.243 reloading advice please

[swagger]

Hi guys,

 

Ive been running 70gr nosler bt's over 43gr of n140 over the last few months and been getting excellent accuracy.... 1/2 to 3/4" at 100 yards.

 

Went out a couple of days ago, had a crow at approx 180 yards. chuffed.

Moved onto the next field and theres another crow, now i know the ranges in this field so i know it was pretty much at the 180 mark too.

 

so i settle down and take the shot, and the crow flies away!! unusual!

 

Both shots were taken from the bonnet of the landy using a bipod and rear bag, so rock steady.

 

anyway, i think thats strange and just put it down to me ballsing it up.

then i notice that the brass is on its 3rd firing as the shot before was the last of my twice fired stash.

 

still the same load though.

 

Sooo, i got out with the rifle and a trusty cardboard box. put said box up at 100yds and the best group i can manage is 1.75 - 2 inches!!

 

Frustrated i head home. check the scales and every bolt/screw on the rifle.... all as it should be.

Check the dies and COL... all correct.

Also checked the mod and that all seems fine too.

I also cleaned the rifle and went back out, same results! tried the same load with some 70gr SBK's That have also shot much the same, no joy there either!!

 

Looking at the targets the groups seem to follow a pattern(loosely), the first shot goes about 2" High but central then the next 2 shots are about 1" high but 1.5" off to the left! its not the same for All of them but there abouts.

 

Rifle is zeroed 1" high at 100 yards.

 

Whats going on!!!

 

Only changes i can think of is that the brass is on its 3rd firing,

 

Cheers,

Joe

[gbal]

Joe,this reads like the classic reality of shot dispersion-if you got 3/4 moa from your loads,as you say,then a 180 y shot is getting on for 1 and a half inches at 180y-from that dispersion alone,not even factoring in all the other variables,or wobble by you.

If your groups were less than several 5 shot groups averaged,,this is even more likely- you only have sub 3 inches on a crow-that's not much,for a rifle that only shoots 1 and 1/2 inches at best....,slight wind error...miss. And as you find,it's not all that consistent where shots go.....

 

I see why you are concerned,as it seems to be shooting less well-assuming the earlier 3/4 inch at 100 really was well tested.....but that earlier performance would give misses fairly often at sub 3" crows at 200y too.

Scope? Only way to quickly check is try some groups with another scope.

 

gbal

[swagger]

I see what your saying Gbal.

 

I dont consider myself a good shot, but at that 180 yard range where i missed the crow its very sheltered and there wasnt any wind to speak of. and i have had many magpies at this place at that range and out to 220 with very very few misses. hence my surprise at missing!

 

Its not the miss that bothers me, thats a reality of shooting! its the lack of accuracy on paper.

 

Ive had out some targets that were shot at 100yds in the past and theyre to me nice and tight consistent, not as good as a lot of peoples on here! theyre so far different i shot from the ones today it just feels like some things wrong!

 

The rifle has fired about 320 shots.

 

Like you say it could be the scope, its a meopta and it has always been bombproof. it 7 years old now.

 

Joe

[seth]

Go out to paper at 200 yards and you will get a true measure of your rifle and ammo combination.

[MJR]

Try another scope if everything else is tight on the rifle. How critical was the bullet jump when you worked a load up? 243's aren't exactly easy on the throat area so your load may want tweaking.