Poor accuracy at 300y, great at 400

[Koda_]

I read somewhere that some people shoot more accurately at lower power scopes than higher power.
A 3-18 are you using only 18 power to shoot at 1, 2, and 300yds? It could be your shooting better farther out because your not trying to be so precise on the center of the target, try backing off the power on the closer shots and see if group improves.

 

[skipglo]

^^Repeated it twice. Yesterday and today. 2 different ranges, both calm days. It hits within 2" of poa at 400 every time, but i would be afraid to miss the vitals on an elk at 300.

Then jog back 100 yards and let fly!

 

[skipglo]

Using point blank to 300 then dialing past that. It SHOULD be around 3" low at 300, but is hitting more like 6-7" low.

You guys are making me think this is a scope issue.

Point blank to 300? Where's your zero set?

 

[Wyo37]

You don't have enough data to know if your results are legitimate.

 

[bonie]

my first though is shooter error, I see no ballistic reason for your adnominally.
as far as scope power, Aim small miss small, I feel looking thru a higher power scope forces me to hold better thus aim smaller. FFP would be Better then SFC scopes but for hunting purposes even a second focal plane forces a better hold, then squeese. and maintain your site picture as best you can and make sure your physical hold on the weapon is the same. good luck.

 

[Mr. Magoo]

Point blank to 300? Where's your zero set?

264y

 

[Mr. Magoo]

my first though is shooter error, I see no ballistic reason for your adnominally.
as far as scope power, Aim small miss small, I feel looking thru a higher power scope forces me to hold better thus aim smaller. FFP would be Better then SFC scopes but for hunting purposes even a second focal plane forces a better hold, then squeese. and maintain your site picture as best you can and make sure your physical hold on the weapon is the same. good luck.

Eyes sure aremt as good as they used to be. Used to be able to shoot 1/4 moa with a 9x scope. I need twoce that now.

 

[Koda_]

Used to be able to shoot 1/4 moa with a 9x scope. I need twoce that now.

If your shooting better at longer ranges its not your aging eyes....
at longer range with the scope maxed out the target now can only get smaller. Decrease your magnification at shorter range and it will increase stability on the target. Focus on the reticle not the target.

 

[lancetkenyon]

FFP would be Better then SFC scopes but for hunting purposes even a second focal plane forces a better hold

OK, I am a FFP die-hard guy. But can you explain this statement?

 

[Mr. Magoo]

I'm not 100% sure if I found the problem, but it shoots better now at the ranged I tested at.

Had a sneaking suspicion the barrel wasnt free-floated enough, as it was vertical stringing more than I'd like to see even with a change to different ammo. It had maybe .050" or less of barrel clearance and I noticed you could make the stock slap the barrel if you whacked it hard near the front of the forearm.

So I took it to my shop and gave it a solid 100 thou of clearance. With the federal premium terminal ascent 155 gainers I'm now using (this was the stuff i had been looking for all along, and a semi local retailer had just gotten some in sunday) I'm now getting a consistent 1 to 1.25 moa from 100 out to 400 yards. 300 and 400y shots now hit dead on where the hornady app says they should be out to 400. Thats the longest I can shoot on my ranch at the moment due to cattle on the north pasture right now, but I'm happy with that for now.

Hitting about .25 moa high at 400 yards with a 5" group at 400 yards, with 18 to 22 mph wind changing from my 6 o'clock to my 8 o'clock. App actually said I needed to dial .25 moa lower than i need to after double checking my data so that puts my group center dead nuts if I dial correctly.

 

[Techy]

Maybe a stupid piece of input, but possibly you are focused more when you get to the longer range. Focus more on trigger discipline and breath control and you might see this.

I noticed this when I shot long range archery when I was younger. Just an idea.

 

[Dirtrax]

So it sounds like maybe barrel movement/harmonics was the issue. In this case it happened to be external influences much like a tuner. Go figure.

 

[Mr. Magoo]

Well, the rifle did its job. As i mentioned before, this is my brother's rifle and he got a tasty young bull with it. We're meat hunters and try to go for young ones over size especially the first one if we are both going to hunt. We'll do more steaks with a young one and more jerky/ burger/sausage with a bigger one.

Last 10 min of the last day of 2nd season. I couldnt hunt 2nd due to being gone work for most of it.

As it turned out, the elk nearly walked right up to bro berfore crossing a fence and he had to hunker down and freeze to avoid being seen. (Fence was in the way to shoot) . After it jumped rhe fence, he let it get 100 yds away so he didnt spook it when getting back into shooting position, and let fly.


The terminal ascent did its job, though it ran further that you'd think it would with a big hole through the top of the heart, part of the liver, and bottom of the lung and a shattered shoulder. Went about 100-150 yards before collapsing.

It was quartering away - went in behind the on side shoulder and punched through the off side shoulder. Didn't recover the bullet. Left 1.5" to 2'' holes respectively.

 

[Short Round]

Very true! I have indeed experienced that.

Also is your user name by chances an Indiana jones reference? Because as soon as I saw it I heard that kids voice

"You listen to short round, you live longer" !

Lol it's a combo name, I am short but being a former mortarman a short round was one that didn't get a full trajectory for whatever reason.