Is my grouping ok?

[Dimitri A.]

Yeah Ill have to try using some match ammo next time I go out. Didnt even think about match ammo. Went to the store right before I went to the range earlier and grabbed 3 boxes of the cheapest 6.5 CM they had, and that was the Core Lokt.

Try Federal OTM 120 Gr. (Open Tip Match). It's surprisingly cheap ($20-$22/cs) and surprisingly good. I use Hornady Outfitter GMX 120 for my hunting round, and use the cheaper Federal for target practice. It shoots almost exactly like my Hunting Ammo. I typically only need to adjust a click or two for the bullets to impact where the GMX's do. It's allowing me to practice on the cheap. I can't believe how good that stuff is for the money.

[Diversity210]

Are you going to use it for hunting or the range? I wouldn't even consider selecting a scope until I knew what my intended use was. Plus you let the store employee (who cares if he is an employee or successor as you stated) talk you into a scope that you didn't appear to have much knowledge of. Do your homework before you consider buying a rifle, scope or rings. It doesn't appear that you gave any of this much thought.

I'm not trying to intentionally give you a hard time, but from my perspective, this whole story doesn't appear as if much research or planning went into it. You'll enjoy the whole process much more if you give it more thought up front.

The rifle nor the scope will be used for hunting. No one talked me into anything. I do not like the implication that I, a grown man, was talked into or sold on anything. I went in with every intention of buying a scope and thats what I did. I presented the man with the criteria I had for a scope and based on my research after the fact, he did an A+ job of suggesting a product that suited my needs. Its a great scope and is very capable. Im not sure why everyone is so hung up on the scope anyway. My choice of optic for my application was never a question and still is not, unless someone can definitively say a different scope would have made for shots at 100 yards, which I highly doubt.

I appreciate the information that everyone has provided, but I would be very grateful if people would post only information that is relevant to the question of whether my groups of 1 3/8 - 1 1/2 were good at 100 yards and if they weren't what I could do to better them

[scotty99]

[Diversity210]

Thank you so much for the "relevant information." I don't hand load ammo, and I dont know anyone that does. So I will have to factory loads. How ever I will try some match grade ammo when I go back to the range on Wednesday. I never knew the match stuff would make that big a difference but it sounds like it will. Are there any brands of match ammo I should look for and brands I should stay away from?

[LynnJr]

The 24 power scope at 100 yards is a huge plus in shrinking your groups. The guys/gals that specialize in 100 yard shooting use 24 to 55 power scopes all the time.
On your groups they are not small enough to me and I would try to improve them.
You are not competing so you don't have to follow any rules.
With that said I would fill your rear bag with lead shot to make it heavier and more stable.
Most front bags don't fit factory forends very well so the rifle slides sideways in the front rest with the heavy triggers available on factory rifles. You can place the front rest closer to the action which puts the front bag under a stiffer part of the stock and the area closer to the action is generally thicker as well helping the front bag.
If the forend can shift left-right in the front bag take a small rag and fold it to take up any extra space.
I use heavy card stock to make a pattern of my forend and simply cut it out with scissors. I send it to Protektor bags and for less than $50 they make a bag that fits your gun.
Remove all your swivels if you have any as they will hit the rest bags and ruin your groups.
Shoot in a comfortable position and mark where the stock fits in the rests with a couple pieces of masking tape. Return the rifle and rests to the same spot each time before firing the next round. The tape goes behind both rests so you don't drag it across your bags.

Next look at how you are zeroing in the rifle. With a 24 power scope you can shoot at the backside of a target so the entire page is blank. Most shooters use the wrong target and not enough scope so there point of aim is inconsistent ruining accuracy. If your gun is shooting 3/4 moa but your point of aim is 3/4 moa you are instantly shooting 1.5 inch groups with a rifle capable of much better accuracy.
Use a sharpie to make a very small circle or a crosshair depending on your reticle choice. Circle for a dot reticle crosshair for a crosshair reticle.
You aim small to shoot small.

Now you need to take some pictures of your groups so we can see what they look like.
Bedding an action will often times shrink groups in half but we need to see the targets.
On the ammo it is always a good idea to try several different brands.
Good Luck!!!

