Inconsistent shots

[dromia]

If you want a reloading discussion can you have it in the correct forum.

[HALODIN]

I would say 90-95-100% of the improvement will be in finding the right load for your rifle. I would say reduce the distance to the lands in 5 tho increments.

Just wanted to follow up on this original post given the many helpful responses/suggestions I received.

As a first step I went over the rifle carefully cleaning, aligning and tightening everything down to the correct torque.

I then spent quite a bit of time working on technique - in particular ensuring the point of aim was natural and that I wasn't pulling or twisting the gun. To be honest this felt better but improvement in shot consistency was marginal. I also worked on trigger control/shot release where I think I did make some (fairly small) consistency gains.

Next step was to look at ammo. I'd been using NRA GGG factory rounds in 155gr and 168gr variants. I tried ammo from PPU and also brought some reloaded ammo from Fultons at Bisley without any noticeable improvement.

Still reluctant to blame the gun but running out of options I came to the point of really only having 2 avenues to go down - get the rifle checked out by an expert or experiment with my own loads.

I chose to reload and I'm pleased to say I made immediate and significant gains in consistency of shot placement. I've still got work to do to refine my preferred loads but my own rounds are starting to deliver the kind of consistency I always felt were achieveable.

The only thing is that I'm not sure if the improvement has come from case preparation which I have gone to some lengths with - trimming, primer pocket uniforming, flash hole deburring - seating depth, bullet selection (Hornady A-Max), powder (Varget) or load. What I do know is the COL of my rounds is quite a bit longer than the factory stuff hence reducing the jump to the lands. Regardless I'm going to do more work on the load development and have ordered a chrono to help.