[kemster99]

i tried sighting in my .270 with 130 gr. SSTs on saturday. not very impressed. best group was 6". Had my rifle strapped into a lead sled rest. took one shot and was 3" high from the bull at 100 yds. made no scope adjustments, next shot 3" low. played this came for 2 hours and 2 boxes of shells. anyone else using these rounds? or have tried them? on another note i love the hornady leverevolutions. hit a 4" metal spinner target at 200 yds from my marlin 30-30. just incredible.

 

[guppy11]

have you used other 130 grain bullets? Some guns don't like certain weight bullets. Are they reloads or factory? Bullet depths can make a difference as well, but won't usually make up 6"

 

[Karl.Luhr]

Something to consider

Your groups you report are huge. I think that you are fighting a scope mounting, scope mechanical, or bedding issue in your rifle. Does the rifle like 130s from another manufacturer? I would buy a box each of inexpensive Remington and inexpensive Federals. Afterwards if they also are also throwing large groups it has to be the rifle/scope combo that is your issue. I have seen loose scope mounts do what you are seeing, I have also tried to help shooters with loose internels in their scopes try to zero a rfle, same symptoms again. If your problem was only say groups of 1.5 inches you might consider getting the barrel recrowned, but you have a serious issue not a little one. Good luck, please make sure you post what you have tried to eliminate the problem. I personally would borrow a known good scope from someone if you don't have a spare. Then take your time and remove the current scope, rings, and mounts. Start over verifing each step that everything is good and tight. Start at close range I would use 25 yards, bore sight it with your bolt out and then shoot three rounds, they should all go through the same hole. If they do THEN adjust to center the group and repeat. Shoot again now blowing out the center of the bull. After that drop back to either 50 or 100 yards and have fun. With you rifle now shooting tight groups you could again mount the original scope and find out if your original scope was the issue or whether the remounting of your rings and mounts fixed the problem.

Look at all this as fun time not work, we all have to do to much of that already....

Karl

 

[kemster99]

was sighted with Winchester Supremes. ballistic tips 130 gr. Didn't like them because i got no exit holes or blood trails on all 7 of my deer this past season. the winchester 130 gr. was giving me about 3/4" groups at 100 yds. the hornady is a factory load. Had 5 boxes--even the same lot number. did notice some brass was hornady and some brass was frontier. I do not reload so i don't know of any difference between the 2. just looking for a good ammo. even had 4 neck shots on deer last season with NO exit holes. was quite surprising. gonna look around and try some other ammo in the coming weeks.

 

[kemster99]

checked scope mounts but i double mine up. i use 4 mounts. scope is a Bushnell 3200 elite thast is about 4 years old.

 

[Hunting Man]

I too find it hard to believe that the ammo is the culprit. I also agree get a box of remington 130 gr corelocks and try to re-zero it. If the same erratic pattern happens then something with the scope is the prime canidate. I've only had 1 scope failure and it was a Tasco on my TC firehawk last season and acted just like you have described, all over the place shots... and then finally the crosshairs moved. If the rifle was zeroed prior then I think somehow the scope got banged? Only another range session will prove that out. Good luck!

 

[kemster99]

have some more ammo coming. ordered some more winchester and some federal. gonna give them a try. knowing my rifle the way i do. i'm leaning more towards an ammo problem. maybe my rifle just doesn't like the hornady load. will keep y'all posted. gonna be a couple weeks before i can get back to the range. next couple of weekends will be working on my lease.

 

[Karl.Luhr]

A note on Hornady ammo

I wouldn't be concerned that some of your Hornady ammo says Frontier. They are one and the same, Frontier is the ammo line and Hornady is the bullet line. I think that if you can eliminate the mounts it's your scope that is bad.

Karl

 

[kemster99]

picked up my winchester supreme 130 gr. today. will try these. that is what i was shooting. if they group like they did last week, i guess i will stick with them. will let y'all know. talked to hornady today. wanted me to check the overall length of the ammo and see if it is consistent. other than that he was trying to blame my rifle also. just don't see it. the winchester ammo i had left, 6 shots, that i burned up prior to resighting the hornady, shott excellent. right where i wanted it to go.

 

[Karl.Luhr]

Well how did the Winchester loads do????

I have been checking to see if you posted anything else after shooting again. Did the old Winchester loads still shoot great in your rifle? This is an interesting one if your rifle again groups tight with the Winchester loads.

Karl

 

[kemster99]

as matter of fact. went to the range yesterday. made sure just to shoot off of sandbags this time. Hornady SST 130 gr. at 100 yds. 2" left, then 3 "left then 3" low. all the time aiming at the bulls eye. Switched over to Winchester Supreme 130 gr. Ballistic tip. re- zeroed scope at 50 then shot for 100. Finally 3 shot group was a cloverleaf 1" high (which is where i like to set my scope at) Will be contacting Hornady on Tuesday for a UPS label. They had told me if it still gave me problems they want me to send it back so they can see whats going on. I did measure the OAL of the Hornady shell and they ranged from 3.212 to 3.229 not sure how much of a difference that makes. The winchester is much longer OAL. Not sure what all that means. other than maybe the headspace.

 

[kemster99]

i shot about 15 shots with the hornady. 5 -3 shot groups. and they were just everywhere. left, right or low. will stick with the Winchester ammo for now.

 

[Karl.Luhr]

I guess that your rifle really didn't like Hornady..

The important thing is your rifle doesn't have a problem, just a personality. I think it is telling you it's time you took up reloading. I reload and it's fun. I have friends and they are handloaders, they can tell you how how far off the lands their bullet is seated. I full length resize, and use a load straight out of the Nosler manual. My load of Win 760 and a Nosler 165gr BT will put them through one hole at 50 yards. They are touching at 100 yards if I do my part. I have used reloaded ammo Elk hunting in Idaho where a 180 gr Nosler Partition did everything I could have asked. Please post what Hornady says about your ammo.

Karl