200 yards, .308.....5/8" group!

[Redneck with a 40]

The Rifle = Remington 700 SPS Tactical, 20" heavy barrel

The Handload = 44 grains Varget, Remington case, CCI primer, 2.810" COL, 168 grain Sierra SMK

I cannot believe I shot this group today, its what I've been shooting for, for a month now, awesome! Conditions were ideal, slight breeze, about 60 degree's, sunny, it was perfect.

I'm shot this group from a bipod and NO rear rest, i.e up against my shoulder.

Here's a couple pic's :

Pat4x4, if you're out there.......how ya like me now!

I am going to click my scope up 6 clicks = 3 inches

 

[mm1ut1]

is it a stock rifle?

 

[Redneck with a 40]

Yep, bone stock, off the dealer rack.

 

[Jim Watson]

Whyd'ya quit shooting after only three shots?

 

[gotime242]

Awsome shooting, must feel good.

 

[10-Ring]

Damn, that's nice - good shooting!

 

[P.B.Walsh]

That's just wonderful, less than .5 MOA.

 

[benzy2]

How many groups did you shoot at 200 yards? Its a great group, no doubt about it, but one 3 round group doesn't give the full story. I would love to know how all the groups with that load looked as well as a few 5 shot groups. Still darn impressive, no doubt.

 

[P.B.Walsh]

Yea, go and shoot a 5-10 shot group, but like I said, that's still very nice.

 

[Walkalong]

Whyd'ya quit shooting after only three shots?

Yea man, yer two shots short....

We're just pickin'...Great group.

If that rifle can do it consistently, you have a really good one.

 

[arizona98tj]

How many groups did you shoot at 200 yards? Its a great group, no doubt about it, but one 3 round group doesn't give the full story.

x2 Post up a handful of 5 shot groups and let's see how they look. I constantly bust my buddy's chops on account of his 3 shot groups. He doesn't understand that 3 shots doesn't make a "group".

 

[Redneck with a 40]

Since when did 5 shots become a standard group? All of the magazine writers shoot 3 shot groups. 5 shots just makes it extremely challenging beyond my capability, 3 shots into 5/8" proves the rifles accuracy. The other 4 groups were right at 2 inches, so I'm consistently MOA with about 1 in 4 of my groups being sub-moa, this one being the tightest so far. That's not too shabby in my book.

 

[FlyinBryan]

i always shoot 5 shot groups, and one thing is certain, my groups and vocabulary expands on shots 4 and 5.

 

[Jacka L Ope]

That's not too shabby in my book.

Especially considering it only takes one shot to put meat on the table.

 

[benzy2]

I have always shot 5 for groups if not 10 or 30. 30 is the number explained to me to get to the point of statistical significance of what that given setup is capable of producing. 10 rounds is what I was taught to "prove" a load that looked good in development. And then 5 shots are what I run when starting load development and when shooting for size/score though I try to take the average of 5 of these 5 shot groups to get a better picture of what it really does consistently.

A 5/8" group is very very good but it certainly is a bit misleading to just post that one good group. That's pushing right at 0.25MOA which is outstanding. Its when only that group gets posted and the rest that went into 2" get left out it makes the rifle sound like a 0.25 MOA shooter when most of the rounds are pushing closer to 1 MOA and it just so happens that three in a row hit pushing 0.25 MOA.

And I want to say that 1 MOA at 200 yards isn't something to laugh at. It still takes good shooting and good equipment. It just seemed like a bit of cherry picking to use the one best 3 round group without the rest for reference.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

Benzy, I'm not claiming the rifle is .25 MOA 100% of the time, its not, neither am I. But the rifle is CAPABLE of it. I am a consistent 1 MOA shooter, which I'm perfectly happy with. When I get groups like this, about 25% of the time, I become thrilled.