[scotty99]

Thank you so much for the "relevant information." I don't hand load ammo, and I dont know anyone that does. So I will have to factory loads. How ever I will try some match grade ammo when I go back to the range on Wednesday. I never knew the match stuff would make that big a difference but it sounds like it will. Are there any brands of match ammo I should look for and brands I should stay away from?

[Dirtlaw]

Well, I'm old. So when I first saw this post my eyes failed me. I thought it said, "Is my groping OK?" Yikes!

[ar15barrels]

I don’t see the caliber posted anywhere, but the 140 Core Lokts suggest 6.5 CM?

Reading is fundamental.

Went to the store right before I went to the range earlier and grabbed 3 boxes of the cheapest 6.5 CM they had, and that was the Core Lokt.

[scotty99]

Reading is fundamental.

The Cal Guns community needs to send Randall more work if he has enough free time to pull info out of reply #6 in a nearly 40 reply thread.


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[RNE228]

My experience is with 308Win in a Rem700 with Varmint barrel; Federal Match ammo is very accurate and has a good reputation. It will hold 3/4" 100 yard groups or better in my rifle.

I knew I was going to eventually handload, so I kept all the Match brass. If you buy Match ammo, save the brass. If not to reload, you might trade/sell/barter it.

I never knew the match stuff would make that big a difference but it sounds like it will. Are there any brands of match ammo I should look for and brands I should stay away from?

[Diversity210]

So it was the ammo. I picked up 3 boxes of Hornady Match 140 grain ELD. Shot some groups as sort of a control with the Remington Core Lokt I had left over from my last trip and I got 1 1/4 to 1 3/4 groups. Cleaned the barrel and shot 5 groups of 5 rounds each with the Hornady match and 4 out of 5 of those groups were 3/4-1". One group had a flyer but that was all me, probably because this guy with a 338 lapua sat down next text me with a huge muzzle brake and I flinched when he took his first shot. I moved over a few benches and shot a few more groups with the match ammo and all 3/4" - 1". I guess I never thought match ammo could make that kind of difference. So since my rifle is shooting 3/4" groups at a hundred yards. That would make it a sub moa rifle right?

Anyone else ever had this? Like I mention before some guy sat down next to me today with a big muzzle brake on a 338 lapua. The problem is the range that I shoot at has 12 benches for the 100 yards alone and there was only me and 1 other guy shooting there. This guy had the pick of 10 other benches that would have put some space between us, but he decides to sit right next me. I was so irritated. Why do people do suff like that?

[ar15barrels]

So since my rifle is shooting 3/4" groups at a hundred yards.
That would make it a sub moa rifle right?

Yes.
At least with that ammo.

I built a 6.5 Creedmoor for one of my customers that would routinely shoot sub 1/4 moa with factory match ammo.

[RNE228]

That's nice grouping! You may find that some other hunting ammo will group good too. Otherwise to get smaller, and less expensive, handloading can help.

I wear ear plugs and muffs at the rifle range. All the big cartridge stuff, and especially muzzle brakes, make me flinch. Muzzle brakes are great for the shooter, but not for the person on the next bench over...

I moved over a few benches and shot a few more groups with the match ammo and all 3/4" - 1". I guess I never thought match ammo could make that kind of difference. So since my rifle is shooting 3/4" groups at a hundred yards. That would make it a sub moa rifle right?

Anyone else ever had this? Like I mention before some guy sat down next to me today with a big muzzle brake on a 338 lapua. The problem is the range that I shoot at has 12 benches for the 100 yards alone and there was only me and 1 other guy shooting there. This guy had the pick of 10 other benches that would have put some space between us, but he decides to sit right next me. I was so irritated. Why do people do suff like that?

[theLBC]

told you

[Diversity210]

That's nice grouping! You may find that some other hunting ammo will group good too. Otherwise to get smaller, and less expensive, handloading can help.

I wear ear plugs and muffs at the rifle range. All the big cartridge stuff, and especially muzzle brakes, make me flinch. Muzzle brakes are great for the shooter, but not for the person on the next bench over...

Yeah Im going to keep trying different ammo. It would seem like even though the grouping isnt all that great with the Remington Core Lokt. It still makes a good practical choice for range day, being the cheapest 6.5 CM rounds in my area, with out sacrificing reliability.

I will most likely never get into handloading ammo. Im much to intimidated by it. Im also fine with staying along the lines of practicality rather than precision, and it seems to me that anything sub MOA is practical.