How good is good enough ?

[Rich Coyle]

I'd be happy with that with a stock bdl with factory ammo.
But if I paid that much for a Mark V , I'd be livid with 1.5 moa.

Roy was not a shooter, but a hunter. I think Ed is a shooter as well as hunter. It's reflected in some of his newer offerings.

 

[Ought6]

I own a Tikka T3 lite in 7MM Rem Mag, With factory ammo the best one I found was the Hornady Superformance 162 SST I was shooting .5 moa out to 500 yards. I did try the 150 grain when I first got the rifle but it was only shooting about .75 to 1 moa at 100 then I tried the Superformance and it went to .5 repeatedly. I am not sure if you tried that ammo yet or not. I will try to get a photo uploaded later today.

I did try the new Hornady Precicion Hunter 162 grain ELDX loads and they were terrible . Probably 2 inch group at 100 yds . I even tried them in my old Model 700 7mm that I gave my son and they were terrible in it too . I found that very surprising because that old 700 will shoot anything I've ever put through it really good .

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I did try the new Hornady Precicion Hunter 162 grain ELDX loads and they were terrible . Probably 2 inch group at 100 yds . I even tried them in my old Model 700 7mm that I gave my son and they were terrible in it too . I found that very surprising because that old 700 will shoot anything I've ever put through it really good .

By the time you find a factory ammo that your rifle likes you will have paid for a good reloading kit. Or better yet you will have paid for custom load development from a guy like me.

Steve

 

[Rich Coyle]

By the time you find a factory ammo that your rifle likes you will have paid for a good reloading kit. Or better yet you will have paid for custom load development from a guy like me.

Steve

Perhaps this is generally true.

It's been years since I did anything with factory loads. Then a friend asked me what I would recommend for a hunting rifle. I suggested he go to Walmart, get a Savage 7mm Rem Mag and a couple boxes of Nosler Partition 160's.

He showed up with a box of Partition 150's so we went to the range. The first three shot group after bore sighting it was about 5/8". I made an adjustment and the next three were 9/16". Another adjustment and it was sighted in with a 1/2" group.

I told him to go back to town and buy everyone of the boxes with the same lot number.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

Perhaps this is generally true.

It's been years since I did anything with factory loads. Then a friend asked me what I would recommend for a hunting rifle. I suggested he go to Walmart, get a Savage 7mm Rem Mag and a couple boxes of Nosler Partition 160's.

He showed up with a box of Partition 150's so we went to the range. The first three shot group after bore sighting it was about 5/8". I made an adjustment and the next three were 9/16". Another adjustment and it was sighted in with a 1/2" group.

I told him to go back to town and buy everyone of the boxes with the same lot number.

Next box even if the same lot may or may not shoot as well. I have no confidence in factory ammo. Just tried some with a customer last week. His rifle shot about 5" at 100y. We loaded some of the spent brass and had a sub moa rifle out to 620y with out any seating depth adjustments. Loaded them to mag length and shot to desired vel. Done.

Steve

 

[tbrice23]

Perhaps this is generally true.

It's been years since I did anything with factory loads. Then a friend asked me what I would recommend for a hunting rifle. I suggested he go to Walmart, get a Savage 7mm Rem Mag and a couple boxes of Nosler Partition 160's.

He showed up with a box of Partition 150's so we went to the range. The first three shot group after bore sighting it was about 5/8". I made an adjustment and the next three were 9/16". Another adjustment and it was sighted in with a 1/2" group.

I told him to go back to town and buy everyone of the boxes with the same lot number.

That's not the first time I've heard that about Partitions. Not so much the factory ammo but about a supposed bad barrel then they load Partitions. All the sudden the barrel is sub MOA.

Never tried them personally.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

That's not the first time I've heard that about Partitions. Not so much the factory ammo but about a supposed bad barrel then they load Partitions. All the sudden the barrel is sub MOA.

Never tried them personally.

The standard to compare all bullets.

Steve

 

[engineer40]

Take it out to 300y and zero it. If you are still holding 3" you are in great shape. Take note on the first shot cold bore hit. That is the one that matters most. Once you have zero set stretch the yardage. Pay attention to the cold bore shot placement.
Steve

This is great advice.

I'll add that from my testing, it seems that a clean bore affects POI more even than a cold bore.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

This is great advice.

I'll add that from my testing, it seems that a clean bore affects POI more even than a cold bore.

That too. Some like it clean and some like it dirty. I keep my bore fouled. Probably more for my mental state than anything else.

Steve