Gun_Geezer,you talk of poor shooting skills,just how are you setting up?At the range,it's very important to be able to be rock solid so you know just how well your gun is shooting.I use a front rest and a rear bag.I think the rear bag will really improve how well you shoot,if you don't have one,get one.When your hunting,you don't have all those tools,but if your rifle shoots well,your chances of hitting what your aiming at improves.You know it's you and not the gun.Another thing that can cause poor shooting is a hard trigger.All mine break around 2 1/2 - 2 3/4lbs.A lot of factory rifles break around 5 - 8lbs,that's just way too hard for me to get tight groups at that weight.Here is a picture of my rest and rear bag setup.

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~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
As Bob Hagel would say"You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."Good words of wisdom...............