sauer14

Guys I am the OP, I have been working and have not had a chance to read all your replies. Sorry for the rant, I am not an expert shot by any means and that is one reason why I reload. But it rankles me that these gun experts say they can get MOA with factory ammo and using the same ammo off a lead sled with no wind I get 2-3 inch groups. With my reloads I can get both my Weatherby and Ruger American to shoot 1.25 -1.75 three shot groups at 100 yards, but this is with shooting many different loads. With other rifles I and my Father own I can shoot MOA at 100 which is not great but plenty good for what we hunt. Maybe I am expecting to much from a factory rifle.

Rob in VT

I have a Winchester Model 70 (early 1990s vintage) in a 30-06 and a Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 in a 300 Win Mag. I get sub MOA with both these rifles using premium factory ammo. I have begun reloading to help improve my accuracy. I also have quality bases/rings and high quality scopes on both rifles. Practice makes perfect.

Ridge Runner

gun scribes always seem to make it better than it is, in my 40 years of experience I can say factory rifles are the luck of the draw, if I want a rifle to shoot well I just have it built. could post some groups but seems I catch hell for it every time, have one rebarreled once and you'll know what I mean
RR

homers brother

Reloading isn't a guarantee that your ammunition will be any better than factory loads, and even those who shoot well will often tell you they're not an expert shot. We all blow it from time to time.

What mounts are on these rifles? Were they torqued to spec? Loc-Tite'ed? I've seen cheap and poorly installed mounts wreck the accuracy of many a fine rifle.

If you're getting 2-3" groups off a sled, I'd be looking at mounting issues first.

streetglideok

Don't let it rankle you. In some guns, factory ammo does really well, while in others, it doesn't. Just like some loads you probably have found don't perform as well as other loads when you roll your own. There is nothing wrong with 1.25-1.75" groups. Is it sniper accurate, not in the least, but is it plenty accurate for hunting, absolutely! Particularly if you can do this in multiple shooting positions. Factory rifles can and do perform better than that in a lot of cases though. Something you may look into if you have yet to do this, is scrub your barrel with JB bore compound. I have found after a hundred or so rounds thru a gun, if I do this, the accuracy jumps right up. Factory barrels tend to foul from my own experience until they break in. This stuff tends to get them pretty clean. Other people may offer different advice though.
Model 798 375H&H 260gr Nosler Partition, RL15 100yards. Flyer was my fault, I pulled. Gun is untouched internally. Just a redfield 2-7x

Nomercy448

Lead sled isn't a guarantee of utmost accuracy either. I shoot far better off of a front rest and sandbag than I ever did out of a sled, heck, better off of a bipod prone than I do out of a sled.

I'm surprised to hear you can't find a factory load that doesn't group better than 2-3" at 100yrds. Are you possibly running bullet weights not appropriate for your twist and velocity? Might have some warranty level issue if everything is lined up and you can't get it any better than that.

sauer14

All mounting hardware was degreased, torqued to spec and Loctite. Have tried factory and handloads 150, 165, 180 grains. 165 seems the best on both rifles. The Ruger American is fairly new so I may be able to get to MOA but the Vanguard, I don't know what to say, I have tried Barnes, Hornady, Speer, and Gamkings and the only thing that shoots halfway decent is Gamekings. The rifle is thoroughly cleaned after every session, I guess the next thing is to see if another scope will help

homers brother

What make mounts and scope are you using now? I'm also assuming also a .30-caliber (.308, .30-06, .300-something-magnum)?

The groups you're getting from your Vanguard at 100 yards are what I'd expect from mine at 300. That you're having similar accuracy issues with the Ruger is puzzling. Has anyone else fired these two and, if so, did the accuracy issues persist?

Unless you know you have junk glass on the Vanguard now, attempting to solve the problem by buying a new scope may be throwing good money after bad at this point.

sauer14

On the Vanguard scope is a Zeiss 3-9 with leupold mounts, the Ruger I believe has warn steel mounts with a cheap Bushnell scope. What I don't understand is when I first took the Vanguard out it shoot a 4 shot group at .75 MOA using GK 150g with 40g of IMR 3031 with a coal 2765 and I thought Great! this thing is going to be a tack driver, that was the first load I ever fired out of this rifle, just think of what I can do with other reloads or factory stuff. Problem is I have never been able to duplicate this with this exact load or any other for that matter. Now I get 1.25 - 1.5 3 shot Moa with this same load. Rifle is thoroughly cleaned after every shoot. Every thing else I have shot does worse than this.
From everything I have heard on this forum from other articles I have read Vanguards are supposed to be tack drivers.

streetglideok

Do what I suggested, get some JB bore compound and scrub the barrel. Clean the barrel out good after doing so, then check your groups the next outing at the range. Also make sure your stock screws having backed out at all.