Getting acceptable accuracy - where to start?

[badsection]

The thing that bothers me in waiting for barrel to cool down inbetween shots so my rifle will shoot a  half or 3/4 of an inch group.I've never considered this while working up a load.To me a 3 shot group should be the standard and it should be done as quickly as possible.Heck,what am I gonna do,holler out to whatever I'm shooting and tell it to stand still while my barrel cools down? No,I'm going to chamber another round and fire again as fast as I can.

Take another rifle with you, even a .22 LR to shoot while you are waiting for cool down. I put 2 "stick on" targets in line to shoot while I`m waiting. Patience is not a virtue I posses either!   

[224KING]

I do take multiple rifles to range usually,but what I'm saying is there is no point to shooting a group that takes 15 minutes to shoot.If you want to know if your rifle has the same point of impact day in and day out that just takes 1 shot and not a group.I want my rifle and the load I work up to shoot a 3 shot group less than 3/4's of an inch with the group being fired in 30 seconds or less.

[stanleygks]

Are you testing the load or the rifle?   If the load, you need to eliminate all the other factors.  Once you have a load known to shoot well, then fire away and test the limits or quirks of your rifle.

[pharmseller]

Are you testing the load or the rifle?   If the load, you need to eliminate all the other factors.  Once you have a load known to shoot well, then fire away and test the limits or quirks of your rifle.

Have you read the whole thread?



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[K80kid]

Just went through this with my 270 wby mag ULW.  Shot 3 different bullets and several powders, played with seating and could get it to shoot a good group and then on retest it would open up.    Finally I torgued the action screws to 65 inch pounds and the groups looked better.  Went over my testing targets and found one load I had shot well before, loaded them up and she has printed three groups with that load .75 or smaller. 

I have a Caldwell torgue wrench and it may not be the most accurate device.  But it says 65 inch pounds.

[pharmseller]

Well, I hated to do it, but I sent her down the road.  Maybe the new owner will have better technique.

In the meantime I'm done with load development on her replacement which, interestingly enough, cost almost exactly half as much.







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[badsection]

While I have to agree on the Tikka's accuracy, I think you sold the Weatherby short. 

[BB340]

Well I just read all the posts about getting the Mkv Ultalight to shoot and also the Tikka T3, so thought I would put in my experience with both rifles as the Weatherby Mkv is my favourite brand of rifle followed by the Tikka T3.

I have two Mkv UL's. One an older wood blued in 25-06 the other one is a current synthetic in .240 WBY mag.

When I bought the wood blued 25-06 over 10 years ago I could not get anything that would come close to being accurate. Nothing would group under 2 inches. So I bedded the action and floated the barrel. Next it took quite some time to find a load that would eventually shoot a decent group. That load is the 115grn Ballistic Silvertip ontop of 55grains of AR2213sc. Groups ended up being half inch or better! To this day that rifle is  close to my favourite gun and still shoots great. But it will not shoot any other load decently enough.
Next up is my 4 year old synthetic Mkv UL in .240 WBY. From the moment I pulled that rifle from the box it shot everything close to half inch groups. There was no messing about having to bed it or take the time to carefully tailor a load. She just shoots great!
Especially with again a charge of 55grns of AR2213sc but with the 6mm 90grn Swift Scirocco ll projectile.

Then there are the 4 Tikka's that I own. A SS in .243, Wood blued in .260, Camo Stainless in 7mm-08 and the Laminated Stainless in 7mm Rem Mag.
Now everyone of these rifles shoots anything you put in them, factory or reloads, absolutely perfect! I have played with another 10 or so Tikkas as well and not one of them has shot badly. I do not know what it is about Tikka's but they just seem to shoot straight regardless!

So there you have it, my 5 cents worth. Although I am a dead set Weatherby man owning quite a few and plan on owning them all, if I cannot afford a Mkv then the next choice is more than likely a Tikka T3.. 

[FryeBaby]

I love my Weatherby but I have to admit my Tikka shoots everything with no fuss. All the Tikka's I have seen at the range shoot great groups. I want to buy and try a Ruger American. The Ruger American's price and value is probably the best deal by a mile. They don't cost much and they just shoot. To bad they aren't beautiful. If they were they would be perfect. Pharmseller that replacement is one find shooting rifle. Very nice group.

[galamb]

In the meantime I'm done with load development on her replacement which, interestingly enough, cost almost exactly half as much.


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Are you equating the cost of the rifle to accuracy expectation?

If so you would have paid twice as much for your Tikka (new rifle) as I did for my Vanguard II and it does this with Federal blue box ammo.

So not quite sure I get the point ()

[FryeBaby]

Tikka's don't cost twice as much as Vanguard's at least here in Georgia. The price would seem to average about 130 to 160 more and that is for stainless. To me the Tikka is a better rifle, with a better trigger and smoother bolt. It is worth the extra money. On the other hand if you don't have the money the Vanguard is a very good value for the money. My Vanguard shoots great and I am very happy with it. With the difference in money you could buy a low price scope and be ready to hunt with the Vanguard. The Ruger American could lower your price another 200 hundred dollars and you would still have a very accurate rifle.

[badsection]

Why do I feel the original poster has accomplished his mission of having us arguing about accuracy? I do think most of us are overly concerned with paper accuracy when our mission is game. Acceptable? A pie plate at 100yds.      was our judge of sub moa of deer for my years than I care to mention!   

[FryeBaby]

You are right Badsection. If a rifle will shoot 2 inches at 100 yards and we do our part it will kill the animal every time. Our part of shooting the animal in the chest is more important than us worrying about a rifle shooting .5 groups. But it is fun to talk about.

[galamb]

Sorry, I always "forget" that they give away Tikka's on your side of the border.

Up here a VGII (synthetic) is under 600 bucks (Canadian).

A "blued" T3 is $900 and the stainless list at $1100 making them an "over priced" rifle.

[badsection]

Sorry, I always "forget" that they give away Tikka's on your side of the border.

Up here a VGII (synthetic) is under 600 bucks (Canadian).

A "blued" T3 is $900 and the stainless list at $1100 making them an "over priced" rifle.

My Tikka  blued 30-06 cost within a few dollars of a vanguard, advantage to the Tikka!  It is sub moa  as are my Vanguards.