paperpuncher
Gold $$ Contributor
OP do you wet tumble of ultrasonic clean your brass? Any possibility moisture in the case when you loaded? Just a thought.
Help diagnosing low shots at 600yds
- Thread starter VA_XTC_Shooter
- Start date
You read my mind.
My other thought is consistency.
Just as the shooter is on target consistently, its possible to be shanking consistently.
Yes there could be an issue in your form that as a shooter doing the shooting dont recognize.
Maybe have another good shooter preferably someone who is a better shot watch you picking apart your form.
Sometimes we all need a lil coaching.
Ask me how I know!
I wet tumble and anneal after so no water from there. However, I do rinse lube off after resizing, so I guess it could be a possibility but I stored brass before priming and loading.
I am thinking I either had bad primers or somehow contaminated the three.
Had a very experienced shooter watching as i shot all of these. I could see shanking in the 8 or even 7, but not out of the black. A shot that low would’ve been obvious in the optic, no?
I couldn't tell you as I'm willing to bet your a better shot than me.
I do know we always look at our gear, but never ourselves.
During my time as a competitive archer I was shooting in the Oregon state indoor championships, second day of event after finding out I was in 2nd place with a real good lead on 3rd my nerves got to me.
Shanked my first 3 shots, all at 5:00 off target completely dropping 15 points.
I managed to meak out a 3rd place, but only by an X count of 2.
That's a logical enough thing to pursue a bit more. New primers, test only that load and only at 600 and see what you get. Might be that the primer selected is not doing the deed reliably causing a long time between sear disengagement and bullet exit leaving just enough time for follow-through that's normally sufficient to become insufficient.
I normally first blame me. In fact, I have done that multiple times in the past when it was gun (float tube came loose, scope was acting up, etc.). The shooter that was watching me shoot was the one that has pushed me in the past to look beyond me and not be afraid to question equipment. Given the improvements I have made over the past couple years, I have become quite confident in my abilities and ability to recognize when it is me. It still is me in offhand. And actually, I can point to me when I pushed a 9 out as well. Just hard to explain, but these shots just didnt fit that bill.
XTR
F-TR obssessed shooting junkie
I tend to agree that if it was out of the black an experienced shooter would know something went wrong.
I would not discount the possibility that annealing didn't get the last drop of water out of every case.
I have twice had shots fall out of the bottom far beyond where I could have shot them. Once was as noted above when the cases ended up having water left from an ultrasonic, and the other I dropped a bullet in a tray of charged cases, I thought I pulled out all of the ones that spilled powder. I dropped a 6 o'clock 8 mid string shooting F-TR, obviously I missed one.
I've had a partial case head separation that still went in the 9 ring on an F class target.
I have had primers that didn't go off, and I've had primers that gave me an obvious click-bang hesitation, which isn't a huge deal in F class but would be really bad in a sling. But it was pretty obvious when I was getting the hang fires. When you hear the hammer/firing pin fall like a dry fire the instant before the BANG! When I've tested primers for precision in my F class rifles the difference has always been in the range of an inch or less at 600 yards, not a foot.
I would not discount the possibility that annealing didn't get the last drop of water out of every case.
I have twice had shots fall out of the bottom far beyond where I could have shot them. Once was as noted above when the cases ended up having water left from an ultrasonic, and the other I dropped a bullet in a tray of charged cases, I thought I pulled out all of the ones that spilled powder. I dropped a 6 o'clock 8 mid string shooting F-TR, obviously I missed one.
I've had a partial case head separation that still went in the 9 ring on an F class target.
I have had primers that didn't go off, and I've had primers that gave me an obvious click-bang hesitation, which isn't a huge deal in F class but would be really bad in a sling. But it was pretty obvious when I was getting the hang fires. When you hear the hammer/firing pin fall like a dry fire the instant before the BANG! When I've tested primers for precision in my F class rifles the difference has always been in the range of an inch or less at 600 yards, not a foot.
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rwj
Gold $$ Contributor
That sir separates you from most I meet on the range!
gotcha, misunderstood your point. Thought you were saying something else other than primer, which I too though was the forming consensus.
Might not be bad primer or even wet brass, just burs in the flash hole. Better start deburring all you gas gun brass
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
I do!
Park Ranger, are you thinking that a random bur in the flash hole will cause a two foot drop in elevation? Most of the things suggested so far in this thread fall into the category of things that cause relatively small errors compared to what the OP has experienced. This problem is not some of the typical things that cause a 1 minute flyer in a half minute group. This is a huge error and it is in the same direction each time and its appearance is random. The fact that it is huge, occurs randomly and in the same direction each time are significant clues. Lets all focus on the clues.
I once had a Leupold scope that would randomly shift point of impact exactly 3" to the right for a shot or two and then return perfectly to the original zero. It would shoots 2 groups with amazing accuracy. Took a while to figure out what was going on. Leupold rebuilt the scope completely and it is still going strong today. These kinds of problems can be very hard to diagnose at times. Good luck.
Paul
Paul
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