Off the shelf rifle accuracy

Sorry, no pix.

I have a Savage 12FCV chambered in 204 Ruger. I get sub .75” MOA accuracy from it box stock with no post factory modifications.

It is my back up rifle for my prairie dog hunting.

I liked the Savage action, I’m building a 22 BR rifle for prairie dogs. The 22BR will give me a bit more reach over the 204 Ruger.

Pretty much all new guns shoot good,
Only newer gun I have still being made is my mauser m18, 6.5 prc
First load testing went well, amazing accuracy considering they were just cheap 140 speer hot cors, and with new brass.
Scope was on 9 power, could be better with higher power and better rest but a few loads there's not much improving needed.
shot at 100 yards, 57.0 and 57.5 are pretty much one hole.

Ruger American rancher.556 no mods except the bi-pod 100 yrd .56" group.
Top right of the left target was the last group of the day, the other targets I was changing powder charge and adjusting scope. Yah, I pulled the 5th and final shot, but that was my fault, not the guns.

Tikka T3X Tact A1 in 6.5CM I bought new recently. 5 shot groups from 100 yards on a bipod. Hornady ELD-Match bullets, Hornady brass. It seems to like Varget. I'm happy with it so far.

JEBruns said:

Tikka T3X Tact A1 in 6.5CM I bought new recently. 5 shot groups from 100 yards on a bipod. Hornady ELD-Match bullets, Hornady brass. It seems to like Varget. I'm happy with it so far.

View attachment 1086349 View attachment 1086350

Click to expand...

Nice groups! Love Varget, just haven't been able to find any lately.

My Ruger American Predator in 6.5 CM is a great example of a $400 factory rifle capable of uncanny accuracy. The rounds it likes the best are Federal nontypical 140 grain SP, and it produces .5" groups at 100 yards. No pics, but it looks like all the rest of them.

Early 223 Savage Axis with 6 pound trigger & scope that came with gun . 100 yards.

MY Savage Axis in 6.5 Creedmoor is an average 1 1/4" group gun. Unless using a reduced load. Less battel whip? 9X power that came with package.


I like to see 20 shot averages. 5 shot groups X 4 minimum.
The American Rifleman magazine test with more rounds & gives a better view of possible accuracy. https://www.americanrifleman.org/nra-gun-of-the-week/
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/review-winchester-model-70-long-range-mb/

I don't keep up with EVERY gun development. I'm almost exclusively interested in wood and steel and don't follow the 'plastic' stocked versions of anything being offered. A while back there was a thread, don't remember the title but Armored Farmer (one of THR's frequent enablers) responded with a picture of his Ruger American (Ranch?) in .450 Bushmaster leaning against a tree or laying on a log. In that discussion it was mentioned that the Americans take AR 15 mags. That was the first I heard of that and of course I NEEDED a bolt rifle with that kind of versatility.

I consider it a truck gun. Scoped it with a 1X4 illuminated tube and put on a brake I had laying around.



Took it to the local range and fed it run of the mil ball ammo by Federal. Not sure of the weight. Keep in mind at max scope power of X4 the reticle all but covered the target square I was aiming for. To me it was worth every dime of the $450 I spent for the rifle considering there is more accuracy to be wrung out of it.

1 month old Tikka T3X in 7mm Rem Mag. The new Ultra Light Arms at 1/3 the price! 7.4 pound gun as shown with a 0.375” group at 100y. Hunting gun.



View attachment 1086384

Zastava MP22 .22 WMR with Nikon 2-7x32. Nothing done to the gun up to that point except refinishing the stock and adjusting the factory trigger screws.

View attachment 1086397

View attachment 1086398

Cherry picked targets. Hornady 30 grain V-Max. 5-shots per target, due to size of magazine.
View attachment 1086399

I have several Savage rifle with their heavy varmint barrel. I've been very happy with the "out of box" accuracy of them. One thing I did notice about the two rimfire Savage MkII rifles is that on one I did need to adjust how much the action screws were torqued to get it just right. My 308 Model 12 FVL shoots 3/4" groups at 100 yards from a rest when I do my part. My 17m2 MkII GVL shoots between 3/4" to 1" at 100 yards when I do my part and there isn't much wind. Wind definitely effects that small 17 grain bullet. I haven't shot for tight groups past 50 yards with my 22lr MkII BTVLSS, but it does very well at 50 yards.

I stick with Savage rifles since they have always been easier to find in left hand versions and they shoot well right out of the box. I'm sure that more expensive rifles can and will shoot better, but I don't compete anymore and can't justify the extra cost at this point.

1 year old T/C Venture II 223 shoots 77gr HP Match factory IMI into 10 round groups under an inch at 100 yards. 9 pounds as shown. The Athlon scope cost more than the rifle and sling, LOL. Hunting gun.

View attachment 1086400

Airborne77 said:

The way a lot of these rifles are shooting and can be tweaked it seems it would be hard to justify the cost of an expensive custom gun.

Click to expand...

This is especially true for those of us that do not compete. Though I do enjoy pushing the 17m2 and 22lr at farther distances from time to time. I am considering getting rid of the 308 Model 12 since I don't have anyplace close to shoot past 100 yards an I messed up both shoulders a couple of years ago. I am only hanging not it until I can find a suitable replacement in 223 or similar. And I am looking mostly at the left hand Savage rifles with the varmint barrel.

Ruger American .22 LR shooting Wolf Match ammo at 50m....

I've seen more Tikka's that would shoot sub MOA than anything else. For the money the centerfire Ruger Predators come pretty close. I've not had much luck with the Ruger American 22's. I've given up on Bergara.

I've seen other individual rifles shoot equally well. But not with the consistency of Tikka. With others many others it seems to be luck of the draw. Some shoot great, others not so much. Some shoot well with only one load, but not with everything. But I've never ran across a Tikka that wouldn't shoot well. And they aren't picky about the ammo used.

Tikka T1x at 50. 5 shots CCI Mini-Mags 36 gr.


Same loads at 250 yards




Tikka 308 @ 100. 155 gr Lapua Scenar hand loads.

I wanted to add my cz 527 here but there discontinued, First group I ever shot was about 3/4 moa using the sights laying on a graval pile. 5 shots of tulammo fmj, someday I'll get it on the bench and work up a good load for it.

troy fairweather said:

I wanted to add my cz 527 here but there discontinued, First group I ever shot was about 3/4 moa using the sights laying on a graval pile. 5 shots of tulammo fmj, someday I'll get it on the bench and work up a good load for it.

Click to expand...

Is it 5.56 or 7.62x39?

Somewhere around here I have a target from my X-Bolt 7 mag. First three shots on a very cold, windy day. .4-.5” @ 100. 162 grain Berger’s over a case pretty much full of RL-22. Didn’t measure exactly as that was acceptable for a deer rifle

My AR Varminter does (or at least used to) do better. Same with my two cz’s.

I’ve culled out a vast majority of my rifles. Anything that wasn’t sub 1” went away.

Note that nearly all the above examples are hand loads.

allisd17 said:

Is it 5.56 or 7.62x39?

Click to expand...

7.62x39, it's the carbine.

troy fairweather said:

7.62x39, it's the carbine.

Click to expand...

I have one too. Mine likes Wolf hollow points but I'm also starting to get some good results with 123g Hornady SSTs and AA 1680.

These are a few shots taken with a stock Rem 700 in 30-06 with some of my own cast and hand loaded rounds @100 yards:



Bayou52