Expanding group issue

[figuy]

I have a Savage Model 10 .308 Win. I've been using 168gr Federal Gold Metal Match and at 100 yards I can constantly get 7/8" groups or better. A few months ago I finally got a chance to shoot at 200 and 300 yards. My groups at 200 were over a little over 3" and about 10.5" at 300. I tried the same ammo in 175gr and got the same results. There was no wind so I'm not sure what the issue is. Any ideas? Thanks.

[unclerandy]

What optic and magnification?

[figuy]

Vortex Strike Eagle 4-24x50, Vortex rings, Weaver 20 MOA rail, Choate tactical stock with bedded lug.

[smoothy8500]

A few months ago I finally got a chance to shoot at 200 and 300 yards.

You will get all sorts of "questions" about your optics, parallax, equipment, cleaning regimen, etc, looking for "help". For novice shooters going beyond 100 yards the margin of error magnifies. Commonly at 200yds the error doubles (now 1.5MOA), and at 300yds you really see issues in marksmanship fundamentals affecting groups (now over 3MOA).

Proper/consistent hold, Natural Point of Aim (NPA), trigger control, breathing, cheek pressure, etc, all affect the accuracy and precision.

[figuy]

You will get all sorts of "questions" about your optics, parallax, equipment, cleaning regimen, etc, looking for "help". For novice shooters going beyond 100 yards the margin of error magnifies. Commonly at 200yds the error doubles (now 1.5MOA), and at 300yds you really see issues in marksmanship fundamentals affecting groups (now over 3MOA).

Proper/consistent hold, Natural Point of Aim (NPA), trigger control, breathing, cheek pressure, etc, all affect the accuracy and precision.

Thanks for the input. That makes sense and I hope this is the case. I'd rather have the issue be me than my gear.

[kcheung2]

Agree with post 4. Moving to 200yds is pretty straightforward, but at 300 then technique & fundamentals really start to matter. Also you may not think there’s wind but most likely there is. The wind where you are likely isn’t the same 200 yds downrange. .

[figuy]

Thanks for the input. I'm going to try and go with a friend that I know has more constant results and see what he can do.

[LynnJr]

Crank the scope up to 24X and remove the parallax.
Now staple your target up backwards so it's all blank.
Take a pen or pencil and draw a very small round circle to aim at.
The finer you can hold the smaller your groups will be.
Most scopes have large reticles and shooters will often times use a target with a big all black center.
This tends to produce bigger groups because you never aim at the same place twice.
The shooters shooting the smallest groups use extremely fine reticles that will fit inside of the round parts of the numbers 6,8,9 and the zero on the number 10.
Most hunting tactical type scopes you can't even read the numbers on the target.