December 12, 2021 – When a rifle doesn’t perform to its potential, we need ask the question: “Is the gun or is it the shooter?” Multiple shooters can test the same rifle under the same conditions using the same load. This can be very useful. It is easy to get distracted by all the variables involved in designing a load for a new rifle. If you are too focused on loading variables and your target results are poor, you might quickly conclude that you need to modify your load. Sometimes the load is fine. Sometimes the problem is with the trigger puller or the setup on the bench. Here’s one example. Two new Savage F-Class rifles were tested in 6mmBR chambers. Initial results were not promising but were encouraging. One gun’s owner was able to get around groups of shots at 10 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 5 o’clock, 8 o’clock and none were touching. The load could have been deemed unfit for purpose. Another shooter then sat behind the rifle and placed the next two shots, an identical load, through the same hole. Shooter #2 produced a 6-shot vertical group with two shots in each hole, but at three different points. Okay, now we can conclude that the load must be adjusted to eliminate the vertical. Right? Wrong. Shooter #3 sat behind the gun and produced a group of strung horizontally, but almost no vertical. Hmmmm… What’s the deal? Shooting Styles Create Vertical or Horizontal Dispersion
What was the problem? Each shooter had a different method of holding the gun and adjusting it. The gun’s owner, shooter #1, used a wrap-around grip with cheek pressure and hand pressure. He was also squeezing his bag. All that contact was moving shot up, down and left and right. Wrap-around holds produced unpredictable results. Shooter #2 used no cheek pressure and only a very slight thumb pressure behind his tang. However, he was trying out different amounts of bag “squeeze”. His hold eliminated the side push but variations in squeeze technique and down pressure led to the vertical string. The gun shot successive shots through the same hole if he was consistent. Shooter #3 used heavy cheek pressure. This not only settled the gun vertically but also side-loaded it. This result was almost vertical, but too horizontal for this shooting style. A “Second Opinion”, as they call it, is always useful
Conclusion? You might want to change your shooting style before you spend the day fiddling with a load. It is almost always a good idea to have another experienced shooter test your rifle. The way that the shots were grouped on the target changed dramatically each time we changed the “drivers” during our test session. We went from a large round group to a vertical string to horizontal string. All three shooters were able diagnose shooting problems and refine their gun-handling skills. In a second session, all three shooters were able to shoot the gun better and the average group size dropped to 0.5-0.6 inches in the threes. There were no changes to the load. We did not alter the load, but we cut the group size in half. Switching shooters proved that the gun and the load were both good. The limiting factor for group size was the skill of the trigger-puller(s).
Similar Posts: Tags: Accuracy Test, Benchrest, Common Sense, Driver Error, Load Development, Multiple Shooters, Savage, Shooting Technique
