New to me 6mm BR questions

[Theiskell]

Hi guys,
I could use a little help with a new to me 6mm BR. It’s a trued Remington 700 action and a pac-nor 1in 8 twist barrel. I bought the gun used along with some loaded ammo. The ammo is loaded with 80 grain Berger FB. The loads shot poor at 50 yards when I was sighting in. After I went on out to 100 yards (100 is the limit at the range I went to) everything seemed to tighten up. It was shooting below 1\2 “groups at the end of the day. Considering my skill level I was pleased. However I did have a few flyers that I felt was the gun not me.

Now the questions
1 Why would it shoot such poor groups at 50 yards and then get better out at 100? Has the bullet not stabilized yet?
2. Are the 80 grain Berger bullets not a little light for the 1in 8 twist barrel? Most things I read say they are. please say no because I got 500 of the Berger 80’s in the deal.
I hope these questions have not been asked a thousand times, but I'm sure they have.

 

[Jonathan Zimmerman]

I will skip question #1 and go straight to #2. My 8 twist 6br shoots 75 grain V-max bullets better than 87's. I think you will be just fine with the 80's with no trouble. Hopefully that makes you sleep a little bit better tonight Good luck! Jonathan

 

[1holeaddict]

I have a STOCK SAVAGE LRPV with a 1:8 twist barrel that will shoot the 80 grain Berger FB into 1 hole at 200 yards. I havent tried it at any longer distances but at 100-200 yards it has BEAT many custom rigs. Remember it is not any 1 component that makes a gun shoot. It is the ENTIRE package!!!! Shooter, Ammo, Scope, Rest, Action, trigger, and Barrel. Moral to the story is YES they will shoot in a 1:8 twist. If im reading your post correctly you received loaded ammo with the gun and are blaming the GUN for fliers.. How do you know that you dont have a inconsistency with the loaded ammo???

PS: If you want to sell those Bergers just shoot me a pm

 

[Theiskell]

. If im reading your post correctly you received loaded ammo with the gun and are blaming the GUN for fliers.. How do you know that you dont have a inconsistency with the loaded ammo???

PS: If you want to sell those Bergers just shoot me a pm

Point made. I really don’t want to “blame” anything. I think the gun shoots well. In my original post I was trying to figure out if the lighter bullet might cause a flyer. I know I said it was the gun not me, but I was simply implying I did not feel I pulled the shots. The original owner did a load work up but who knows if he tried several bullet weights, powders, etc. Or just plucked something off the internet and went with it.

 

[1holeaddict]

If you read the article on the home page on the 6br you will see that they recommend the 80 grain berger. If the gun was holding 1/2" groups and then a random flier i would be looking at other components in the ENTIRE package. Not pointing the finger at the loader nor the loaded ammo but i would start with new cases match prepped and retry the load the previous owner had. Im sure some fellow members will chime in with a punch list of items to check but IMO i would start with fresh brass and Consistent loaded rounds. You might have to simply chase the lands.

 

[Theiskell]

If you read the article on the home page on the 6br you will see that they recommend the 80 grain berger. If the gun was holding 1/2" groups and then a random flier i would be looking at other components in the ENTIRE package. Not pointing the finger at the loader nor the loaded ammo but i would start with new cases match prepped and retry the load the previous owner had. Im sure some fellow members will chime in with a punch list of items to check but IMO i would start with fresh brass and Consistent loaded rounds. You might have to simply chase the lands.

Thank you for the replys,
I read the entire article a couple of times and it was very informative. The loads the original owner used appear to be right off of that page down to the brass, primer, amount of powder, powder and bullets. I have faith in the bullet, but it seems that a lot of people on here gravitate to the heavier bullet with the 1:8 twist barrel. It could just be that I was concerned and paid more attention when I see people discussing the heaver bullet. It Sounds like I should just work with the powder and brass at first and leave the bullet alone for now. That’s a good thing!

 

[Judd]

I recently bought a gun that has the same barrel as you bought. The recipe that was given to me with the gun was very similar to yours. I wanted to switch to the 105's so I never tested the 80's but according to the previous owner it shot in the 2's with the 80's.

Good luck.

 

[NWnewguy]

One thing that has not been mentioned yet, probably because most folks here already know it and take it for granted, is that your trigger press may have been good, but how was the rest of your bench work. I used to get fliers, and still occasionally do, but since I have read about good bench habits, and started trying to follow them I have had a lot less.

What I mean by bench habits is basically, all pressure on the rifle has to be the same for every shot. That seems easy, but it's actually very difficult with some set ups, and becomes easier the more money you throw at it. If you are having to hold the rifle on the target sometimes, and others it is lined up perfect, no perfect trigger press will make up for the POI shift it may create. I am not trying to be insulting, as until I started reading about short range bench rest techniques, I was pretty clueless myself. I recommend the Tony Boyer book, and the Benchrest Shooting Primer, they both will detail a lot of good techniques. Different rifles certainly prefer different styles, but if it will shoot 4 into one hole, it will probably shoot 5 with some work.