SaskShooter
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2012
- Messages
- 185
Yesterday a friend of mine, new to shooting, brought out his brand new Remington 700 Sendero heavy barrel in .220 Swift. He lives in a nearby city, and he came out to my farm to zero in (I have a permanent shooting range in my back yard). His gun was just back from the smith for some basic work- scope mounting, trigger tuning, bore sighting- he had the option of either a Zeiss Conquest (zoom unknown) or a Leupold VXIII 3.5-10X50 with the Wide Duplex reticle. He chose the $700 Leupold over the $1,300 Zeiss.
His sole intention for this gun was to knock off coyotes out to 500 yards. In theory, a heavy barrelled .220 Swift with a 10X scope should be fine, right? Not this time.
After getting on paper at 100 yards, we had mediocre results from the Remington Accutips (around 1-3/4") so we switched over to the Hornady 55 grain VMax factory fodder. That shot better for him at about 1-1/2", so I asked if he'd mind if I fired a group. He handed me the gun with five rounds- I shredded the one inch bullseye.
So the gun shoots well enough on paper, in the hands of a decent marksman it's a 1 MOA gun, but I'm SURE I could have shot .75 or less if it weren't for that damned scope! The scope cost $200+ more than both of my Vortex scopes, but it wasn't nearly as clear, the adjustments were sticky and barely tactile, even with that 50mm lens, my other scopes still have a brighter image, and lastly................... WHO ON EARTH HAD THE STUPID IDEA OF THAT WIDE DUPLEX RETICLE? At 100 yards the center portion measures about 1-1/4" wide on 10X. We had to use 4" bulls on the target so we could actually place the crosshair on them.
And the rifle? Well, it CAN shoot well as the gunsmith who did load development for it SAID he shot groups as small as .11" at 100 yards in testing, but what still irked me about the gun was this
Heavy barrel, fancy graphite stock, stainless steel, it costs over $1,000, it's a precision weapon- yet the feed ramp feels like sandpaper and the crown on the barrel was VISIBLY CROOKED! I checked and double-checked and the entire front face of that barrel is canted down and to the right slightly.
The rifle still shoots, but these are things that just shouldn't be wrong on a gun you pay over $1K for.
Now the worst part is that this guy is a REALLY new shooter, but he's in his 60's and just won't take any advice from a whippersnapper like me. He doesn't understand the concept of rifle accuracy or why his scope will not work to kill coyotes consistently at 500 yards. The best groups he managed were around 1-1/2 MOA, but he believes that someday he'll be able to shoot 3/8" groups at 500 yards with this rifle. He figures he just needs to practice.........
Okay I'm sorry for venting here. Better than anywhere else I though.
His sole intention for this gun was to knock off coyotes out to 500 yards. In theory, a heavy barrelled .220 Swift with a 10X scope should be fine, right? Not this time.
After getting on paper at 100 yards, we had mediocre results from the Remington Accutips (around 1-3/4") so we switched over to the Hornady 55 grain VMax factory fodder. That shot better for him at about 1-1/2", so I asked if he'd mind if I fired a group. He handed me the gun with five rounds- I shredded the one inch bullseye.
So the gun shoots well enough on paper, in the hands of a decent marksman it's a 1 MOA gun, but I'm SURE I could have shot .75 or less if it weren't for that damned scope! The scope cost $200+ more than both of my Vortex scopes, but it wasn't nearly as clear, the adjustments were sticky and barely tactile, even with that 50mm lens, my other scopes still have a brighter image, and lastly................... WHO ON EARTH HAD THE STUPID IDEA OF THAT WIDE DUPLEX RETICLE? At 100 yards the center portion measures about 1-1/4" wide on 10X. We had to use 4" bulls on the target so we could actually place the crosshair on them.
And the rifle? Well, it CAN shoot well as the gunsmith who did load development for it SAID he shot groups as small as .11" at 100 yards in testing, but what still irked me about the gun was this
Heavy barrel, fancy graphite stock, stainless steel, it costs over $1,000, it's a precision weapon- yet the feed ramp feels like sandpaper and the crown on the barrel was VISIBLY CROOKED! I checked and double-checked and the entire front face of that barrel is canted down and to the right slightly.
The rifle still shoots, but these are things that just shouldn't be wrong on a gun you pay over $1K for.
Now the worst part is that this guy is a REALLY new shooter, but he's in his 60's and just won't take any advice from a whippersnapper like me. He doesn't understand the concept of rifle accuracy or why his scope will not work to kill coyotes consistently at 500 yards. The best groups he managed were around 1-1/2 MOA, but he believes that someday he'll be able to shoot 3/8" groups at 500 yards with this rifle. He figures he just needs to practice.........
Okay I'm sorry for venting here. Better than anywhere else I though.
