Can't get a rifle on paper at 100 yards

Palmetto-Pride

New member
Strange, if you are dead on at 25 you should be VERY close to zero at 100.

Usualy if your dead on at 25yds then your about 2.5" high at 100 and dead on again at 250yds. I am talking about a 30-06 150gn at about 2900 fps....:)
 

Marquezj16

New member
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.

Are the three dead on at bullseye? Where are the other two flyers? Are the flyers next to each other? It could be the ammo (usually though you only get one flyer to ruin the group) or you are pulling it left or right.

I'm amazed at the many ways people sight in their rifles here. I'm sure they work for that person. For me the most important thing is to have a stable rest (sandbag) with a stable position (prone or bench). Never rest the barrel on the sandbag and make sure each shot is taken the same way. Same cheek rest, same pause in breathe, etc...And always be patient...:cool:
 

Dusty Rivers

New member
start with level

I would start by removing the top part of the scope rings, remove the scope.
prop the rifle up on sand bags. Put a level near the front of the barrel. Adjust the sand bags till the barrel is reading level. Now carefully place the level on top of the scope ring bottoms from one set of rings to the other, and also check from the left edge to the right edge of both sets of rings. They should read level the same as your barrel. If not investigate the cause. If the barrel and the bases are level together, carefully place the scope in the ring bottoms. place the level on the cover/cap of the windage adjustment. Carefully move the scope in the rings till you have it also level (the level should be perpendicular to the barrel for this part, but it should check level both perpendicular and parallel to the barrel plane ). Check your eye relief for proper distance, recheck the barrel to make sure nothing has moved. carefully place the top of the rings on the scope and tighten, but do not over stress the scope. The other thing is the bottom lip of your scope should be VERY close to touching the barrel, if not your scope rings are too high. The closer the scope is to the top of the barrel, and being parallel to the barrel are critical factors. If you check the Weatherby site, they have recommended ammo for each caliber. I would start with their recommendations for ammo . That way if your problem persists at least they can't say you were using the wrong ammo. Level and parallel are critical. If your barrel points down and your scope points up the farther downrange you get, the greater the error.
 

publius

New member
Usualy if your dead on at 25yds then your about 2.5" high at 100 and dead on again at 250yds. I am talking about a 30-06 150gn at about 2900 fps.

Yep, that's my point, you should be pretty darn close to the bull at 100 if you are dead on at 25. I should have stated that I do like my rifle to be 1-2" high at 100.
 

sc928porsche

New member
Since you replaced the scope and you are still having trouble getting a good pattern I would send the rifle back. I am assuming that you are able to get a close pattern with other rifles of course. More than likely it is a bedding problem or possibly a problem with the crown. Since the rifle is new, I would let the Manufacturer take care of the problem at their expense.
 

mapsjanhere

New member
Yes, I can usually get 1-2 MOA groups with most of my rifles, and under .75 with my handloads. One thing mentioned above was the chance of trigger mishandling, and yes, this rifle has an extremely stiff trigger compared to the 1.5 - 2 lbs I prefer. I'm currently hunting down a trigger gauge and will start fiddling with the trigger before I decide it's someone else's fault.
 

chasep255

New member
Oops I made a stupid response and can't figure out how to delete it. I can only edit which is why I am writing this.
 

oneounceload

Moderator
When shooting, and I'll assume off of a bag rest of some kind, you aren't by chance resting the barrel instead of the forearm on the bags, are you?

I watched a guy at the range do that cussing up a storm that his POS rifle couldn't hit the barn from the inside. Politely suggested he not rest his barrel on the bags and move them under the forearm - voila, groups were 1-2" after that
 

Cowboy_mo

New member
Careful Adjusting Vanguard trigger

MapsJan, be very careful adjusting the Vanguard trigger. I have a Vanguard in .270 Win and it was a great shooter out of the box. However, like yours mine was heavy and even had a bit of creep.

You can adjust the weight but don't under any circumstances try to adjust the creep. I learned the hard way!!!!!!!!! I ended up sending back to Weatherby and they installed a new trigger but it was equally hard. Rather than mess up again, I installed a Timney trigger in the rifle when I got it back. The Timney came in at 2.5 lbs and was a drop in installation plus gave me a 3 position safety which I much prefer.

I love my Vanguard and it shoots much better than my capabilities. Good luck with your rifle.
 

RC20

New member
Some stuningly complicated methods listed.

Make usre basics are right.

Phew, problems? Move out a bit from 25 yards and see where it starts to get off enough to be weid.


Use that to see if anything you do gets it right. If yes, move it out again and see if it hold up or goes werid again.

if no, work on it until you get tired of it and throw it in the river.

Saves a lot of walking to 100 yards.
 

Big Pard

New member
Normally I like to shoot about 1-1.5" dead low at 25yds and depending on the round I could be 1.5" to 3" high at 100. Maybe the easiest way to see what's going on is to get a big piece of cardboard(the side of an appliance box is perfect) and stick a 6" orange dot in the center. Place target at 100yds and take the bolt out of the rifle and center the orange dot into the bore while making adjustments to the scope. Once you get the cross-hairs and bore centered on the dot at the same time, you should be close. I suspect that your target is too small.
 

Longdayjake

New member
That sounds like it would work great if you were shooting from the roof of your house straight down.......

Or at a hill/berm like most rifle ranges seem to have these days.

I can usually get sighted in at 100 yards with about 5-7 rounds. Lets see you do that by starting at 25, then going to 50, and then going to 100.
 

mister2

New member
Centered at 25 yards

OK, two possible meanings, here:

1. Your scope was *centered* meaning it shot to point-of-aim, regardless of where the internal settings were,

2. your scope was at its settings center and you were on paper, if not on target, at 25 yds.

What I'm saying boils down to:

1. if the scope had to be adjusted close to the end of its elevation or windage travel, just to get on the paper at 25 yds, I can see how 100 yds ( I would've tried 50 & 75, in any case) could be a problem, or

2. if your scope was centered in its settings and you couldn't walk your target out to 100yds, there's a problem with the mounting, the scope, or the rifle. How does it do with iron sights, if any?

Learning the hard way, I now try to mount a scope so that it's real close to point-of-aim with the settings centered (or at *midpoint*, if that lessens the ambiguity). This way, I have a lot of leeway for adjustments 360*.

BTW, as a scope gets close to its travel limits, it will also decrease the range on the other axis. A scope adjusted to the end of its vertical axis will have no windage flexibility.

HTH,
MR2.
 
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