I have not shot factory ammo at a target in a long long time. The only reason I shoot factory ammo is for fouling shots, or bbl break in.

So, I'm at the range last Thursday shooting my 270s. I took some Federal 150 grain partitions (on sale) factory ammo just to get some trigger time.

Both bbls were clean from storage and had oil in the bore. I cleaned out the oil.

I had 4 rounds of 100 grain Speers (I think), to foul each bbl, 2 each....did that.

Let barrels cool as we began shooting right before a cease fire was called.

At 100 yards, I shot 2 times with the 150 partitions with a 1 minute cool period. My friend who is going to BC next month was spotting. He said he could only see one hole, and it was completely centered in the "X."

I was thinking, oh hell yes, 2 shots, one hole, let's see what number 3 does. #3 was 1/4" high. All 3 shots were dead center left/right and at this point I was looking at the lot number so I could call Bass Pro and have them set any other boxes aside from same batch. This was too good to be true.

Got out rifle number 2 and it printed the same ammo at about 1" with 3 shots.

Both rifles were set upright so heat could escape bore quicker for cooling. New targets were set up at 200 yards.

200 YARDS:
Back to rifle #1--cold bbl. First shot was 2" high and 2" left. #2 was 1" right. #3 was 1" right and 1/4" above #2. I felt good about all 3, rock solid rest, held rifle the same, trigger broke fine. Overall, a huge group for what I expected.

Next 3 shots, same rifle, about 8 minutes later did about a 3" group again. I didn't bother with rifle number 2 at 200 yards with factory ammo. I just shot some 130 Sciroccos over Re22, handloads, and they did as expected...1".

So, I shoot rifle #1 again at 100 yards, and got another tiny cloverleaf 3/8" group with 3 shots.

Back to 200, another 3+" group.

I do not see this with my handloads. Is this just the nature of THIS factory ammo in THIS rifle? I've handloaded many partitions over the years and never had them do this.

Thoughts?

It's true that some bullets will not shoot the same (proportionally) at 200yds. or 300yds.

Whether it is due to twist rate, yaw, or some other factor, I cannot tell you.

George

quote:

Is this just the nature of THIS factory ammo in THIS rifle?

yuppers....it is the way it is!

Accept it and get on with life.

Maybe I'll take some of the remaining rounds and check them on my concentricity gauge.

I wonder how many hunters go to the range and shoot at 100 yards, and get little tiny groups, and then think they are good to go out to 300-400 yards just b/c their 100 yard groups were so impressive.

That's why I always like to shoot at various ranges. I like to know exactly what the rifle/load does.

I have had certain ammo group tighter at 200 yards than at 100. Go figure.

quote:

Originally posted by mrlexma:
I have had certain ammo group tighter at 200 yards than at 100. Go figure.

Exactly....

You just got lucky. I had a sim. experience w/ Speer Nitrex ammo in my rifle. It shoots 3 shots touching @ 100yds, all day, everytime. I have not been able to reproduce that load using 160grGS, close, but not exactly. If you tinker enough you can eventual find a load that will shoot pretty close to your factory load, maybe even better.
My best handload in that rifle will go right @ 3/4" @ 100. At 300yds, on a good day, it will stay under 2 1/2". The more I shoot the more I learn not to take things for granted like small 100yd groups.

Fred, that is why my standard is 200 yards. I will always shoot at 100, just because it is convenient as I must pass that burm on the way to 200. However, I rate my loads at the 200 yard mark.

Most every game animal I've taken with a rifle has been less than 200 yards, but I've also taken game at more than double that distance.

I've also heard of the mysterious "stabilization" of bullets between 100-200 yards, and how some groups are "better" at the longer distance.

I've seen strange days at the range !.

I shot some .223 and 7mm RM Factory at 200 yd. Worked well , Federal and Remington both , wasn't an 1" but reality maybe 1.5"-1.75" either of them /

For chuckles I did the .223 at 100 Yd. center and High to be expected , 7mm RM a whole different story they were left right low high all over the place . So what happened ?.

