iracecars4fun
01-14-12, 21:25
This might be a long one ill try to keep it short.
I shoot a .30-06 savage and i reload, just recently, i bought a leupold VX3 CDS and have put about 20 rounds through the gun since. it shot 1/2 moa with my old hand loaded ammo at 100 which was better than my old scope ever shot. i had leupold make a BDC elevation dial for a different load using the same bullet but velocities from a different powder. Winchester 760
So i finally acquired some Winchester 760 powder and swapped out the generic dial for the custom one. When i did so and ran the dial adjustment from 50 yards to 600 I noticed some resistance at a certain spot but did not think much of it. I also switched to magnum primers, as recommended by the manual for the 760. Additionally i used a neck sizer as opposed to full length. Finally i used a bullet seat depth gauge and bullet comparator to measure the distance to my lands and grooves and set my bullet back .003" from the shortest measurement.
All of these things i expected to give me a more accurate load. So i go to the range and start at 50 to sight it in. I shoot a sub 1/4 inch group and feel good, adjust for windage and make a single confirmation shot. I then move the target to 100 yards for final zeroing, at which i loose complete accuracy/ consistency. My shots are all over the paper. I shoot roughly 25 rounds hoping its just operator error or bad rounds. Some "groups" form vertical lines, and other "groups" form horizontal ones, the best of which being 4-6 inch groups. I even had several not land on paper and one landed almost 12 inches high.
I move the target back to 50 yards and shoot another 3 shot string and it shoots a 2 inch group. I was shooting to zero so i shot with a bipod and a sand bag under the butt stock.
I realize i took a big shortcut in the world of reloading and did a lot of things at once. However the first 4 shots, which behaved rather perfectly, make me think that it is not the ammo but rather the scope to be the culprit. None of this makes sense to me and I do apologize for the essay but i would like everyone to have as much info as i do. At this point i feel i should send the scope back to leupold and am hoping to get an objective opinion on the situation.
thanks for your help
I shoot a .30-06 savage and i reload, just recently, i bought a leupold VX3 CDS and have put about 20 rounds through the gun since. it shot 1/2 moa with my old hand loaded ammo at 100 which was better than my old scope ever shot. i had leupold make a BDC elevation dial for a different load using the same bullet but velocities from a different powder. Winchester 760
So i finally acquired some Winchester 760 powder and swapped out the generic dial for the custom one. When i did so and ran the dial adjustment from 50 yards to 600 I noticed some resistance at a certain spot but did not think much of it. I also switched to magnum primers, as recommended by the manual for the 760. Additionally i used a neck sizer as opposed to full length. Finally i used a bullet seat depth gauge and bullet comparator to measure the distance to my lands and grooves and set my bullet back .003" from the shortest measurement.
All of these things i expected to give me a more accurate load. So i go to the range and start at 50 to sight it in. I shoot a sub 1/4 inch group and feel good, adjust for windage and make a single confirmation shot. I then move the target to 100 yards for final zeroing, at which i loose complete accuracy/ consistency. My shots are all over the paper. I shoot roughly 25 rounds hoping its just operator error or bad rounds. Some "groups" form vertical lines, and other "groups" form horizontal ones, the best of which being 4-6 inch groups. I even had several not land on paper and one landed almost 12 inches high.
I move the target back to 50 yards and shoot another 3 shot string and it shoots a 2 inch group. I was shooting to zero so i shot with a bipod and a sand bag under the butt stock.
I realize i took a big shortcut in the world of reloading and did a lot of things at once. However the first 4 shots, which behaved rather perfectly, make me think that it is not the ammo but rather the scope to be the culprit. None of this makes sense to me and I do apologize for the essay but i would like everyone to have as much info as i do. At this point i feel i should send the scope back to leupold and am hoping to get an objective opinion on the situation.
thanks for your help