Technique, and expectations

F

frumious

New member
Long post, apologies in advance.

I have a Weatherby Vanguard Synthetic in .308 which I purchased earlier this year. It is only the second rifle I have ever shot...the first being my 10/22 I bought last year. Although I have been shooting and handloading pistols for a little over 3 years.

I have been unsuccessfully chasing an accurate handload for my rifle, so today I decided to try something different. I decided to try a box of Federal Gold Medal Match cartridges (the ones with the 168gr SMK bullets). I have read that those things shoot well from a wide variety of rifles. So I decided I would use them to establish just what I was chasing after.

I also used different bench technique today. I have been reading "The Accurate Rifle" by Warren Page, published in 1973 (the year after I was born LOL). Some of the things he talks about are:

  • Some shooters allow the rifle to recoil freely for a distance, at least in the case of smallish-bore rifles. That is, they don't hold the stock against the shoulder.
  • Some shooters would actually not rest the right hand on the rifle at all, and would instead "pinch" the trigger between the thumb and index finger of the right hand - index finger on the trigger and thumb behind the trigger guard.
  • Good bench positioning involves setting up the rifle between the front rest and the rear bag such that it was very nearly on target without shooter input. The shooter would fine-tune the aim completely with his left hand, preferably involving just a slight squeeze to lower the reticle onto the target. The rifle is not aimed with the right hand or the shoulder at all.
  • Cheek weld, if any, is very very light, unless shooting a hard-kicker.

I did all this stuff today. I have an OK Caldwell bipod on my rifle so I used that instead of a proper front rest, and I used a plain old little range sandbag for the rear, but you get the idea. The toughest thing was shooting without putting my shoulder on the gun while at the same time avoiding getting smacked in the forehead by the scope. I must say I failed at that a couple of times. But there was no blood :)

Anyway, it seems to have paid off. I shot 4 groups of 5, and they measured:

  • .942" (I'm prepared to call this .692" as the first shot was from a squeaky-clean barrel, and ended up being a flyer.
  • 1.067"
  • 1.317"
  • 1.3795"

No, I don't have laser-measuring gear so I can't claim accuracy to 4 places. That last one is 1 11/16 - .308. All results were measured with a ruler.

Anyway, this is easily the best day I've ever had with this rifle. Period, the end. Looks like this rifle is capable of the fabled 1" group, even in a gusty 20mph headwind, which I had today.

So now I've just got to work on the technique some more. I am getting rid of my cheesy bipod - I have a Caldwell Rock rest and a proper "rabbit-ear" rear bag on the way as of tonight. I need to practice that free-recoil part a lot more as well. .308 doesn't kick all that hard, but being smacked repeatedly in the shoulder with it (as well as the forehead, occasionally) is for the birds. Maybe I'll fold up a hand towel and stick it under my shirt, or get one of those...ummm...wussy pads, or something :D

Also, I'm going to pretty much throw out all my rifle handloading results and start over. Got a few hundred 168gr Hornady Match bullets and a good local source of IMR 4895. Will start around "pet load" levels I have found on the Internet and see where it goes.

One thing I'd like to mention is sort of why I decided to stop and take stock of the situation. I read an article in the current issue of Shooting times (August 2011) where they compared 6 affordable hunting rifles. They bought 3 examples of each and shot 3 types of ammo through them. So 9 groups per rifle "type", 3 groups per individual rifle. All rifles were .308 (why not .30-06 or .270 or .243 I'll never know but don't look a gift horse in the mouth) and my Vanguard was one of them. They only got 1.5466" average out of the Federal GMM ammo (2.1" out of Winchester 150 PMB's and 2.4533" out of Remington 180's). Since these guys shoot for a living, I thought to myself "Maybe I shouldn't be chasing the 1-hole group. Well, then, what should I be chasing?". And that led to today.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Check out that Page book...it is really awesome. I wonder if there are any more books like that on benchrest technique, and I wonder if technique has changed much in almost 40 years :D

-cls
 
Congrats on your good day at the range. The first thing is that the Weatherby Vanguard is not a "Bench Rest Rifle", it is too light. Most bench rest shooters will be using a 12 lbs or heavier rifle, so the shooting style will be a lot different. And the rifle will take up most of the recoil, that is why they can "free float" the rifle.

For your rifle you need to bring it back into your shoulder and stabilize it with your weak side hand (left hand if you are right handed). Keep the rifle snug to your shoulder with a slight pull towards you from your left hand. Accuracy is all in trigger control, the trigger needs to break smoothly so that you are almost supprised that it is going off, most hunting rifles have too hard a trigger pull (about 7 lbs), take the rifle to a gunsmith and spend the money to have a tigger job done on it a 3.5 lbs pull is both safe and will do alot to improve your accuracy.

Also move your head about 1/2 inch futher back on your stock to keep the scope from giving you a bloody nose. (it can be done, you just have to get used to doing it.)

It sounds like you have a great start, but it will be 200 rounds more before you feel comfortable with the rifle.

