accuracy problems..

[unwise11]

is hitting a can first try good? cause at 100yds i cant get the one inch groups that all of yall are claiming. my rifle is a M1500 .308win and i can hold 1 inch at 25 yds. when i skip to 100 i think im doing somthing wrong. it aint the gun.

 

[Uncle Mike]

Practice practice practice......a small amount of movement at 25y is not as amplified as it is at 100y.....

That unwanted small amount of pressure or movement your putting on the rifle will cause you to miss your intended point of aim by a fraction of an inch at 25y and by a fraction of an acre at 100y!

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Could be a number of things future. More than likely it is your form and breathing. Granted 100 yards really isn't that distant of a shot, but bad form, jerking trigger, not holding your breath properly, (shooting between the heartbeats really isn't needed at 100 yards but still good to practice it) and many other things can affect your grouping even at 100 yards. It could also be your weapon. Maybe the trigger is a bit to heavy or possibly needs a crown job. Could be the ammunition. Could be about anything. But part of the fun of this beloved sport is playing around with it to find out !!!!

 

[Al Thompson]

Get an experienced shooter to both shoot your rifle and coach you. Frankly, the coaching is more important. Want to drive to South Kackalacky?

 

[unwise11]

im in georgia. haha. and my coach has decided to no longer use his email or cell phone. i know for a damn i need to lighten my trigger pull.
but i think my breathing is fine. i can hit people size things consitantly in the chest. but i want those 1 inch groups.

 

[Zak Smith]

Right now there are a lot of unknowns.

Unknowns are the enemy to accuracy and long-range shooting (which we weren't talking about here anyway).

If you know someone with a known accurate rifle, see if you can get them to let you shoot 15 or 20 rounds. If you can shoot 1" or better groups at 100 yards with his rifle, then it's time to figure out what is wrong with your rifle.

If you can't, then it means that your technique is the problem.

This kind of an experiment can tell you what you need to address first.

 

[unwise11]

i need to lighten my trigger up. and plan to do that soon. and also work on my mechanics. but i think i need a better shooting platform, rather than the back of a truck prone. i shot a 12 oz can off a post at 100 yds. but on paper my best group was with 168 gr amax. and my second best was with wolf believe it or not. and neither were good. and i want me shootin 1 moa

 

[kis2]

example of the above:

I can average a .6moa group with my rifle at 100. My friend (who is familiar with rifle shooting) can only hold about a 3" group. The difference? I shoot nearly every weekend, he shoots once every month or so.

Lots of the people here getting 1" groups or less are using match grade ammo or reloading and practice. A LOT. and practice a lot. and then they practice a lot. after that they eat lunch. and then practice.

certainly I wouldn't rule out the equipment, but before you spend money fixing something that might not be broke, take zaks advice.

(just saw your post FAR) what is your trigger pull right now? also, I do all my groups prone with bipod on front and hand for rear rest.

 

[unwise11]

my trigger pull is stock howa M1500 trigger pull. like 7 lbs i think, the guy i went with today had a 700 vtr with a 2 lb hair trigger. sooo smooth

 

[TonyAngel]

I'm new to precision shooting too. Getting consistent sub 1" groups is something that you have to work for. Having the right equipment accounts for less than half of attaining that goal. Most of the rest of it is the ammunition, assuming decent equipment.

I was down to shooting consistent sub MOA groups with my AR and hand loaded ammo, then I took a trip one weekend and didn't shoot. Just taking that one weekend off made a difference. Practice, practice, practice.

Right now, don't worry too much about shooting those 1" groups. It will come. Work on your form which will lead to consistency. Once you attain consistency, you can start looking at the equipment.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Future the pound pull on a trigger isn't the only thing. You also need a clean "break" for accuracy as well. If you have a "rounded over" feel to the end of your trigger stage it can affect accuracy as well. I have only felt a couple of Howa and I really didn't like them all that much. They were ok I guess but I am a bit on the perfectionist side when it comes to my triggers.

 

[blackops]

The new Howa 1500's are around 5lbs, but crisp. At least at my local shop. Get a trigger job set to 3lbs. Take your time with each shot. If it takes 20 minutes to fire a 3 shot group, so be it. Learn "yourself." By that I mean the more you really focus on each shot the more you learn of what you need to improve on and what mistakes you are making. This helped me when I first started trying to be more accurate. Chances are it's you, not the equipment. When rifles don't shoot, many people like to blame the equipment. I have done this myself. You would be surprised what little mistakes you can make that will hurt your accuracy.

If you don't have a bipod, I would advise you to get one. A swivel series Harris with a pod-lock is really ideal and will adjust for any angle. A rear bag for the butt of your stock also is vital. Both of these upgrades will ultimately stablize your rifle properly and provide a solid platform increasing your accuracy.

