'm new to this site so, I hope I'm asking this in the right section. So here's the story. I had a bad day at the range, and now i'm trying to figure out what all went wrong. I'm working up a load for 257 weatherby, federal GMM 215 primers, reloader 25 and 117 gr hornady SST... out of five 3 shot groups only 1 was respectable, .94" I know i'm not a great shot, but from a sandbag rest, i expect well under 2" minimum, more like 1 1/4 . the rifle is good for atleast .625, (best so far). it was about 18-22 degrees, kinda hard to tell with 10-20 mph wind in my face blowing snow at me. i think the worst group was about 5 or 6" it was too depressing to really measure. The good group came from 72.3 grs powder the worst was the "middle" load of 70.9 grs. I tried not to shoot when the wind was gusting, but i think a few shots may have been caught.

How much of this should i chaulk up to weather?

The reason i went out in the cold was to get a good cold weather round for Feb. hunting. It just turned out to be a little worse than i wanted it. What i'd really like to know is, does head or tail wind affect balistics as much as cross wind? And does anybody think i might have the wrong powder for the temperature? The max load didnt show any signs of pressure. I wish i had a chrono, maybe next Christmas. The reloader 25 did well with partions in 40 deg temps. I know different load.
 
Man, that sounds like you just had a bad day at the range. I would chalk this up to lessons learned. When testing loads I try to do it under the best conditions possible so I give the rifle every chance to show me what it's capable of...try to take out every other factor like wind, shooter error, etc. Even if a 20mph no value wind doesn't have an effect on your 100yard trajectory it will surely have an effect on you. And you have to be honest with yourself, call your shot. What I mean by this is you need to anotate exactly where the reticle was at the exact time the rifle fired (ex: It was a 1/4" to the right.) then write it down. I keep a record of each shot in a data book as soon as it's fired. It has a spot to mark your call and a larger target to mark and label each impact. Then compare the two and you can conclude how much of that group was really you.
Don't give up and you will get there.
 
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