Had a window of opportunity to shoot again today. And I know where my front and rear bags are, but chose not to take the time to dig them out, as it would have eaten up my time window.
But I did make some changes. I determined over the weekend that both the small and large apertures on the mag-pul sight hit to the same elevation. My shooting on the weekend was done with the large aperture as it afforded a brighter sight picture. And out to 50 yards I shoot about equally well with either.
I found today that the smaller aperture does tighten me up a bit at 100 yards. And it kept all my shots on paper at 200.
I also used a jacket on the shooting table to pad my elbows. This also helped tighten me up a bit, but I offset that by shooting 10 round groups. The wind was also quite playful today, and I'll use it as a partial excuse for a few of the wilder shots.
Today I used a 6" black Shoot-N-C on the white back of the same targets I used on the weekend. They did improve target visibility somewhat, but I'd do better with a 9" target, or maybe larger yet, particularly at 200.
I did snap a couple of pics and will post them before bedtime...
For evaluating a new rifle, it is very imperative to shoot larger shot strings. 10 shots for example. Sounds like you are doing it right. You are right about using a bigger target at 200 yards as well. If you were shooting a NRA target at 200 yards, the black bull would be 13 inches in diameter. One thing I'd suggest, is shoot it at 100 yards, until things start tightening up. Its easier to diagnose a problem at shorter range, such as 100 yards. If you are still shooting military 55gr crap, switch ammo as well...