Good shooting and stay safe.
Jim
 
I gotta agree with Jim. You're not doing yourself any favors at all with your technique. Getting beat up and slapped around by one's rifle is typically not a desired objective. I can't wrap my brain around that technique of barely touching the rifle and not having it firmly shouldered. If you're doing your part- I think it should behave the same either way. They make test bbls and rail guns to do what you're trying to get your rifle to do.

I honestly don't know the accuracy potential of your rifle, but without reloading- you should accept that you need to try a whole slew of different makes and weights to find one your rifle really likes (you may very well find one that out-shines your 168 smk's!). However, before that, I would like to most respectively suggest that you re-evaluate your basics. I think you would benefit greatly by having the rifle firmly in your shoulder (even with no further influence), correct sight picture, and proper trigger squeeze. Your method may very well teach you undesireable habits that could be a long time in un-learning. Good luck and best wishes.

Edit: Also make sure your bag or rest is withing a couple of inches of being directly underneath the rifle's chamber area each and every shot. And if flinching is indicated anywhere in there, begin shooting from the standing, kneeling, or sitting positions until you re-learn that recoil is purely objective and not as bad as from the bench.
 
I've gotta agree with both of the above. The Weatherby Vanguard is a fine rifle, but it's a hunting rifle, too light for benchrest-type shooting. Some of those guys don't even touch their rifles, instead letting them free recoil. The big benchrest guns are heavy enough that they don't go far.

For a sporting rifle, consistency is the key. I like to place my rest close to the chamber, put the rifle in my shoulder pocket and use my off-hand to squeeze the rear bag to align the scope. Then squeeze the trigger with a light touch and a consistent cheek-weld.

Consistency is the key to firing a rifle and all the basics of marksmanship come into play. Sight alignment, breath control, cheek weld and trigger squeeze must be the same from shot to shot.

While the Federal GMM ammo is a fine round, it may not be the best for your rifle. I've got a load that duplicates that ammo and it shoots fairly well in each rifle I've tried it in, but tweaking is necessary to get the best accuracy possible from the rifle. Rifle shooting is a whole 'nuther discipline and there are several distinct sub-disciplines within it. Benchrest and hunting are on pretty much on opposite ends of the spectrum and I'm a hunter. After using the benchrest to learn what the rifle will do, I like to get away from the bench and shoot as much from field positions as I can. Once I know what the rifle will do it's up to me to deliver when there is no bench in sight.

Edit: My profound admiration to Warren Page. He was a great writer, shooter, and cartridge wildcatter. He's the guy credited with wildcatting the cartridge that became the .243 Winchester. He called it the .240 Page Pooper.
 
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Good tips, above. I'm another who would describe my hold of the rifle to my shoulder as "firm" or "snug". Not loose, not real tight.

I also squeeze the rear sandbag for final "perfection" in sight alignment. My deal is, the rifle on the sandbags without my touching it should be fairly close to having the sights centered on the target. IOW, I don't have to force-fit to get alignment other than that little bit of squeeze on the rear sandbag.

I also make sure that the forearm is at the same place on the front sandbag, for each shot. Uniformity from shot to shot: The rest, the hold, the sight picture, the method of trigger squeeze...
 
Thanks, guys. I agree and understand that consistency shot-to-shot is the key. The reason I am allowing myself to get pummeled by my rifle is, simply put, that I have not developed the technique yet that will allow me to touch the rifle very much and be consistent. This is evident (to me) by the group sizes from this weekend.

Also, and I may not have been clear enough...yes, I have been handloading for this rifle. And although I 100% agree that that is the way to go, well, I just have not gotten very far. This is why I decided to use the GMM ammo and to use minimalist technique this weekend. Now that I know what the rifle can do, I will continue to use the minimalist until I find a handload that works as well as GMM. Then I can load a bunch of those up and work on more "reasonable" technique. For a lot less $$ than GMM.

Finally, yes, I agree that my rifle is in no way a benchrest rifle, in weight, quality, features, etc.. I don't think I could afford a benchrest rifle. But having something that approaches one someday would be cool. Is there such a beast, for $1000 or less? Or maybe $1500 or less? I'm talking a bolt rifle that can shoot half-MOA from the factory. Is that possible?

-cls
 
I do a lot of accuracy shooting including .22 and centerfire benchrest. The free recoil stuff Page refered to was mostly .22 and .22 centerfire stuff not 30's, the guys above gave you good advise. 2 things I'd suggest, first get at least 1 or 2 wind flags and learn how to use them, you will never learn to shoot consistant groups without them.

Go to Wolf publishing and get Mike Ratigan's accuracy book, while directed primarily at the BR crowd you will be amazed how much useful stuff is in here about gun handeling, consistancy, and wind reading.
 
Before deciding that it was your new technique's that changed the accuracy first try again with your old ones and FGMM. I think the accuracy difference you saw is by using FGMM. Its just a great round overall to use. With my factory savage I get between .3 and .75 MOA with it at all times, unless there is an obvious flier that was my fault. So the point is, test out different techniques but using the same FGMM round. With FGMM you can be confident that any lack of grouping is most likely limited either by your skill or rifle rather than the ammo
 
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