semi

When sighting in my Model 70 30.06 this past weekend, i noticed quite a difference in accuracy with different brands of ammo.. I started with 150 corelokts, and was shooting a 6" groups at 100 yrds. Then i had some 150 Winchester X that shot much better (under a 2" group at the same distance). I then put in some 165 Winchester bullets and it was all over the place. 12" off of target to be exact. left to right was off by about the same too with NO consistency at all. I just find this a little weird that it could be so far off. Now, i could have been fatiqued and the barrel could have been hot. But i just can't see how it can be so far off. Any opinions welcome. Again, new to the 30.06 (been hunting with 12 gauge for quite some time)..

I would like to use the core-lokts since i can get a box for about $8 at kmart. The winchesters XP2's are about $15 a box. Not a big deal, but i am trying to figure out why my rifle really, and i mean really, prefers one type of bullet.

Nomercy

First off, about the core locts, they're cheap, and I firmly believe that you get what you pay for with them...It's a pretty good bullet, does as well as any other soft point jacketed bullet out there I suppose, but they're awful for accuracy...most guys can get them accurate enough for 100yrd hunting, but not much farther.

All rifles will shoot differently with different types of bullets, even the same manufacturer's in different weights/loads/types are going to be hugely different...I've got a Ruger 77 with a 4-16x glass that shoots one ragged hole at 150yrds with 150grn Winchester Supreme Balistic Silvertips, while getting huntable accuracy (sub 6" groups at 150yrds) with 150grn Win. Super-X Silver tips, 150grn Power Point plus's give 3" groups usually in this rifle at 100yrds....On the same token, My M-1Garand (bluesky) shot the 150grn Balistic Silvertips into 8" groups at 100yrds and took the power points to 1.5" at 100yrds, this was without a scope.

Before you blame the rifle for being inaccurate, think about what you're doing, you readily admit that you're new to rifle shooting, it could be that you're moving on the shot, or maybe you're not used to the scope and getting a shadow, if you're using iron/open sights, you're probably doing as well as you can see, if you're shooting without a rest (bipod, bag, vise, etc) I'm not honestly surprised you get poor results...100yrds is a lot farther than people give it credit, jump up and go sprint it sometime, or try throwing a baseball half that far (no accuracy, just range), shooting to 100yrds can become easy if you do your part, but just jumping into a race car doesn't make you ready for the Indy 500. I'm going to say it, I'm betting it's you, not the rifle (although the 2" group would have been doing well for a factory rifle).

What you're experiencing is fairly normal in theory, you've got some pretty extreme variations in zero between the two Winchester loads which surprise me, but the difference in precision of the Corelokts and Wins don't surprise me at all...one thing I'm curious about, with the 165grn Super-X's, was the group small but a foot off, or was it a 12" group on center? The difference in group size doesn't surprise me a bit, however, if your central point of impact (the center of your groups) changes 12" between the two loads, you've got a weird rifle.



I don't know the condition of your 70, nor if it's a "fluke" crapper that makes it out of the factory, nor what scope you're using (if you've got one), nor what mounts you're using... all of these things and about half a million others effect your accuracy, shooting factory ammo, especially cheap factory ammo is basically what it is...shooting crap is a crap shoot, so to speak, don't expect premium grade accuracy from bargain bin ammo.

Danny45

Nomercy has had different results than I have had with Core-Lokts. They shot fine in my Browning .270 (3/4" groups at 100 yds, 1 1/2" at 200, and 2 3/4" at 300 yards. And they kill deer just as dead as other bullets do.

To answer your question, it's not uncommon for you to experience what you are. Nomercy also touched on a few things that may be more related to you, and not your rifle/ammo combination. But in short, if you are doing your part, your groups could be a result of not finding the ammo your rifle likes yet. Keep trying different brands and bullet weights. If none of them ever shoot decent, have the gun looked at by a good gunsmith. Then be prepared to start all over again. Today's ammo from the major players are about as good as they have ever been.

Nomercy

I don't know if I made it clear or not, but there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with hunting a 2" at 100yrds factory rifle, in fact, you're probably quite lucky to have found the load that does so in your rifle...base model factory hunting rifles aren't precision machines, some people expect a bare bones Remington 700 to shoot 1" groups at 600yrds with a 3-9x glass, it's just not going to happen, expecting a scoped rifle to give 2" groups at 100yrds isn't always fair either, but it's a good estimate of where they should be, factory, standard bbl rifles should give 2.5MOA or better from the factory.

semi

I was using 2 sandbags and the rifle was stable. I am new to shooting the 3006, but not necessarily to rifles in general. I do have more shotgun and pistol experience however.

Now, i was able to get 2" and under groups with the winchester 150 gr bullets. They were pretty damn accurate at 100 yards. In fact i shot a group of 4 and ended up with 3 holes, one being elongated. Not to bad i would say. But as soon as i switched to the 165 gr Win's, the group was close, just way off target by about 12" from where i was aiming (low and to the left of center). The core-lokts were just all over the place, left, right, high, low etc....

i have a crappy 3x9 simmons scope, mounted on the rifle. Came with it. i will be replacing it soon.

Granted i could have been part of the problem, but then again the winchester 150's shot very well. I guess, in the post, i was looking for opinions on the core-lokts. I have heard good and bad. I shot about 4 boxes that morning so my shoulder was a little tender.

Danny45

If I were you, before I got too upset or carried away, I'd change that scope. At the very least, make sure the rings and bases are tight.

Also, when shooting for groups, clean the rifle between each 3 shot group and let the barrel complete cool. That way each ammo brand is starting off the same as the others. It wouldn't surprise me that you'll see marked improvements in your shooting.

I respect, but disagree with Nomercy about one thing. I believe that most rifles now days, with the right shooter and ammo, will consistantly shoot better than 2". Some a lot better.

polack

I have found a difference when shooting 150gr.vs 165gr. For me the 165's shot almost off paper after sighting it in with 150's. Although they were almost off paper they grouped fairly well.
Polack

semi

polack, that is exactly what i found as well. The 165gr grouped fine, but they were'nt grouping where i was shooting like the 150's did.

I am going to start my process all over again with 2 boxes of core'lokt, and 2 boxes of Win Xp2 (both 150's) and then just for giggles after sighting it in, try 165 gr and see what happens. I will be cleaning the rifle between boxes to keep it fair. My rings and mounts were very tight. i tightened everything before i left and checked them after each group.

bigcountry

Have to admit, 12" off the paper is a little much. I know when I tried Scrirrocos, they were 6" off and I was a little confused. I reload and load I bet 12 different bullets for my 300RUM and 308 alone. And none of them have the same POI. All of them usually within 5 " of each other.

I got one gun, a 308 that will shoot coreloks ok. Every other one I have tried, about 12 to 15 of them, none of them was subMOA guns with coreloks. Federals with Sierras have a huge success ratio in all my guns I have had.

Look at it this way, they are cheaper than 12ga sabot slugs. Got to pay to play.

Vapodog

Take a dollar bill and slide it between the stock and the barrel all the way to the receiver to insure the barrel is free floating.

It sounds like a serious bedding problem to me because of the horribly eradic performances between the different loads.......this is not unusual for M-70s to need relief in the barrel channel

IMO there's absolutely nothing wrong about "cheap" core loks....they're a fine deer bullet!!!

You have every right to expect 1.5" groups for five shots and most m-70 will do better than that.