The Accurate Reloading Forums
Do loads ever group relatively better at further distances?

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https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8991022351/m/2481085632

10 July 2019, 04:13
youngoutdoors
Do loads ever group relatively better at further distances?
COOL! Thanks for the input! What bullet are you shooting?

God Bless, Louis
10 July 2019, 05:53
IOWADON
This is with the 140-grain Nosler Balistic Tip. I posted a topic about how I was dissatisfied with the expansion characteristics of that bullet at long range and was trying other bullets. However, the 162-grain Harnaday VLD-X bullet is not stabilized with thw 1-in-11 twist in my rifle at cold temperatures and the fragile 140-grain Berger VLD's are not accurate in my rifle. So, I just went back to my old load and figured it was good enough. But now I have a 3-15X Leupold scope on it which seems a big improvement compared to the old 3.5-10X which was on it in the past. Again, I was really surprised at the good groops at the longer ranges. Then again, I put the old scope with a leupold Custom Dial Reticle on my TCR-87 with a fast twist 6MM-06 barrel and 105-grain Berger VLD's and got a very good group (just over 1/2 MOA at 600 yards) at least as good as it does at shorter ranges. And I just got my .338-.378 Weatherby fitted with a surpressor and again it gave a better 600-yard group (just over 1/2 MOA) than it gave at the shorter ranges. It doesn't seem to make sense given that just a little wind at long range can screw up group size a lot and I was not holding for wind based on immediate input from wind flags. Anyway, I was happy with results but I am not going to burn up barrels on hunting guns to invetigate the relatively better long range groups issue.
04 August 2019, 21:41
Wstrnhuntr
Grouping better at further distance is completely illogical. (see; bsflag)

If "X" amount of damage is getting done to the flight path @ 100 yds, no additional amount of distance is going to "repair" said discrepancy. Unless you are perhaps using wire guided projectiles, any such coincidence would clearly have to be a fluke. Even if it took a bullet 200 yds to stabilize (which it doesn't), the damage to accuracy has already been done.

Aim small miss small. It's a people thing.
09 August 2019, 18:03
Fury01
Sometimes "Shooters" group better at longer ranges but loads normally do not for all the Logical reasons.
I personally have shot better MOA groups at 200 than I do at 100 on the average. I have always chalked it up to focus. Don't know of course but it comforts me to think I do a better job of shooting as the need to do so rises. Could be just random chance as well.
Smiler


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09 August 2019, 18:17
butchlambert
I've had several excellent groups at 200yds, but they didn't start larger at 100 and then converged.
17 August 2019, 21:33
Wstrnhuntr
Wow! Now I see how it works!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7c57fco6Ms
14 September 2019, 14:34
Mike McGuire
They are not talking about the group size getting smaller but the MOA getting smaller.

Let's assume a rifle shoots 1.5" at 100 yards. Let's also assume their a two components to that 1.5" group. One component being the different angle of each shot and we say that is 1" or 1 MOA. Leaving aside wing or any problems with manufacture of the bullets then that 1 MOA giving a 1" group at 100 yards, will be 2" at 200 yards and so on.

However, the 1.5" group we got 100 yards was made of two components, one being the various angle of departure of each show, which was 1 MOA spread and being the angles of departure we get 2" groups at 200 yards and so on. However, that extra .5" at 100 yards over the 1 MOA could be caused by a lateral shift in the bullets which is a "once only" and so does not increase with distance.

So out rifle shot 1.5" made of a 1 MOA and .5" lateral shift. At 200 yards we get a 2" group caused by the different angles of departure plus the .5" from the later shift, which has not increased. So we get a 2.5" at 200 yards and thus we call it 1.25 MOA, so it did better than expected.

If we extended things to a 1000 yards then we get a 10" group cause by the different angles of departure plus the .5" in lateral shift and so get a 10.5" group which we say is 1.05 MOA as opposed to the 1.5 MOA we say we got at 100 yards.
13 November 2023, 02:46
Atkinson
The consensus among a good many elephant guidesto get close and back off to about 25 yards as the bullets yaw and it takes a few yards to settle down the spin. based on entrance wounds configuration??? Long distance shooters claim smaller groups at 200 than at 100 with some barrels. Lots of such conversations at SCI and the larger gun shows. Ive had guns that shot smaller groups at 150 or 200 by a bit..It is whatit is.


Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-731-4120

rayatkinsonhunting@gmail.com
25 November 2023, 11:25
Navaluk
The cause is the monkey behind the scope. No surprise that people shoot a crappy group at 300 then get their shit together at 500 and somehow they discovered a great mystery. The mystery is that you don’t realize you are an “inconsistent” shot.
29 November 2023, 00:24
ZekeShikar
It's called the "cone of fire".

Shoot enough shots into your groups to KNOW what the rifle will do and you'll discover that a rifle cannot shoot better groups or better MOA at farther distances than it can at 100. Period!

All sorts of crazy shit happens when the sample-set is too small (3 to 5 shot groups). Shoot a minimum of 10 shots per group (20 is better IF you really want to know YOUR rifle). Do it slowly and precisely and then get back to me.

Zeke