My very first 300 yard group, 3 weeks ago, in windy conditions was 4 inches. I posted that group too, you can look it up. For my first time 1.3 MOA at 300 yards is damn good, I was happy. My goal is to get this thing down to 3 inches at 300 yards, if I can get a sub-moa group at that range, that would be awesome, but I don't think my skill level is up to that point yet.

 

[JDGray]

Nice shooting! Did you run out of ammo?

5 shot groups are a better testimonial of man and machine, and 10 rounds even better. But I'll take 5/8" at 200, anyday! Heres a great .600", 4 shot group, that I ruined with a fith shot

AR15 at 200yrds

 

[tjj]

Congrats!!
I have a Rem 700 5R that netted me a .410 four shot group before blowing it with a 5th some time back. I think the stars and moon lined up just right cuz it hasn't happened again.

I had a nice five shot .496" group today at 200yds but that was with my 6BR.

 

[MCMXI]

Since when did 5 shots become a standard group? All of the magazine writers shoot 3 shot groups. 5 shots just makes it extremely challenging beyond my capability, 3 shots into 5/8" proves the rifles accuracy.

That's the whole point ... a three shot group MAY say something about the rifle. Showing three, four or five 5-SHOT groups shot on the same day says something about the rifle AND about the shooter.

I think that many here get hung up on group size without much thought for application. My only interest in group sizes at the range is for working up loads. Once I have the "best" load, then it's all about the application. If you spend your day at the range with your rifle supported front and back and are shooting 0.5 MOA groups, this says nothing about YOUR ability. I shoot mostly prone with a bipod and no rear support and do quite well both in terms of consistency and accuracy, but I don't delude myself that I can even hold MOA offhand, kneeling, sitting or prone with no support.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

Well I'm certainly sticking with this load, 44 grains Varget, 168 gr SMK, its a good one. Next week I need to chrono a few, but I'm thinking they are right around 2600 fps, which is what I want.

 

[gvnwst]

Dude, thats insane. But i do agree, it is a LOT easier to shoot tight 3 shot groups than 5 shot ones, i have gotten a 1/2 MOA group with not so good ammo. The next 2 shots brought it to 1.1 MOA.

 

[JDGray]

I'm thinking they are right around 2600 fps

When I worked up loads for my .308 Savage, 44gr Varget/ 168gr SMK, netted me 2712fps out of a 20" barrel. 43gr will get you closer to 2600. Glad you got on the Varget bandwagon Just leave enough for me

 

[MCMXI]

I have always shot 5 for groups if not 10 or 30 .... And I want to say that 1 MOA at 200 yards isn't something to laugh at.

The conditions under which the group was shot make a HUGE difference too. How many here shoot groups with time constraints or under match conditions? I don't consider myself to be a particularly great shot and many here may laugh at my 0.86 MOA 12-shot group shot in the last F-Class "Tactical" match, but this is where my interest is ... practical, real world application. 12 rounds in 12 minutes under match conditions, windy, hot, hot barrel, plenty of mirage, time constraints, stress. Try shooting 10 rounds in 60 seconds at 200 yards with a bolt gun ... let's see you keep the groups under 1 MOA let alone in the X ring!!

 

[MCMXI]

When I worked up loads for my .308 Savage, 44gr Varget/ 168gr SMK, netted me 2712fps out of a 20" barrel.

JD, that seems on the fast side for a 20" barrel! I'm only getting 2675fps out of a 26" barrel with Reloder 15 (43.5 gr). Lyman only got 2766 fps with 45.7gr of Varget (compressed) out of a 24" barrel (1:10 twist same as Savage). I've got at least 4lb of Varget to pick up this week and I'm looking forward to trying it. Up to this point I've only used IMR 4895 and Reloder 15 for .308.

 

[Redneck with a 40]

I'll also say, that compared to IMR 4064, Varget is clean! Varget = 3 patches to clean the bore, 4064 = 10 patches to clean the bore. 4064 performs pretty good, but not nearly as clean. I'm a Varget convert, good stuff! If I am up near 2700 fps, that's ok too.