well, not completely awful, but it should be a heck of a lot better.
10 shots, 123 grn lapua scenar, 100 yards
![[Image: grendel2.jpg]](http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m254/Trainworm/guns/grendel2.jpg)
the rifle has a Satern 24" 1/8.5 twist barrel. I have only fired it twice, shooting for groups, but i keep getting basically the same results. I tried 3 different factory loads since I don't currently load my own. (129 grn hornady SST, 123grn AMAX, 123grn Scenar)
what bullet weights should I be looking for for that barrel length and twist rate? if something else would work better, I can talk myself into getting off my rear and start handloading. any help y'all can give me to tighten up these groups would be greatly appreciated.
Did you buy or build? It could be a loose barrel nut.
Or simply barrel break in. Also check your scope/mount torque. Takes awhile to settle in.
Gunworm,
Yes, you need to give a complete breakdown of the rifle/optic/mount, shooter experience, how the rifle was assembled, trigger, what scope magnification was used, position details (bags, rifle rest, sand sock, bipod, prone, cement bench?)and so forth. Satern pipes are normally sub-1/2 MOA guns easily, especially with high-end bullets like that, and factory loads.
LRRPF52
Gunworm,
I just looked at your setup. You have Sundevil receivers, An MI 15" handguard, a LaRue mount, Geissele, and a NightForce. Those components should add up to a whole ton of success.
I would start by checking your scope mount. Are the bottom scope ring screws on the LaRue tight, then check the top ones? Are the torque nuts on the LaRue QD levers tight enough and evenly tight?
Is the MI barrel nut tight? Is your gas block tight?
With the components you have, there should be nothing wrong with your accuracy. That rifle should be drilling holes. If you were shooting on high magnification, dial down to 10x for your 100yd groups, and maintain the exact point of aim at the center of your target throughout the process of shooting. I don't know if I'm insulting your shooting experience, but these are the areas I would look at. I apologize in advance if you are a highly-experienced shooter, and I just told you how to tie your shoes...
Let us know how those checks go, and see if any of that helps.
LRRPF52
I am definitely not a very experienced shooter. I am going to pull this thing apart when I get back home and make sure everything is tight. I was shooting it with the scope on full power. i'll dial it back when i get it all checked out and see what happens.
thanks everyone for the tips.
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Gunworm Wrote:well, not completely awful, but it should be a heck of a lot better.
10 shots, 123 grn lapua scenar, 100 yards
the rifle has a Satern 24" 1/8.5 twist barrel. I have only fired it twice, shooting for groups, but i keep getting basically the same results. I tried 3 different factory loads since I don't currently load my own. (129 grn hornady SST, 123grn AMAX, 123grn Scenar)
what bullet weights should I be looking for for that barrel length and twist rate? if something else would work better, I can talk myself into getting off my rear and start handloading. any help y'all can give me to tighten up these groups would be greatly appreciated.
GW:
After you check all those things LRP52 advised -- and find they are all OK -- try these two things.
Put your optic back on, crank the power down to 5 or 10X as LRP52 advised.
Then do the following before spending any more money.
1. Check your ocular lens for clarity of reticule pattern. If the pattern is not sharp and clear to your eye, adjust the ocular lens until it is clear and sharp to your eye.
2. Remove the parallax.
Your groups look like a ocular lens / parallax issue to me.
If the above does not work -- then Go to http://www.precisionfirearms.com/m8/6.5%...ition.html and buy a couple of boxes of their 120 grain Sierra Match King loads.
If your rifle does not shoot the 120 Match King to 3/4 minute or less then there is something wrong with the barrel IMHO.
LR55
Did you bed barrel extension to receiver? Barrel nut to thread tennon and gasblock to barrel?
Normally a loose barrel nut gives a somewhat triangular 'pattern' but not all of the time. Remember Grendel bbl torque is 65 ft lbs MINIMUM. If you didn't tighten, and loosen 3x the barrel nut to get over to the next gas tube try, give a shot, if you didn't premptively stretch the tennon, first two shots will do that and the barrel will be loose again. ALSO, make sure gas tube is NOT making contact with the carrier key! Utmost important. Check alignment of barrel nut and make sure it is not touchng the gas tube forcing it left to right.
im in agreement just looking at it id say scope or shooter
I have the same barrel in 20 inch length and same trigger. With Hornady factory ammo you should be getting under 1 moa.
Sometimes vertical stringing off a bench is caused by your rear bag. A cheap rabbit-ear bag can help and is pretty easy to try.
Lot's of good info already passed on to you. My suggestion to you would be to proceed slowly and change one thing at a time. Then, when you find the problem; we all will learn something.
If you have the time, ammo and range time available; shoot three shot groups with as much identical technique as possible for each shot. In addition to making sure your rear scope lens is properly adjusted; make sure that your Mark I, mod 0 eyeball is perfectly centered behind that lens. I've had groups such as yours when a high scope mount and non-adjustable cheek piece was trying to get me to commit unauthorized actions by stretching my neck and lifting my head up off of the stock. (Bad spot weld)
Good luck, and have fun solving your mystery. Shooting, even if not up to our expectations, should always be fun.
It probably doesn't help that you don't reload. The barrel might just not like the loads. I mean, you can make a good barrel shoot bad with the wrong load. I never could get Sierra 123s to shoot for instance, but the 120 shoots lights out.
I doubt it's the problem, but it might be the ocular lense too. Make sure that it doesn't have any wiggle and the jam nut is firm against the adjustment, if it has one. I've had a couple of scopes have this problem, and it opened up groups. Honestly though, I don't know that you should be experiencing that with a nightforce. Just peer through the scope and wiggle the ocular bell to see if you get any reticle movement out of it.
I just came back to this thread -- and picked up fantastic info from all the posts offering help.
Did this issue ever get resolved? Did the OP figure out what was causing the issue?
Could this be the phenomena I heard about with the 123 grain bullets not "settling down" until past 200 yards?
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