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Horizontal stringing ?

rebs

Gold $$ Contributor
consistently egg shaped groups at 300 yds with 223 rem. More horizontal than vertical. What causes this ?
 
minor seating depth changes on both sides of what your using might close it up some... could be wind... could be shooter induced... could be a number of things...
 
  • Better control of the rear bag.
  • Holding breath / not pressing trigger at the natural pause.
  • Are you letting your rounds cook in a hot chamber?
  • Any chance you are running vertical split rings?
 
  • Better control of the rear bag.
  • Holding breath / not pressing trigger at the natural pause.
  • Are you letting your rounds cook in a hot chamber?
  • Any chance you are running vertical split rings?
What's up with vertical split rings..? I run a set of steel warne on a .308....
 
My experience with split rings has not exhibited that phenomenon.
 
Are you shooting free recoil? I do, and find a very small amount of thumb pressure will throw a shot. Last weekend I put 4 of 5 at 100 yds into a group that measured .09" CTC and one at 9 o'clock that opened it to .5"

Very frustrating :mad:

IMG_4506.JPG

Wobbly benches at a public range, neighbors with 300 WM and brakes blowing my headset off MAY be a factor.:D

.223, 69g lapua,Varget, BR 4, Criterion 26 in 8 twist. Wind freshening rapidly post frontal.
 
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Guys up in AK have found that vertical split rings are causing vertical stringing.
Never witnessed this,and I shoot down to about 30 below zero . Who in AK is claiming this,benchrest folks ? That is an interesting concept .
 
My experience with split rings has not exhibited that phenomenon.
I am not having problems either... It is a 12.5 lbs tactical rifle ( .308 ) and there's not really recoil in my opinion.... My wife shot it and said ohh that's not bad and she doesn't do heavy recoil... I don't shoot it like you guys shoot in competition but I am not scared to take it out for a day of fun shooting groups so it gets shot useing not what I would call powder puff loads... 168gr Matchking at about 2700fps... Not trying to argue with anyone , just am not seeing it either in my case...
 
How much vertical?
What g bullet?
How big is your oval?
Wind will blow the .223.
Could be a few things but the most likely reason is wind. Do you know how much it was blowing between you and the target when you pulled the trigger?
Put a pic up of a group you feel is avg for you.
 
I would probably revisit my load at 300 with a seating depth test, considering I felt that my performance shooting the rifle was .

How was the wind conditions?
 
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Are you shooting free recoil? I do, and find a very small amount of thumb pressure will throw a shot. Last weekend I put 4 of 5 at 100 yds into a group that measured .09" CTC and one at 9 o'clock the opened it to .5"

Very frustrating :mad:

View attachment 1135773

Wobbly benches at a public range, neighbors with 300 WM and brakes blowing my headset off MAY be a factor.:D
Yes sir it must have been a wobbly bench that coused that flyer... It happens to me all the time... I need to change benches...lol
Just kidding Texas , that is so frustrating.... I lose concentration every darn time I am doing good.... When I hear that , ok don't screw up , this is a great group go through my mind it's OVER on the next shot.. plus totally agree it never fails that the guy with the 105 howitzer sits one bench down and shoots 100 yards and shoots it bad... I suggested the other day to the board members we put up some kind of dividers to help with this and inconsiderate automatic shooters and flying brass...

I hate to say it but I had an idiot sit on my left last year with an AR and once a piece of brass hit my rifle I went to the truck , put up the bolt gun I was shooting , pulled out my M4 , moved over to his left and spent a 30 round mag giving him some brass to take home and reload.. I have done alot of work to that rifle and it ejects in the same spot everytime.... This jackass actually said , hey your brass is flying over here... LOL I said well yes it is isn't it , do you reload , if so you can have that brass and I will take yours that you were hitting me with... I wonder if he learned anything that day.... Just btw there was plenty of benches to my right he could have sat at , he just didn't... I had my brass catcher in my truck I take to not do that to people and to keep my brass and I could have gotten it out , I just didn't....lol
 
When you say "consistent" egg shaped mostly horizontal that implies you have ruled out wind, shooter error, etc and now want to know something about the rifle and loads which may be involved. Those are all valid factors that are common causes of horizontal. I have found when during load development that changes in charge weight, which is optimized to find an insensitive node based on vertical poi changes, typically exhibits a similar response on horizontal movement. The degree of horizontal vs vertical varies based on what I am shooting, and the high degree of correlation suggests the barrel vibration is more along a 45deg direction than primarily vertical harmonics in some cases. Makes me think a bit about the best way to time a barrel, of which I know nothing about.

So if you developed this load perhaps look back at how the horizontal responded during that time.
 
Are you shooting free recoil? I do, and find a very small amount of thumb pressure will throw a shot. Last weekend I put 4 of 5 at 100 yds into a group that measured .09" CTC and one at 9 o'clock that opened it to .5"

Very frustrating :mad:

View attachment 1135773

Wobbly benches at a public range, neighbors with 300 WM and brakes blowing my headset off MAY be a factor.:D

.223, 69g lapua,Varget, BR 4, Criterion 26 in 8 twist. Wind freshing rapidly post frontal.


Thanks for showing that photo of 5 shot group that was spoiled due to the one flyer. I only shoot 5 shot groups and have tons of targets like that. It's nice to know it's not just me that this happens to. lol
 
Last edited:
Are you shooting free recoil? I do, and find a very small amount of thumb pressure will throw a shot. Last weekend I put 4 of 5 at 100 yds into a group that measured .09" CTC and one at 9 o'clock that opened it to .5"

Very frustrating :mad:

View attachment 1135773

Wobbly benches at a public range, neighbors with 300 WM and brakes blowing my headset off MAY be a factor.:D

.223, 69g lapua,Varget, BR 4, Criterion 26 in 8 twist. Wind freshing rapidly post frontal.


What’s your procedure to have consistent thumb pressure?
 
Yes sir it must have been a wobbly bench that coused that flyer... It happens to me all the time... I need to change benches...lol
Just kidding Texas , that is so frustrating.... I lose concentration every darn time I am doing good.... When I hear that , ok don't screw up , this is a great group go through my mind it's OVER on the next shot.. plus totally agree it never fails that the guy with the 105 howitzer sits one bench down and shoots 100 yards and shoots it bad... I suggested the other day to the board members we put up some kind of dividers to help with this and inconsiderate automatic shooters and flying brass...

I hate to say it but I had an idiot sit on my left last year with an AR and once a piece of brass hit my rifle I went to the truck , put up the bolt gun I was shooting , pulled out my M4 , moved over to his left and spent a 30 round mag giving him some brass to take home and reload.. I have done alot of work to that rifle and it ejects in the same spot everytime.... This jackass actually said , hey your brass is flying over here... LOL I said well yes it is isn't it , do you reload , if so you can have that brass and I will take yours that you were hitting me with... I wonder if he learned anything that day.... Just btw there was plenty of benches to my right he could have sat at , he just didn't... I had my brass catcher in my truck I take to not do that to people and to keep my brass and I could have gotten it out , I just didn't....lol

i thought i read somewhere that wood benches were preferred?
 
What’s your procedure to have consistent thumb pressure?

That's the problem. I obviously don't have a consistent method, as exemplified by that target! The pad of my trigger finger on the Target Accutrigger safety blade, and a very light thumb on the top of the stock, behind the safety, just to help steady. Trigger is set at 6-7 oz.
 

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