Dealing with poor performance in shooting

[Bradley Walker]

I am not a bad shooter. I shot highpower for many years and was pretty successful varmint hunter….
…getting to .5 MOA has been pretty easy. I can shoot 1” groups at 200 yards pretty easily. Sometimes even a .5” group.
Getting these .25” groups at 200 yards is whole other animal. I can’t do it, and I have no idea why.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

What kind of gun are you shooting?

 

[markr]

5 - .25 (not adjusted for MOA) groups at 200 yards will win a whole lot of PB benchrest matches. I wouldn't think that they would be all that easy to do!

 

[Bradley Walker]

My rifle is a Remington 40x 6BR. Kreiger LV 1-8 twist, Shehane MBR stock with 3” forend, NF BR 12-42-56 scope with Leopold mounts.
I am shooting 80 Fowlers, Sierra 107s, Hornady 105s, CCI 450 primers, and 8208 and R-15. Pretty much standard stuff. I have tried every seating depth and have done several ladders. I still ended up in the typical “honey spot” area that everyone else uses.
Here is one thing. The left side of the gun appears to jump about ¼” up every time it shoots. The thing really, really twists in the front rest. I am starting to wonder if I should take some sand out of the front bag and get some more bag “above” the side ridge of the stock.

 

[wapiti25]

you usually have to shoot in the .1's at 100 to shoot in .2"s at 200. Are you talking MOA? Your gun/load needs to be the very best and you can not make any mistake on shooting it or reading the conditions. I shoot in the desert and the mirage is real bad, most of the time the target will be moving more than .250" at 200.

 

[wapiti25]

You may have a torqueing problem. Most of the short range BR matches are won with the light bullets 62-68gr.

 

[markr]

Let me illustrate my other post. The aggregate group size at 100 yards, read it and see what I'm talking about, Some of these shooters are world class shooters with custon rifles costing in excess of $3500.00!

My rifle is a Remington 40x 6BR. Kreiger LV 1-8 twist, Shehane MBR stock with 3” forend, NF BR 12-42-56 scope with Leopold mounts.
I am shooting 80 Fowlers, Sierra 107s, Hornady 105s, CCI 450 primers, and 8208 and R-15. Pretty much standard stuff. I have tried every seating depth and have done several ladders. I still ended up in the typical “honey spot” area that everyone else uses.
Here is one thing. The left side of the gun appears to jump about ¼” up every time it shoots. The thing really, really twists in the front rest. I am starting to wonder if I should take some sand out of the front bag and get some more bag “above” the side ridge of the stock.

 

[itchyTF]

Ever seen a stock where the barrel channel is not down the center of the forend but offset to compensate for torque? Talk to Bruce Baer, he developed one. He's the first one listed under Smiths on the Home page.

 

[Bradley Walker]

you usually have to shoot in the .1's at 100 to shoot in .2"s at 200. Are you talking MOA? Your gun/load needs to be the very best and you can not make any mistake on shooting it or reading the conditions. I shoot in the desert and the mirage is real bad, most of the time the target will be moving more than .250" at 200.

Thank you!!! Same in Oklahoma!!

 

[Bradley Walker]

I really want a 1-14 barrel for 6BR to shoot the obligatory PB bullets.

Or a 1-12 would be cool for 80 gr bullets.

I really only shoot 100 yards and 200 yards. I don't have enough land to go out real far.

 

[Bradley Walker]

Let me illustrate my other post. The aggregate group size at 100 yards, read it and see what I'm talking about, Some of these shooters are world class shooters with custon rifles costing in excess of $3500.00!

Maybe my expectations are too Interent oriented.

 

[Leaddog]

Bradley- Assuming your equipment is up to the task, the highest levels are reached with your mental game. Remember the saying... "It's the Indian, not the arrow"? Well, there are many good resources out there to improve this aspect of your game. Check it out and see your scores improve. It's not an overnight cure, but a re-write for a winning mindset.

 

[markr]

Let me illustrate my other post. The aggregate group size at 100 yards, read it and see what I'm talking about, Some of these shooters are world class shooters with custon rifles costing in excess of $3500.00!

Maybe my expectations are too Interent oriented.

Only trying to illustrate that a .25 group at 200 yards is not an all day, every day occurrence, even among those with the absolute best equipment, wind flags and a lot of experience. An all day every day .50 group shooting rifle in very experienced hands is hard to come by at best.
Mark

 

[SS427]

You got it right when you said "Maybe my expectations are too Interent oriented."

People that can shoot .250 groups at 200 yards on the Internet are a dime a dozen, and not only can they do it, they can do it "all day long". On the other hand people that can actually do it in real life are few and far between. Mark's posting of the scores are indicitive of what is really going on. Note those scores are with a heavy varmint rifle. While light varmint scores will be close, they are still going to be on average slightly bigger.

I have a couple of those expensive rifles and I'm happy to shoot .250 groups at 100 yards and half inch groups at 200 yards. I'm very happy when I get a few groups in the teens at 100 and 1/4 inch at 200. It isn't as easy to shoot tiny groups as the Internet shooters think.

 

[Killshot]

Bradley, a slower twist barrel would decrease the amount of torque you're experiencing and may be a better "fit" for the lighter bullets commonly used in 100/200BR.

As for your group sizes, don't believe everything you read. If it was easy, these internet heroes would be shooting matches.

 

[Leaddog]

Seriously, a dog leg barrel channel? The barrel is free floating.

 

[itchyTF]

Can't really see the forend well in that picture.

 

[ReedG]

Here's the concept, from a long-range pistol on this site (http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/?s=offset+stock&submit=Search) ...

And also a Dave Tooley design from the same story ...

 

[Bradley Walker]

I knew I wasn't crazy!!!!

Shot tonight at 100 yards for the first time as I did not have a 100 yard backstop. Btw an old double walled doghouse with a removal roof filled with dirt is a wonderful backstop.

The gun jumping can be solved by getting the front bag wrapped around the undercut on the left side. I need a new training block for the bag that is undercut like the stock. Once the bag gets some hardness above the undercut the jumping stopped.

Obviously these wide fore ends (even on one side) would help. I would think the best answer for a standard stock would be an undercut front bag that gets the sand higher on the stock above the undercut.

 

[Bradley Walker]

Btw I shot several sub 1/4" groups in perfect air. I could actually see what the load was doing at 100. At 200 I was lost because there were so many other factors besides me and the load.