accuracy problems with '06 - contd

Try Remington CoreLokts, they are pretty consistant for commercial ammo, and they have a 165 grn load I believe..

As far as Redfield Revolutions go, I had one and sold it because me and the sight picture never got along......Id take a broken VX over a new Revolution everytime.
 
I've been using Core-lokts when available for sure. They're usually $25 a box or so near me.

the Fusions are $25 also, so I've been using those. A reloading calculator put my potential reloads at $27 a box using Nosler Ballistic Tip and brand new brass (which I have saved). I'm assuming my handloads would be better, but I'm not in a position to drop $$$ on reloading equipment right now.
 
150's damage way more meat than 180's in an aught six. But the 180's lead to slower kills. I like 150's. I've used every weight in .30-06 from 125-220 grains. 150-165 is the sweet spot for deer.
 
I'm thinking I'll use 165 for deer and elk. Seems like a good compromise between the two.

Anyone have experience with the Fusions for elk? I know it's got plenty of knockdown power for deer. Or are the Barnes $45/box really THAT much better?

The options I have around $25 are Core-lokt, Fusion, Power Shok and Winchester Super X
 
Admittedly the 150 was too light for moose. It did the job but required follow up shots because of insufficient penetration on the first shot which struck shoulder bone.
 
You have a situation similar to one I had when I bought a new rifle a few years ago. New rifle, new scope, no favorite reload or factory load that's known to be good. Worked up a few loads that shot decent, but wanted better, but the more I shot, the worse the groups were. Tried everything I could think of and it still shot terrible. I went through hundreds of rounds. Finally, due to a magazine article I changed out the brand new scope for an old reliable one. All along, the scope had been the problem. A brand new scope. Oh, well.

So, if you still have the old scope on it, swap it out with new or borrowed. If you go with new, the options are endless, and most are good. Go with brand name gear. Bushnell, Burris Fullfield II, Leupold VX2, Vortex will do just fine. Magnification range of 4-12 will be just dandy for seeing the bullet holes at 100. Don't listen to the baloney about sighting it in at 4 power. Why do that if you have 10 or 12 power available? As for mounts, the DNZ one piece are fine, and easy to install.

As for bullet choices, if you don't reload, Remington, Winchester, Federal ammo will do just fine. Your rifle might like one more than another, so try a few out. Bullet weight of 150 or 165 will be fine.

As for bore cleaning, lately I'm in the camp of not taking all the copper out till accuracy degrades. That's 25 rounds in my 220, about 50 to 75 rounds in the 223, and seemingly never in the new 260 with the Brux barrel. Until you start reloading and have constantly consistent ammo, you may not be able to really tell when accuracy has degraded and copper needs to come out.
 
I clean with Ballistol which supposedly works on every kind of fouling.

I'll keep those tips in mind with ammo testing. As far as the scope, it seems to hold FOR NOW
 
Swap out the scope. It will either solve your problem, or at worst will at least tell you that it isn't your problem.

My scope issue (Nikon Monarch) never got so bad that it became obvious that it was my problem. I just got endlessly bad groups of 1 to 2 inches. Changed powders and bullets and got the same nasty groups. I swapped out the stock, installed a Timney trigger and STILL got the same nasty groups. Clean bore or dirty bore, the groups were bad. Then I read that article about scopes sometimes being bad, but not so bad that that it would be obvious. And then I dug out some old targets, from back when the rifle and scope were a week old, and there was a nice group with 55 gr Noslers and Varget, I loaded up some more of those and got nasty groups. Dug around for an old Bushnell I had, mounted it and shot some decent groups. Took the Nikon back, swapped it for a Leupold VX2 6-18 and have shot happily since then.

If my rifle had been an old familiar one that I knew shot good groups, a scope problem would be immediately realized. Not so with a rifle new to me.

Swap out the scope. Trust me.
 
well i honed it in yesterday. I will obviously be practicing more as time goes on towards the season. If it starts to tray then yes I will swap it. But on the rest I got bullseye and free hand I was 2" high, 4 in a row. But a VX-2 is out of my price range now. A Buckmaster was on the to-buy list, but now I'll wait and see.
 
ok i spoke too soon LOL

I happened to be scouring e-fricken-bay and saw a Vortex diamondback HP 4-16x42 for $350. This retails for $420 on a good site. Came with sunshade and lens covers. So now I'm out 350 bucks plus the DNZ one piece mount and torque screwdriver from Amazon, so make that 450 bucks.

dangit! I was lured into it because of the great things I've been seeing on Vortex scopes and their awesome warranty, just like Leupolds.

well...now I'll be able to see if the group tightness was me or the Nikon prostaff.

*sigh* I just bit the bullet folks :rolleyes:
 
ok delayed response here. The first mount that came was a medium which actually impeded my adjustment ring from turning (and marred my black finish, ugh). Got the High one now and took it to the range today. On the sight in target I got it going well then I switched to a bullseye and grouped 2/3 well with one flyer each group then adjusted L (using scope turrets direction L) and it went R a bit. Between the two scopes they both adjust differently. The nikon moved L when turned L. This one moves the reticle R when turning L. Odd. Guess I went the wrong way. I could have stayed longer but I had to go do other things. More practice rounds to come, but I do like the scope. I'm still not getting 5 shots under 1" which I want, but I don't know if that's gonna happen with factory ammo.
Today: 165 gr Fusion ammo, shots labeled in succession.
20140913_152548.jpg
 
The nikon moved L when turned L. This one moves the reticle R when turning L. Odd.
Click to expand...

If the gun shoots farther right when you turn the knob in the left direction, you've got a problem. If it simply appears that the cross-hair moves right when you turn the knob left, that's normal.
 
I'll have to look at that again then next time I go. It was a hot day too about 90F. However I was waiting like 3-5 minutes between shots. enough time so I could grab the barrel for at least 10 seconds comfortable.

Now I'm looking for reasons at this point, but is it POSSIBLE that the previous owner out of bad habit overheated the barrel beyond the point of normal function?
 
Unlikely. It would be hard (likely impossible) for a human to operate and reload a bolt-action fast enough to damage a barrel.

It is, however, possible that they simply put enough rounds down the barrel to wear it out.

That's a lot of shooting to wear out a 30-06 though. ;)
 
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