Teach Deer

I have a Savage 116 in .270. While it is a good hunting rifle, it has never been as accurate as my Savage 110 in 7mm Remington Magnum (which is hyper-accurate with most loads).

My .270 is the least accurate with Remington Core-lokt loads (either 130 or 150 grain, but does seem to like the reduced-recoil variety). It seems to be the most accurate with plain Federal 130 grain Hi-shok bullets (right at 1" groups). I have been using Winchester 130 grain Silvertips in it for the past couple of years.

My 7mm is sub-MOA with Remington core-lokt, even though they represent the largest groups (just under 1"). The best has been with Winchester Supreme 150 grain BST (under 0.5 MOA).

Since every rifle is different, explore different brands and bullet styles over the years to come. Savage rifles due tend to be very accurate (some more than others though).

thatguybme

+1 on a trigger job.. My ruger m77 .308 had, what I thought, was acceptable accuracy for where i hunt (typically 75 yrds or less shots)..

I had a $65 trigger job (polish and lighten) made a huge difference accuracy.. The trigger weight dropped from ~8 lbs to about 3.75 lbs.. Much easier to get better accuracy with a lighter trigger..

Also, as mentioned the more you shoot the better your accuracy gets.. I (like most ppl) need to just get more trigger time each year..

I also found that my .308 was hard on my shoulder for shooting in hot weather due to the thinner shirts vs heavy hunting coat- so i just ordered a shoulder pad to take some of the thump out of the gun so I will want to shoot longer.

brian

Sheridan

Have you tried a least a few different brands of ammo ?




Are you shooting from a solid rest ?





Last time I checked a deer's heart is bigger than 2".........................!!??





Find the best ammo for your gun while you practice getting tighter groups.





If on opening day you are within 2" of your target; you'll have your trophy !!!

tgh97531

I use what works best in the rifle for the given situation. I get 1 inch group with Remington 130 core loct out of my M77 which I use on deer. The Remington 243 and I like the expensive Federal 85. JC Higgins 30-06 does not have a Favorite but I like Fereral Premiums Partitions.

GRIZZLYMAN

There are plenty of rounds in the middle ground. I personally like the Fusion rounds because of bullet weight retention, but I have killed deer with Blue box Federal and Core-Lokts too.

JeffS

Any factory rounds will work for what you want. We reload our own because we end up shooting alot and it is cheaper for us to reload. However most people worry about accuracy out over 200 yards but most deer are shot at less than 75 yards.

Duckbutter48

Before you discuss ammo and trigger job and all of the misc info, you should post what are you are using for a rest. You stated you are using the best way to steady your rifle you can find. If its just a rolled up shirt or gun case then 2" groups are more then fine. Without a very good solid rest its a question of how well you can shoot more then the gun and ammo.

Until I dropped the gun into a 100% solid rest and tested it out I wouldn't worry about the sub moa accuracy of the rifle and would very confidentally walk into the woods with a 2" group from just leaning the gun on something and shooting it. Obviously the gun is shooting fine at that point. I mean your deer hunting not shooting 10spots.

If I can shoot 5" groups while standing up shooting offhanded with Rem ammo I doubt the ammo would be the first thing I worry about tightening up my groups.

OregonHunter5

200 yards or less, go cheap... 250-???? go expensive

Todd1700

There is a common misconception that buying a premium brand ammo means that it is loaded to a higher standard or held to tighter tolerances and will therefore tend be more accurate. The actual truth is that when you buy premium ammo the real reason for the difference in price is that it is typically loaded with what is regarded as a premium type bullet. Ballistic tip, Nosler Partition, Barnes TSX, etc, etc. Where as the basic blue box federal stuff (just to name one brand) will have a simple standard lead tipped bullet. So whether you realize it or not you are paying that extra money to get a more expensive type of bullet. Not a more accurate cartridge. A given rifle is just as likely to shoot some of the cheap stuff well as it is the expensive ammo. Unless you actually need or just want one of these more complex designed bullets there is no need to purchase this higher dollar stuff. For deer, standard lead tipped bullets have always been and remain all you need.

mauser06

accuracy and price arent ALWAYS hand n hand...


my 22-250 i pay like 30$ for 55gr ballistic tips from federal...

once i was in a jam and the groundhog huntin was hot and i ran outta ammo...had to order them as noone local had them...in the mean time i bought CHEAP UMC 40rd value pack ammo...it was a 50gr JHP...

truth be told, that ammo shot half the group size at 100yds...but at 200 the ballistic tips were more accurate and consistent..better bullet and more consistent ammo for long range shooting...

also, i had the only few groundhogs i ever had crawl into their holes after the shot with the 50gr JHP...surely not GREAT shots...but with the ballistic tips, anything other than a hit in the foot, killed em dead upon impact...


for deer and big game, i pay for good ammo...only because the bullets are better, more consistent and ive had issues i wont get into on an open forum with "cheap" ammo....

the more expensive ammo is loaded with better components and held to higher standards....which should make them more consistent...but in my circumstance with the 22-250, my gun liked the cheaper ammo at 100 but thats only because my rifle liked the lighter bullets and shot them better....not because the ammo was better...