GRIFFIN1:
I went to the range today. Lucky for me, there was only one guy there, and he left about 10 minutes after I got there. I wish I could say that I was shooting half inch groups, but the truth is I was getting between 2 and 3 inch groups at 100 yards. I was using the cheapest Remington ammo Bass Pro Shop had, and I was shooting off the bi-pod in the picture above. I can now see why people complain about the stock on the savage rifles. Aiming the gun with the bi-pod on the bench would cause the front of the stock that's attached to the bi-pod to flex all over the place. I remember reading someone complaining about how a bi-pod caused their Savage to go from small groups to big groups. I guess I'll have to buy all that bench rest junk that I see everyone else at the range using.
It's been said a lot of times, and it's true, that you really need to try out several brands of ammo and see what your rifle shoots best with. Also, handloading really can give you the best accuracy if you tinker with your formula- bullet weight, seating depth, powder charge weight- and see what weight and speed work best in your rifle. I don't doubt what you're saying about the stock and bi-pod too, but it bears some looking into and not just writing off.
1. ME. I'm still pretty new to all this shooting stuff. This is the first bolt action rifle that I've fired more than one round with, so I'm probably the limiting factor on this gun.
True, and most good rifles shoot better than we ever will, but that's the human factor. If you're breathing, it's gonna create "wobble factor" and increase the group size and size of the "cone of probability".
2. Bi-pod / stock Savage stock. Once I get some benchrest stuff, I should be able to rule out the bi-pod and weak stock.
As I said, it bears looking into. The bi-pod may not be the problem nearly so much as the fore-end of the stock being too flexible. A different stock may well be in order.
3. Barska Scope. If I still can't get good groups after putting the gun on a bench rest, then I'll get someone else to shoot it that might have more experience than me. If they can't shoot it, then I'm going to buy a new scope.
I can't really comment much on optics, but I can see you have to be able to see your crosshairs or sights to be able to hit your target. But you also have to be able to see your target.
I was at the range two weeks ago, and this guy was there shooting his custom target gun. I told him that I wanted to get a bolt action 308 rifle. He looked at me and said, "What are you going to do with that?" My response was that I just wanted to shoot at long range targets.
This sounds hypocritical on that guy's part.
Today, as I was breaking in my new rifle, the guy that left 10 minutes after I got there asked me, "What caliber is that?" I said it was a 308. Then he said, "What are you going to do with that?" My response was that I was just going to shoot paper.
I got the feeling that both of these guys were worried about me owning a high power long range rifle. I don't really understand why they would act like that. I'm your standard 35 year old guy. I took a bath, shaved, and combed my hair before going to the range today. My ghillie suit was fresh from the cleaners too.
I don't know what peoples' problem is about a guy with a new .308 boltgun. Of course, the fact that you "
took a bath, shaved, and combed my hair before going to the range today. My ghillie suit was fresh from the cleaners too" might have thrown them a serious curve as
everybody knows .308 boltgunners are filthy stinkin' pigs bent on killing any living thing they can see clear out to the face of the moon through their scopes. [/sarcasm] Hey, I dress like a cowboy 24/7 even at the range and I get some strange looks on my choices of weapons too. Don't worry about them.
If they were truely on par with anything out there, PD snipers would be equipped with Mosin 91/30s...kind of an interesting idea...