 

[LoonWulf]

you might also look at picking up a .22, they are fun to shoot and you can wast a brick of ammo for the same price as a decent box of center fire rounds. To this day my normal range time consists of about a box of my high power rounds, 5-10 per rifle i take, and a 1/2 brick of .22 or .17 from my rifles or pistol. Oh, i generally sight my rifles off the hood of my truck or out the back laying down. I recently picked up a cute little folding table and chair so they stay under my tool box in back. A decent set of bags, good bi-pod, or other form of solid rest is important also.

 

[vaupet]

When I took up shooting, I got myself a nice 1969 single shot bolt action 22lr Anschutz (250 euro used) to learn proper breating, sighting, trigger technique and shot a LOT of cheap 22's.
Now i'm learning to shoot a 223 properly and selecting the best ammo for my rifle (with the help of THR members), probably will take up reloading to.
If you can start at an indoor range to take out as much variables as possible.

o, and because I only shoot at the range, all my trigers are less then 3 lbs.

have fun

Peter

 

[kis2]

wanted to add:

cheapest way to practice and get good really fast: dry fire.

 

[essayons21]

Go to an Appleseed shoot.

 

[Skylerbone]

The platform you shoot from makes all the difference. While a bipod can help steady an otherwise unruly wobble, it is a distant third at best to a true rifle rest (which can run you $800+ for a basic one) or the old reliable sandbag.

I don't have upwards of $1000 to waste on a rest for my hunting rifles, especially since I can't drag the rest with me into the woods. I don't mind bipods so long as they are of the proper length for the planned shooting position (I don't drop to prone in a cornfield to shoot a whitetail, it just wouldn't work). I've found over the years that sandbags at the range used to sight in a rifle are invaluable and cost little.

The sand should be packed loose enough to allow the rifle to sink in a bit at the forend and additional bags should be placed under the buttstock for rear elevation. Adjust the bags accordingly until your sight picture is correct, steady your breathing, shoot on a still (no wind) day and see what the rifle does.

If a better shooter is available (everytime I go to the range there's at least one) ask them to shoot a group. If you still feel it is an equipment problem, look into problems commonly mentioned with your particular model. As mentioned before, technique, practice and a good trigger will likely account for the majority of accuracy gains.

One final note: be sure to clean the rifle, keep it lubricated, tighten the bolts to spec to minimize any play between stock and receiver and make sure of the same for any optics mounts and rings.

Good luck and good shooting.

 

[Captcurt]

First you need to realize that there are few rifles that will shoot MOA out of the box, and even with a lot of tweaking some never will. I would guess that most new rifles do good to shoot 2 MOA.

The first thing that I do is lighten the trigger, check the bedding, make sure all the screws are tight on the action, scope and mounts and then scrub the crap out of the barrel. To do this I use an abrasive call Ioso. (Need to check the spelling on that one). I run several tight patchs with the Ioso thru the barrel from the action end being very careful with the jag and always using a bore guide. This will remove the tooling marks in the rifling and cuts down on copper fouling. I worked a total of 2 hours over a three night period on my Savage Ultralite and the first seven 3 shot groups were all under an inch. (Just a little secret, if a 30 cal will not shoot a 168gr Sierra Match bullet, it is not likely to shoot anything. This can save you alot of time.)

Ammo can make a big differance in some guns. Try several brands and bullet weights, or better yet, load your own.

P.S. I forgot to add: Practice, practice, practice.

 

[Offfhand]

Quoted from opening question:

"i cant get the one inch groups that all of yall are claimin"

Simple answer: Most of those who claim them can't get them either. So be at peace.

 

[doc2rn]

^ +1 to what offhand said!
I shoot everyweekend and I still only have one rifle I can shoot lolipops out of a 2x4 with (Ruger 77/22 MK II). The rest are about 1.75 to 2.5 MOA rifles with standard 40 mm objective scope lenses, currently thinking of making one a 52 mm.

 

[Skylerbone]

This was from a Rem. 700 in 30-06 purchased in 1991 that I took out of mothballs after a 10 year break. I loaded a few 180gr. Nosler partitions I had lying around (also early '90s vintage) and after zeroing in a new scope had two rounds remaining for a 100yd. zero confirmation.

 

[Skylerbone]

Sorry about the lousy cell phone pic, it's what I use to record targets at the range. I add a voice memo to remind myself of the load used. Works great in the winter when ink freezes up. Each square on the Thompson target equals 1".

Most any modern bone stock rifle CAN shoot 1 MOA, most shooters CAN shoot 1 MOA with such a rifle, most gun owners CANNOT until they learn what they're doing wrong.

I was taught that practice makes permanent- likely why I'm a 143 bowler. Continuing with impropper technique only reinforces impropper technique.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

143 bowler huh. Ill have to send you bowling with my wife then. Finally someone she can beat (thats over the age of 12)

 

[Fremmer]

Yeah, my Remmie shoots sub-moa. From a rest. When there's no wind. And when I take my time. Which is good, because it demonstrates that the rifle is accurate. But in real-world hunting conditions, I'm great at missing all by myself!

 

[nipprdog]

You forgot to say what ammo you're using.