Im still new to reloading and this is the first time I seen this BIG of a change in group size from ONLY .5 grains of powder. The picture is 3 - 5 shot groups at 100 yards from a Rem 700 SPS Varmint chambered in .243 with a 26" 1/9.125 twist barrel. The only mods is a H&S precision stock. The load is..... .243 Winchester brass, 95 grain Sierra Match king bullets, Federal 210 primers and H4350 powder. The bullet is seated .008" off lands in all 3 of the 5 shot groups. The only difference between the 3 groups is the amount of powder. The powder charge for the LEFT group is 41 grains of H4350, the MIDDLE group is 41.5 grains of H4350 and the RIGHT group is 42 grains of H4350. The size of LEFT group is .91, MIDDLE group is .83 and the RIGHT is .49. I never seen that big of a change before from only .5 grains! After the first 2 groups I was kinda scared the rifle was a lemon! If a .243 wont shoot 95 grain SMK's and H4350 then thats a BAD sign! Sure enough the last group proved itself. After the first 3 shots I was like.....am I hitting the same hole or missing the whole target? I then shot the 4 round and I noticed the single hole got a little bitty bit bigger. Then the last shot I was hoping to hit the only hole and have a .2 group! I took my time and fired.....sure enough I hit the hole, but barely! I was happy and mad at the same time. Happy I found out the rifle is a shooter and mad because I very easily could of had a .2" group instead of a .49" group. FYI I have shot several more groups with the same load and it consistently shoots .4 - .6 groups. I wanted to post this for you guys that are also new to reloading. Long story short.....The littlest change can shrink your groups in half!
