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.243 help

208 parvo

Hi guys I’m new to the forum hopefully I can get a little help
I’m reloading for ruger American gen 2 .243 20in my problem is I can’t tighten my groups any more I will attach a few photos of groups hopefully get some help thanks the first picture is 75 grain vmax over 41 grains varget 10 thou off the lands
The second one is 75 vmax over 40 grains varget 8 thou off lands
The third is 75 vmax with imr 4320 10 thou off lands
Any help will be much appreciated
IMG_1333.jpegIMG_1348.jpegIMG_1347.jpeg
 
OK, so a couple of things are jumping out at me.
First, change only ONE thing at a time. You can't change the seating depth and powder charge simultaneously and glean anything useful from that.
Second, a full grain change at a time is too much. I'd change by no more than .5 and even that's quite a bit. I'd try .3.
And third, when your Point Of Impact (POI) is as far off your Point Of Aim (POA) as yours are, even minor shifts in your shooting position will be magnified. Adjust.your scope so that the center of your group is roughly an inch or so off the bullseye center for checking group sizes. I would also draw a vertical and horizontal line the width and length of copy paper with a sharpie and make copies. Carefully place your bullseye in the center and perfectly aligned with those marks. That will help with rifle cant considerably. Meaning, keep your scope cross hairs aligned with the marks you've made/copied on your paper.
I'm sure others will chime in, but those are the obvious things I'm noticing.
 
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I love being the voice of optimism, so here goes.

If your "off the shelf, economically priced, 20" skinny barreled, Ruger hunting rifle, never shoots better than that, you should be pretty content. If it never shoots worse than that, you should be ecstatic. jd
 
Also, just normal quick checks of your gear is good. Verify your action is torqued to right specs in the stock, be sure scope base and rings are tight, to correct torque specs, and that helps eliminates those variables and make your results all about the load changes.

Then probably pick one of your bullet / powder combinations, and start working on one thing first, like a ladder test with the powder you already shot. Maybe go down and up .3 grains in two increments and from your known load, so shoot say 5 groups of 3 rounds to bracket your known load - including the load you already shot in the middle or toward one end. Of course, better to start lower and work up to known max load, and not exceed that in your ladder. Make max load at the top end.
 
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^^^ I was going to say the same thing this guy said on checking everything.. but I will add... Make sure the stock is free floating. I've fixed a few for friends that the stock was contacting the barrel. Make sure you can slide a dollar bill all the way up to the last inch or two. If not find out where the contact is and sand it down. repeat.
 
208 parvo said:
Hi guys I’m new to the forum hopefully I can get a little help
I’m reloading for ruger American gen 2 .243 20in my problem is I can’t tighten my groups any more I will attach a few photos of groups hopefully get some help thanks the first picture is 75 grain vmax over 41 grains varget 10 thou off the lands
The second one is 75 vmax over 40 grains varget 8 thou off lands
The third is 75 vmax with imr 4320 10 thou off lands
Any help will be much appreciated
View attachment 1618218View attachment 1618220View attachment 1618221
Click to expand...
if thats 100 yd - like jonny and jd said- for a cheap factory gun thats all you can expect. some good advice in this thread you could try though.

one last thing— my 1/4 minute bench rest gun many times wont shoot hornadys better than that. try some better bullets
 
One other thing, if you are new to case sizing and you're setting your dies up to manufacturer's instructions then that *might* be holding you back as well.

If you have no local, accomplished mentor, you've got a ton of stuff to wade through.

Ask me how I know. Been there. Done that.
 
Don't give up on those Hornady 75-grain Vmax bullets. They can be made to shoot very well indeed. 20170714_222452.jpg

Work on your powder charges in small increments before changing seating depths. Give us a detailed description concerning your die set-up and loading sequence. Hopefully you aren't crimping your cartridges.
 
I have had a lot of success with the 75 Vmax bullet with Varget. However, at a much lower load density than 41 grains.

I don't have a Hornady Manual but if you do what is the range of loads for this bullet with Varget? You may want to try their starting load and work up slowly in 1/2 grain increments.

As others have said, keep your expectations reasonable. This rifle is not a target rifle. Those two bottom groups appear to be in the 1 moa range which is about what I would expect for a budget factory rifle of this type which is certainly a serviceable level of accuracy.
 
SSL said:
Don't give up on those Hornady 75-grain Vmax bullets. They can be made to shoot very well indeed. View attachment 1618326

Work on your powder charges in small increments before changing seating depths. Give us a detailed description concerning your die set-up and loading sequence. Hopefully you aren't crimping your cartridges.
Click to expand...
So I have brand new Starline brass ran through rcbs full sizer die than for bullet depth I found the lands with a hornaday oal gauge measured with calipers than 10 thousand off that with a rcbs bullet die and no I was not crimping them
 
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