[Pheonix]

I have a Savage 112 (heavy brl) in .308. It has fired between 500 and 800 rds. On it is a Simmons 44 Mag 6.5-20X44 scope with 1/8 MOA adjustments.

The ammo, Remington Corelokt 150 grain. Powder BLC(2) 46.5g (98% of max). Winchester brass and primer. FYI, I am now out of BLC and am giong to start using Varget.

Muzzle velocity 2750 fps.

Maximum OAL was set and has been reduced 2X because I thought that thermal expansion of the round (from a hot sun) and barrel (from firing) was my problem.

Ok my problem is @200 yds, 1st shot more than a foot low. second shot within 3/4" of dead center bullseye, after that (even with 5 minutes between 3 shot groups) I am lucky to keep the shots in the 8 or 10" shoot-n-see target. If I wait 15 min or so the first shot will bulseye again. I even moved up to 125 yds and missed the target!:cuss:


I have shot with sandbags on hood of a truck, by-pods (prone) and leaning on a pole using shooting stix. I dont believe trigger pull has anything to do with it, I hold on target and slowly squeeze until it fires. When it breaks it always surprises me and I dont believe that I am flinching. The freefloat of the barrel seems fine.

What am I missing?....Other than the target!:rolleyes:


if this should be in the reloading forum please move it for me.

[4v50 Gary]

I'm wondering if it needs to be bedded in the stock. It's heavy barrel so the barrel harmonics should be pretty consistent. It's free floated so you shouldn't have to worry about anything upsetting the barrel. This leads me to either the stock or the scope mount. If the scope mount is solid and the scope good, then we've got the stock.

Then again, check the muzzle for nicks or dings. Let's rule out that simple one fast.

[Pheonix]

So, in looking for a nick or ding would it be something very obvious or could it be something that needs to be checked by a professional?

[Art Eatman]

A muzzle ding should be fairly obvious; some little "hickey" that is at the edge of the hole.

Wild guess: Have you tried some factory ammo, just to see if there's something strange with your loads?

Has the rifle always done this, or is it some recent change?

Receiver screws tight? Scope bases tight? Rings are tight? The free-floated barrel is indeed free? You can slide a piece of paper down the full length of the forearm?

Have you shot from a "real" benchrest, with sandbags, and at 100 yards?

Trivial stuff, covering old ground, but just on the off chance...

And then there's possibly some problem internal to the scope; have you tried with another scope?

Sittin' at a keyboard, that's about all that comes to mind, just offhand...

:), Art

[DnPRK]

Your description is of a scope failure. Either the mount or rings are loose or the guts of the scope failed.

[Ebbtide]

I had that exact setup ;) and with some of the loads I used (all factory or surplus) I experienced the same exact problems. But looking back and hearing your description, it may have been the heat/sun effecting scope/mounts and not the load effecting the barrel. I'm not sure if that is possible, but the problem appears somewhat consistent with my experience.

I never worked up a load for it and always figured it was just the ammo (switched brands often). I don't recall it ever shooting that poorly on cold or cloudy days, I just remember being hot and frustrated when it happened.

If you have another scope you could see if that works. But, I hope its the load :)

Ehenz

[Pheonix]

I bought this last Feb or Mar. In the cold weather It shot great, or at least I think it did. I was new to past 30 feet. I have learned a lot since then. The first time the accuracy went to crap the 2 bolts holding the reciever to the stock worked loose. The 2nd time I reduced the bullet seeting depth by .015". Now I am lost. The crown seems fine. I can fit a t-shirt between the forearm and the barrel (all the way up).everything on the scope seems tight.

What would the heat effect? In the scope? In the chamber? With the ammo? (I know that it increases pressure/ velocity, the 2750fps was taken on an 80 deg day very similar to todays temps)

[Ebbtide]

I am really no expert..., as I hope someone chimes in with a quick fix for you. But, I could see a situation where the reciever heats up and expands ever so slightly. The attatched mounts/rings/scope are not at "temperature" and creates differing expansion times. This situation can once again, ever so slightly, warp the body of the scope due to its obscene height/length and create greater paralax (I hope I'm using that term correctly), thus your problem.

IIRC, I used the same logic when I added the mount and rings. I even believe I went with a higher end set to make sure I did not have any moving scope problems. But, I'm not sure if I even used "lock-tite", now that I think of it.

Once again I am just using "my logic" for that explaination, so take it for what it is.

Good Luck,

Ehenz

[dakotasin]

sounds to me like the scope has had enough.

check your bases and rings and be sure they are good. if they are, then replace your scope w/ one of a known quantity, and re-test. my instinct says your scope's done.

[SelfProclaimedExpert]

I don't know if it relates, but why would a 98% load push a 150 grain .308 bullet to only 1750. Would it even be stable at that velocity?

[Pheonix]

Selfproclamedexpert
Thanks for pointing that out it is 2750 and is corrected above.

Is thier any way to test a scope, I cannot afford any of the ones I want right now. This one was at the low end of my preferances.

[Chugach]

SPE, good point. My Speer #13 manual shows a max load of 44.0 grains of BL-C(2) produces a muzzle velocity of 2607 fps for a 150 gr bullet.

They also used a CCI Magnum Primer.

Typo on the muzzle velocity?

[jsalcedo]

Concur on the scope. I've experienced a very similar situation before.

[Chugach]

Simultaneous post.

Sierra shows the max load of BL-C(2) to be over 48 grains, by the way, for a 150 gr bullet.

Pheonix, I believe you need to eliminate some variables.

Pull your target in to 50 yards, use a good rest on a bench, and use factory ammo. I've also myself gone one more step: let someone else shoot my rifle to see what kind of groups they got. At 50 yards, you should be getting one-holer's or somethin' awfully close.

Can you swap your scope to a friend's known good rifle/ammo combination? That may be the quickest way to isolate whether it's the scope or not...

[dude]

Sounds like a bum-scope, swap it out and see what happens.