All the above is true. How tightly (or loosely) the gun is held to the shoulder, how the grip is held, how much pressure from the cheek to the stock--all of these matter. It takes a lot of shooting to find the optimum combination.
Thanks.You mentioned trigger control.
Something that improved my distance shooting was gun control.
I had to make sure my cheek weld was exactly the same every time the amount of grip from my trigger hand to the stock.
The amount of pressure that I applied to my shoulder from the gun was a big one.
You change that just a little bit and the groups got larger.
Then you have your other hand or a bag on the forend or possibly a bipod.
You need to have the hand or bag in the exact same place every time.
Keep your thumb or fingers off the barrel also. Resting part of the thumb on the barrel can pull the shot 1/2" out of the group at 100 yards.
100 yards doesn't tell me a thing about what the gun and load can really do. Step out to 200.
I have many loads that shoot .4" or some 1/2 of that at 100 but at 200 or farther they fall apart. Like 4" or larger at 200.
Then my good loads will stay sub moa to 500 in many different temperatures but look horrible at 100. Like 3/4" at 100.. Which is fine but does not impress when you want bragging rights for your tiny 100 yard group.
My little savage axis .223 shooting at 500 yards with hand loaded 55 V-Max first 2 shots .7" apart one right above the other.
Shot 3 I choked and held the gun different, I was rewarded with that round 5" to the right of the other 2. for a 5" 3 shot group.
When I pulled the trigger I knew I screwed it.
One rifle that I didn't bring to that Eat-N-Shoot was an Anschutz 1710 DHB. It has a straight comb (like a traditional American stock) a wider, fuller fore end (which makes it ride the bags much better than the Euro-styled 1422), a marvelous trigger, and a heavy barrel. In a pinch it could be used in the squirrel woods, and it is the closest thing I have to an all-around rifle. It is very accurate, but, at the end of the day, it is more of a sporter, and it is not as accurate as my bench guns. There really is no such thing as a true all-round rifle, IMO.
Maybe you should go to 5 shot groups so you can tell if your reloading and shooting is accurate. When you post these odd figures with your shooting and testing the 5 shot group will give you better usable info. 3 shots and calling pulled shots is not very reliable info. The 5 shot group elimnates those odd groups in your testing you come up with.100 yards doesn't tell me a thing about what the gun and load can really do. Step out to 200.
I have many loads that shoot .4" or some 1/2 of that at 100 but at 200 or farther they fall apart. Like 4" or larger at 200.
Then my good loads will stay sub moa to 500 in many different temperatures but look horrible at 100. Like 3/4" at 100.. Which is fine but does not impress when you want bragging rights for your tiny 100 yard group
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