sighting in

[oldrookie]

This question is for all of you range rats out there. Still horsing around tweaking my loads. Decided I am going to use the powerbelt 245g to hunt deer. I spent some time at the range last night and first 5 rounds were all within 2 inches of each other but 2 inches high and 1 inch left of the bull. Adjusted 6 clicks down on the scope. The next 5 rounds all grouped nicely at about 1 inch high but were 1.5 inches high right.

The only adjustment to the scope was high/lo....why would my group move left to right?

[quickdtoo]

Warm barrel, bod scope, bore not broke in well, bore dirty, lots of variables. Clean it good, shoot it cold, see where the first shot goes, most folks like to foul the bore first, that makes sure there's no oil in the flash channel/breech to cause a misfire/hangfire, popping a cap or two before loading is sufficient for me.

Tim

[oldrookie]

Thanks Tim. Since the total group moved left to right, I wasn't sure if there was any other correlation.
All I did was drop the elevation down a little and they did go down. They also went from high left to high right. I didn't want to mess with windage.

[nomosendero]

What caught my eye was the fact that your group moved but was a nice group. This makes it less likely that the bore is dirty or not broke in as yet. These things typically lead to bigger groups instead of good groups that moved. The same would be the case if your mounts/rings get loose, your group would get sloppy.
A warm barrel could do it if the stock is not bedded properly & pressures change on the barrel as it heats, although it has to be pretty extreme & a obvious flaw on a MZ barrel. Hot weather & a hot barrel can make sabots shoot different, but it would be bigger groups rather than a group that moves & besides, you are using Powerbelts.
True, there can be other variables, but I have had internal scope adjustment changes occur for both windage & elevation when I have only made a change with one turrent. Oldrookie, I have had this happen MANY times in the past, especially with the "bargain" scopes,
but a few times with good scopes as well. So, I would look at he bedding & the scope first, especially the scope.

[oldrookie]

Thanks Nomosendro. On another board it was suggested that the barrel maybe slanted slightly off of center in the rest. If thats the case, the scope is going to adjust accordingly. I am going out tomorrow and will shoot off of a sand bag. Someone else made the comment that this is so important the competition shooters have levels they can actually see in their scope. Does this make sense to you?

[nomosendero]

Thanks Nomosendro. On another board it was suggested that the barrel maybe slanted slightly off of center in the rest. If thats the case, the scope is going to adjust accordingly. I am going out tomorrow and will shoot off of a sand bag. Someone else made the comment that this is so important the competition shooters have levels they can actually see in their scope. Does this make sense to you?

You could have canted your gun a little from one shooting session to another, but if you take your time, the human eye is very accurate when it comes to centering things (like when using a peep sight) & in making sure a crosshair is straight. Just take your time from group to group, it could
have been the problem & is another variable, but less likely I think.

Springfield Armory sold a scope that had a level you could see through the scope, but Comp./Long Range shooters generally use a level mouned on the scope & most target scopes are far better than the SA. For really long range shooting this can help as a cant is magnified at long range & for comp. shooters, we are talkinmg about differences of mere hundreths of an inch making a difference, but for 100 yard & even further shooting of sporting rifles, a level is not necessary.

[Ditchdigger]

Every Redfield widefield I have does the same thing when you are nearly out of the adjustment range. But the good part is that it will never move once you've got it set. It's nearly drove me crazy more than once,especially on my 300 Wby.  Digger

[oldrookie]

Thanks guys. This canting thing just may save me a lot of aggravation. Being new to all this, I am learning new things everyday to pay attention to. I didn't get out today due to rain. Going to the race we have here in Indy tomorrow and will hit the range Monday morning. Really looking forward to shooting off of open bag. Its easier for me to pay attention to the verticle line as opposed to horizonal.

I'll try and post some pics. Thanks again.

[oldrookie]

nomo it was me. I got out to the range Monday morning and shot off a front bag. Really paid attention to the vertical hold. The groups stayed consistent throughout the morning. Just for giggles towards the end of the morning, I let the rifle cant to the right slightly and sure enough the groups went to the right. Thanks again for your post.....you saved a newbie a lot of time.