Can't get a rifle on paper at 100 yards

From your post, you shot it at 25 yards, and were dead on at that range.
What size groups were you shooting there? If they were any larger than almost "one hole" you could still very well have a loose scope. It just won't be bad enough at 25 to make you think you have a problem. Any scoped centerfire should be capable of almost one hole at 25, if you have a steady rest, and are not jerking the trigger.
As has been suggested, go from 25 to 50 yards. See what happens there. You should probably be an inch higher there than at 25. Groups should still be 1/2" to 3/4" or so. By progressively moving the target farther out, you should be able to figure out what is going on. Eliminate one variable at a time to isolate the issue.
 
If you're having trouble, that is bad. I'd look for pressure points in bedding, recoil lug, and screw tension. Second, I'd put an old piece of credit card under the barrel where it meets the front of the stock to slow the barrel flex down. That is really surprising about a Vanguard. Hope you can get it spittin right.
 
with the trajectory of anything other than a thrown rock, that would be impossible.
Think about it... the bullet would have to rise at least 1.5" to break the line of sight, then peak out, and drop back down through the line of sight ... all in less than 25 yards?
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Yea your right I was thinking about it to hard or not hard enough however you want to look at it.......lol:),but the rest of my post was correct:cool:
 
Hi. You have a bedding issue or the scope mounts are high on the front.
Nearly every .243 commercial hunting rifle, even a heavy barreled varmint rifle, is rifled for heavy bullets. That'd be 85 grains and up. Weatherby(actually Howa. They make the Vanguard. Not a bad thing.) uses 1 in 10.
Put a great big piece of cardboard or paper behind the 100 yard target to see where it's actually shooting.
 
OK

You say you checked your mount and ring screws......yes/no.

Next check your action bedding screws, equal tightness, a torque wrench is best, but many are firmed up by hand and work just fine. A loose action screw can give you fits.

Scopes go bad. I would mount a second scope (that you trust) and shoot again before I got to exotic on fixes.

Any visible damage to the muzzle or crown?
 
I once saw a simlilar problem. I hunted with a guy that had a Remington bolt in 243 (not that the caliber has anything to do with the problem), and first shot would be close to right, but the next shot was way worse and they got worse after that. Nothing worked on fixing the problem. Had to be a bad barrel.
 
.243

I have a 99 Savage in .243 and when I got it I did not want to reload for it. I was going to hunt deer, so I bought 3 brands of ammo to check it out. The Federal shot terrible and was too hot(It made for sticky extraction). The Winchester shot even worse and was also too hot. I was thinking I got screwed on the rifle. I tried Remington and it shot great. It was not too hot and extracted fine. Try other ammo?
 
I've seen guys at the range who rested the barrel instead of the stock, then couldn't understand why they couldn't hit anything at longer distances.

Check your setup. Are you holding the rifle any differently at 100 yards? Sometimes there's a lot of vertical distance on some ranges between 25 and 100 yards and the rear bag may be hitting the pistol grip, sling swivel studs hitting the rest or bags, check every aspect of your setup and you may find something that isn't consistent.

If nothing seems to be a problem, the barrel may be bad.
 
The advice about trying another scope on the rifle is a great first step. And
while changing out the scope, the mounts can be checked or reset. I've had one new scope go bad, and I wasted about 2 pounds of various powders and no telling how many bullets and primers before I got back to a load that had shot 3/4 of an inch previously and now shot 2 1/2 inches before the light in my dim brain came on and I switched back to a scope that I had used previously on that rifle.
 
My method for sighting in a rifle for the first time.

1. Set up a target at 100 yards.
2. Find a pebble to aim at about 50 yards away.
3. Fire a shot at the pebble.
4. Check in the dirt to see how close my shot was to the pebble.
5. Adjust scope and shoot at pebble until I get close enough to it to move to 100 yards.
6. Shoot a pebble at 100 yards until I get close enough to go to the paper.
7. Shoot the paper until I can shoot out the bullseye.
8. Done.

Here is the moral of the story. When it may seem impossible to hit a piece of paper at 100 yards, it is even more impossible to miss the ground with every shot you take. So, I aim for the bigger target that is impossible to miss.
 
Quick update, installed a new scope (Minox 3-9x40, very nice for the money) and got it sighted. Still shooting 4" groups with odd pattern, 3 dead on within an MOA, 2 flyers way off, but at least I can start working on it.
 
My method for sighting in a rifle for the first time.

1. Set up a target at 100 yards.
2. Find a pebble to aim at about 50 yards away.
3. Fire a shot at the pebble.
4. Check in the dirt to see how close my shot was to the pebble.
5. Adjust scope and shoot at pebble until I get close enough to it to move to 100 yards.
6. Shoot a pebble at 100 yards until I get close enough to go to the paper.
7. Shoot the paper until I can shoot out the bullseye.
8. Done.
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That sounds like it would work great if you were shooting from the roof of your house straight down.......:cool:

For little more precise less ammo way try this......

First if you have a rest that you can leave the gun in like this one....
Iphone391.jpg


At 25 yds put the + on the bulls eye take one shot, now while the gun is in the rest put the + back on the bulls eye, now the important crucial step with out moving the gun adjust the + over to where the bullet hit. Take a second shot to confirm POA and POI are the same at 25yds, if the previous steps were done correctly you should be dead on at 25. Now for 100yds go down about 10clicks and you should be pretty close.
 
I could be the only person who likes them, but the Sight Mark barrel lazers save me a lot of shooting just getting on the paper.
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Your not, I purchased the sight mark magnet type so I could use on various guns, I used it with scopes, red dots and my eotech,all are normally with in 3 rounds where I want the point of impact,one of the best low cost purchases I've made in years, I've used bore sighting and all type methods but this does the best job. Slight learning curve at first but once you have proper method it saves time and money.
 
Strange, if you are dead on at 25 you should be VERY close to zero at 100. I rarely have to move more than 1 or 2 clicks at 100 after zeroing at 25.
 
I have a Ruger M77 in .243 Winchester and it does very well with 100 & 85 grain pills. I'm assuming you bore sighted it. I had this problem before. I took the scope and mounts off and shot the front and rear sights at 100 yards with good results. Doing so told me that the barrel was fine. I took my time re-mounting the scope and all was well when I went back to the range.

When was the last time you cleaned your barrel? Copper fouling will definitely result in poor accuracy. If it is a cleaning issue, don't limit yourself to Hoppes (misp?). Its better for cleaning powder residue, not copper. Try some Sweets or Barnes. There are also other products that do very well with copper fouling. Read the instructions carefully! Hope this helps.
 
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I have the exact same rifle with a Meopta 4-12x 50mm. It will group 3
shots in less than 1" at 100 yds using Federal (blue box) 100grn jhp.
The Vanguard (Howa) is capable of outstanding accuracy. Reading
your post, my money would be on the scope.
 
tighten the foward action screw to 40 inch pounds (Tight) and then the rear screw till it is snug but not overly tight
 
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