I went back too the longer range , cleaned the bore. I then fired 5 shots at a soda can on the ground and on edge at slightly over 300 Yd. All but one hit that dam can , the can went from here too there !!!!!!!.

I can't explain that one either as it never happened to me before . When ammo is less than stellar at 100 yd. , one expects it to be " Worse " at longer yardages . Right ?. Least wise I certainly do , stabilization or not .

Before I hunt ,I use hand loads that are range proven .How ever I take my weapons out into the field not the range . I then survey an area , ensuring it's clear . Next I set up 100 , 200 , 300 , 400 Yd. targets in various spots . I normally use two loads in what ever caliber I'm hunting with . A longer range load and a closer lighter load . They generally impact 1.5 " differently at 200 yd. . I then practice until missing isn't an option . I find this prepares me for open plains or " Bush Surprise " .

Shoot Straight Know Your Target . ...

Heck,

I disassemble one, weight the powder charge, chronograph one or two.. and get the MV from MY barrel...

also look at the powder to see if it looks like anything your recognize.. or at least the type of powder it is ( eg, ball, flake etc)..

go to your reload manuals and see what charges of that type of powder have a charge weight very close to what you got out of the factory round and lists a similar velocity...

assemble a couple and see what kind of results that you get in that rifle...

frequently factory rounds can be easily duplicated with components we all can buy, especially if they are not specialty items like Federals High Energy, or Hornady's Light Magnum...they usually accomplish those results with powders not generally available to we peasants...

For other folks I have had them get factory ammo, with a generic factory bullet and then just pulled the bullet and reseated a premium bullet like a Partition or Barnes X... pop a few off to make sure that they are safe... same bullet weight as the factory stuff of course...

point of impact usually stays the same...

its an easy and economic way for those who like to use premium ammo, without the higher expense of it..plus they can get the bullet of their choice which may not be available in factory ammo..

maybe you were off at 200 because of swirling winds or your heart rate or barrel heat or the planets werent aligned.
maybe your rifles mad at you.
dont blame the ammo.
someone come up with a mathmatical solution for how a few bullets are going to creat one hole at 100 yards THEN all other factory remaining equal print the next 3 at 3" at 200 yards.

maybe you should set up two targets so that your rounds you shoot at 100 hit a blank sheet of paper at 200.

I would be interested in your chroney data.
I fired some Factory loads through one of my rifles, awhile back.(god I hate to admit that)
And my barrel was 22 inches long, but the load was 200 FPS slower than expected.
Mabye there is a reason the stuff was on sale.
...tj3006

I have also had groups smaller @ 200 than @ 100 ......
I have had more bizzare occurances at the range than I care to remember ... A scope that had always been perfact suddenly shifting poi 16" ....
One Ruger 77mk2 in 300 win mag that I had I decided to try a peep sight on . With a 3-9 Nikon the rifle shot 1.5 or less "groups ...I put the peep on , sighted it in and got a 2" group @ 100 yards .. Thought I was set for deer hunting on Revilla in the rain ... Next week I swung by the range on my way home from work and my groups were in the 10" region ?????? My shots felt good ,, I was calm , sight pic was very good when the trigger would break but the rifle wouldn,t hit beans ... I have no idea why ..........I put the scope back on and back to 1.5" groups or less

I gave the peep sight to a friend and he has had great success with it .......

I had a Rem Stainless 7 mag that was very accurate with Fedral red box 150 gr soft points . 1.5 " groups from a very make shift rest @ 300 yards ...But the velocity had nearly 160 fps variation ...........

I've got some Barnes TTSX, 168 grain bullets on the way. They ship today. I will take them to the range next week using H4350 and see how they do.

quote:

Originally posted by Doc:
I've got some Barnes TTSX, 168 grain bullets on the way. They ship today. I will take them to the range next week using H4350 and see how they do.

My experience with three different calibers, .277, .30 and .338 is the TSX bullets will be very accurate.
I have not tried the TTSX yet, but I shot TSX loads in several different rifles of each cartride (270WIN, 30-'06, and 338WM), and the same load shot very well in all. I really didn't have to custom taylor the loads for each rifle.

Good luck!