mrbb - I do not recall you calling anyone names, so the glass houses comment was not for you. I agree that name calling is inappropriate. I did my time in the Army many years ago and would certainly not like anyone to make reference to me as a sniper.

The original post did seem to have some incorrect statements but some of the responses to it did seem unnecessarily rough. Oh well, it is only messages from strangers on an internet board so it is no big deal.

I sure hope the glass house comment wasn't meant for me either. I know I wasn't rude. I did say I didn't care if I offended him or not but I will continue to call a spade a spade. In other words I will tell someone when they are not correct. And if they get offended and get all pi$$y about it so be it.

Well I just got on here and saw I may have started a small riot with a basic truth. My apologies if I inadvertently hurt someones feelings with an observation. He's calling that a 1 inch group when it is more than obvious that it is 3.5 or more and sorry but for a decent .308 locked in to a fixed bench rest as he stated that would be a pretty bad group. I'm no sniper but I was raised and taught by one of the best. I know a good group when I see one and that wasn't one. Sorry if the truth makes one want to leave the site.

WELL WAY TO GO HL! Now Butch took his ball and went home and we have no one to play with! LOL

Well shucks. Guess it's a good thing I make my own balls. Oh wait, this isn't the black powder section so some may not get that.

Just spitballing here but post # 8 is a bit confusing as it sounds like there may be 2 separate groups with 2 different shooting positions, etc. If that's correct, both groups seem to do well on elevation and the difference is in windage. If the tight group (shots 1 & 2) is from some type of rest and the looser group (shots 3 & 4) are not, it kind of explains some of the windage differences which may be due to shooter variations instead of the rifle or scope.

I've got one rifle I doubt anybody could get much better than a four-inch group with it. I have another rifle that on a good day I can clover leaf.
I periodically have to review the basics, one bad habit I occasionally have is my eye distance from the scope, I sometimes creep up too close where my zero is with around a two-inch eye relief.
I sure as heck didn't start out out as a decent shot, it was a process. A little encouragement and some help from a coach/mentor really improved my shooting.
I don't really believe in five shot groups, few hunting situations need five accurate shots. Three shot groups are plenty with a little cool off time between shots. Reality is the first shot out of a rifle when hunting is the one that counts. Picking up a cold rifle and putting the first shot in the black is what it is all about.
I'm also old as dirt and sometimes get tremors, I do the best I can with what I've got.
I have one rifle the trigger never breaks in the same place twice, I've learned to deal with it,

Pretty much all of my hunting is less than 400 yards and a majority of it less than 200 yards. 3 or 5 shot groups are nice to adjust your scope but at that range, it's the first shot that needs to be accurate. anything after that would normally be at a running animal which I don't take.

What I've found, as I'm sure many of you have, is that every one of my centerfire rifles shoot best on a fouled barrel. That is why I take my rifle(s) of choice out a day or two before and take a couple shots just to foul the barrel and to verify POI. Then they don't get cleaned until after the season barring inclement weather.
Edit: My exception to this is my black powder rifles. I make sure the first shot from a clean barrel is spot on.

The same here. I’ve taken deer at 600+ and our local range is 600, but by and far, most are under 200. Once it’s sighted in, I take it out twice in the morning. One shot is all I shoot each time, looking for it to be on target. I want to know it’s repeatable when it’s cold, because that is a true condition during a hunt.