why did this group pattern this way?

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UT PROSIM

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berger vld.jpg

this is a 5 shot group from my savage 10fp, (168gr Berger vld).
why is it grouping with two separate impact locations.
do think its a irregular cheek weld or could it be my hand loads?
almost every potentially great group i shot today was jacked up by this happening.
thanks for the help
Pat
 
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Varying cross-wind at the range perhaps?

Or you didn't hold your mouth right twice?

rc
 
Good one. Made me look.
3.gif
 
BSW i see what your saying but i was trying to test out new loads so i am trying to narrow my SD down before i start shooting 10 round groups.

every time i shot each round i tried to make sure i had no black on the outside of the scope and i was the same distance away from the scope. but it might not have been precise enough
how do you good shots keep cheek weld the same? (besides muscle memory) any tips or tricks?
i never really got that good at keeping my cheek weld consistent from weapon to weapon, nose on the charging handle with the A2 works to qualify but i cant be that close with a 308.
 
Did you have to adjust your scope before any of the groups. Sometimes a scope needs a few hard hits before it reseats itself completely.

What MOA are you getting on average? Looks like a fine target to me? Paralax adjustment?
 
the scope had been at that adjustment for several groups. when you say parallax adjustment do you mean the cross hairs and the target were both focused?

i am just load testing but my other groups today were (center to center).54" .89" 1.11" & .78" but most were grouped funny like the posted picture.
 
Were the first 2 hits the lower impact points or were those the last 2 to impact? Also what was your time between shots? Also, which barrel profile do you have on it? The "Tactical" Or the Stock profile? With the 168gr Berger what powder are you loading under it? It COULD be you are heating up a touch by running a hot powder and causing the last 2 to string a smidge. Could also be your form. It COULD be 1 of 100 things and without one of us sitting there watching all you will be getting are educated guesses.

Also, and this is pretty important, what range was this target fired at? If at 100yds then all in all it is a pretty good showing for a 5 round group. Not the best but nothing to sneeze at either.
 
BSW i see what your saying but i was trying to test out new loads so i am trying to narrow my SD down before i start shooting 10 round groups.
Click to expand...

The reason I ask is because 5 round groups are really just too small to say for certain what's going on: If a 10 round group 'fills in' the area between the groups you have now that's one thing. If the 10 rounds fall out into 2 distinct groups then that's another.

BSW
 
I recently had my 300 Win Mag, M-700 tactical start doing that. Two one hole groups in no particular order. It turned out my scope mounts were a little loose and they went back and forth due to recoil.
 
It COULD be 1 of 100 things and without one of us sitting there watching all you will be getting are educated guesses
Click to expand...
thats a very valid point, i was just wondering if this was a common occurrence in precision shooting. If it happens to a lot of people i would look for the common cure, but as you said it can be 1 of 100 things.

i just finished loading up 10 rounds of that SD and 10 more of the one that almost did as good. ill see if i can get back to the range tomorrow and see if the problem sticks around.
 
JD, thats the truth, thats why i was asking about cheek weld and parallax. plus i had about 3 sandbags helping take the "me" out of it :)

the pattern was low group, low group, high, low, high... and its the stock 10fp tactical barrel.

i shot all 5 shots of each group with about 20-30 seconds between shots then i took a 15 minute break between groups. the barrel was cool to the touch after every group.

the range was 100 yards.
 
Wait 1 Minute between shots. dry fire in between.
I advise getting a nice cheek pad or making one out of a regular shell holder and some cut foam like mine.
downsized_1101001138.jpg
[/IMG]
verry nize..
but dry fire dry fire dry fire.
I do it alot. btw I'm 14. and that group is better than mine are usually.
 
Varying cross-wind at the range perhaps?

Or you didn't hold your mouth right twice?
Click to expand...
Yep.

Could be several things. Good shooting actually. It is tough to get them all together every time. ;)
 
Do you sort your cases and/or bullets by weight? I shot the group below with my .300 Win Mag to see if case weight affected the best load I worked up for that rifle. The particular lot of cases (200 IIRC) varied by 4.2 grains so I picked the lightest, the heaviest and three in between to give approx. 1gr increments in case weight. I didn't make any errors that I was aware of when shooting this group prone off a bipod at 100 yards but the result looks quite a bit like yours.

case_wt_comparison.jpg


If all of the cases are within 1 grain in weight, I usually get 5-shot groups like the ones shown below for the same load as above. I'd have to look back through my notes but now I'm wondering if the one shot out of the group on the left was a case that should have been grouped with the loads used for the target on the right. The group centers are about 1/2" apart which is consistent with the offset of the 2 and 3 shot groups above.

71.6gr_reloder22_208gr_amax.jpg
 
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