How do you guys go about testing your hunting rifles for accuracy. By hunting rifle I mean sporter weight barrel and lowish power scope eg 6power.

I've never had any luck using a benchrest as the lack of barrel weight gives a lot of muzzle jump and groups seem looser than in the good old prone position. Also at 100yds precision aiming is difficult with a 6 power scope, any one use shorter distances?

I'd like to try and reduce human error more.

I shot my my smaller stuff prone of bags. bigger stuff off bench. If you want to really find out what a rifle is going to do you have to mount a bigger scope for testing. For big game 1.5 in groups are good enough. I expect under .5 ins for my p dog rifles. Good shooting

Shooting off a proper bench rest and rear bag is the most consistent method of gaging accuracy. As with any larger bore gun, you must have pressure (down force) on the fore end of the gun. Otherwise, as you pointed out, you will experience a lot of muzzle jump.

Find a front rest that has a fore end stop on it. This ensures that your fore end rests on the same part of the stock each time. ALWAYS grip the stock fore end when shooting off a rest. This is the only way that you will get an accurate group.

After I shoot for accuracy and have my scope dialed in, I lay the stock fore end on my hand which is on top of the front rest. In other words, the fore end is only supported by my hand. This will indicate any change in POI. Next time you are at the range, try a light fore end hold and a firm fore end hold. You will be surprised to find a change in POI. When hunting, be careful of the type of natural rest that you come across, it may alter your POI.

Z

[This message has been edited by Zero Drift (edited 04-30-2001).]

I've always shot my hunting rifles off bags, with acceptable results. Since I've gotten my first small bore, I'm starting to realize that this limits my group sizes.

I've been contemplating buying an "uncle bud's bag". Anyone have any experience or thoughts about these? http://www.unclebudscss.com/pages/Bulls%20bags.html

It seems because the bag pinches the rifle, it would limit muzzle jump. The comment about changing POI is noted, but the field model should be able to be carried for varmint duty, especially when filled with poly beads instead of sand.

Dutch.

------------------
For evil to prosper, good men must do nothing. (Burke)

I routinely get sub-MOA groups from my 1.75-6 VX-III at 100 yards. I try to test loads in bright daylight, and I use a target fitted to the scope. For my eyes and this scope, this is a hollow square of four solid squares. The solid black squares are 1/2 inch with 1 inch whitespace between. I use this for all my VX-IIIs. I suspect that if I made a separate one especially for this scope I would use 1 inch solid squares with 1.5 inch in between, as in dim light this one blurs slightly at six power.

I use sand-filled Levi legs for my sandbags.

I would not test a hunting rifle with a scope other than the one I hunt with, unless I just wanted to fool around.

This probably limits my groups to .5 MOA at best, but for a hunting rifle accuracy beyond that is academic, as you would probably not be able to duplicate it reliably under field conditions.

(Varminters play by different rules than big-game hunters in this respect.)

Don

[This message has been edited by Don G (edited 04-30-2001).]

Don G,

Thanks, seems like I'm doing exactly as you are (same target etc), I can get .5" groups it's just that I throw in the odd flyer and I wanted to try and minimise these rather than do creative measuring!

I pretty much shoot the same as the others, work up a hunting load on a benchrest, then shoot about 10 or 20 shots offhand. Also, for hunting rounds I don't try for anything less than 1 MOA, if I get it that's fine but in the real world it is probably more accuracy than what you will be capable of holding anyway. Of course this applies to big game, as pointed out varminters are a different story.

I also shoot of a rest but I try get the rifle to group at 200 rather than 100yds. I find that even though you are on the money at 100 when shooting at 200 the zero seems to shift some left or right.Since I will have some shots at 300 I want the closest thing possible to being on line since wind drift comes into play at 300 to a greater extent. I also fire several at 300 to judge the drop. Then its 5 or 10 off hand or kneeling. I know everyone doesn't have a range that will support 300 yd shots but I do and I use it.

A good idea. If the scope is not straight with the barrel, your 100 yard groups may not be indicative of 200 yard point of aim.

Tom

Hello

The benchrest people try all sorts of things to reduce variation, and they all have different holds and bags. I try to shoot from prone when I can, resting on my fanny pack. Sneaking around Wyoming and Montana, this works out more frequently then you might think. I use sand-filled blue jean bags at the range with a loose free-recoil hold. This results in decent groups for the most part. Remember to let your barrel cool between shots. No point in eroding the throat unecessarily.

Having said that, you probably should shoot five in succession once, just to see how much the barrel heating throws your groups. I have one rifle that places the first two within a half-inch of each other and the next one three-quarters of an inch low and right from the first two.

Tom

I understand your problem - I have a 4x scope'd sporter.
Stick with your hunting scope. Use a bag/sandbag or other solid rest for the fore end - I use a daysack stuffed with waterproofs, sandwiches etc. I take it you don't have a bipod - have you considered fitting one?
If using a bag I hold my index finger alongside the barrel down the fore end instead of gripping the wood with my left hand.
In terms of targets, I find a yellow 1" square on recycled white office paper suits me best, though if I had a supply of paper in a pastel shade that I could see the bullet holes in...
Also when I'm paper punching with this combo, I take the binoculars or a spotting scope with me - these come in handy when I work back to 250 and 300 metres.

------------------

1894,

What do you use for an aimimg point?? I had similar problems zeroing a x6 until I went
to those round day glow orange stick on patches. I have seen two sizes 1" and I think 1 1/2". I use the large one, and I found I can place my cross hair far more accurately.

Also, RWS used to make what I would term a
"doubler" that fitted over the front of one
of their FT scopes. If you think of a scope cover with a x2 lens in it you get the idea.
Now I never tried one but it sounded an excellant idea for people with x4 or x6 scopes. I bet you could get one made up at a decent opticians if you supplied the tube ready to accept the lens. As you are not moving the reticule or anything, I can't seeing it altering the zero as it is taken on or off the scope??

Regards,

Pete

Try a Lohman sight vise. I usually lay a 25 lb. bag of #9 shot across it and then clamp my rifle in it. You can still control some movement but it is minimized greatly. It also works great for those hard kicking hunting rifles like my 7 lb. .338 win mag.

Pete E,

Like the idea of a doubler. When I'm zeroing in the fields at home I use a small yellow post it note on a black piece of card. Works well even with thick reticles and I can drive up to see bullet holes. At the range I use the 4 black squares which give a space for the cross hairs to fit so I can see bullet holes with a spotting scope.

Whatever method I use I find I only have 2 really good groups in me per session before I tire and start to open out. I can manage 0.4-0.7 but there's often a shot out which irritates me because quite often I can't say if it's me or not. I can't shake the feeling there's a bit of luck there.

Of course it's still a killing shot at any sane range. Normaly I wouldn't care much but with more range shooting due to foot and mouth I'm starting to get fussier.

Another thing to remember is that wind can have more effect than you realize. On a standard bullet, 5 mph has about .4 inches of movement at 100, 10 mph .8 inch, etc. A 5mph change in wind (or going from 2mph from one direction to 3 mph in the other) can ruin groups.

I have found that fliers are much less frequent on calm days. FWIW, Dutch.

------------------
For evil to prosper, good men must do nothing. (Burke)

The doubler is an interesting idea. There is such a thing in the camera field. However, if the lens on the doubler is not ground perfectly(i.e.if it's a hair off center), it will change your point of impact, because slight distortion in the doubler will, in effect, make the reticle appear to be in a different place than it would appear without the doubler.