Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles is this even a possibility?????????

guys, do you "experienced" i.e. been around the block a few times,shooters ever make bonehead moves concerning shooting? the reason i ask is today i was out sighting in my,known accurate usually 3/4"@100yds, tikka t3 in 260 rem in and it was wandering all over the place and the best 3 shot group i could muster was 1.5-2". fellas,was i ever frustrated because like i said the rifle has shot .75" 3 shot groups at 100yds repeatedly. but, i changed scopes on it hence the resight in process. so, to the bone head move which i hope is the cause since i've got alot riding on this rifle. so, in being frustrated and the last group being the said 1.5-2" 100 yd 3 shot group with a bullet that the gun likes,i pack all my stuff up and when i went to put my caldwell rock front rest in the bag i noticed it was wobbly or loose as i forgot to tighten down the big L set screw before starting the sight in process. could this have been my issue the whole time? after i figured out the front rest was not tightened down i was so frustrated and i had to be at work in a hr or i have to wait a couple days to test my theory. the last group was more of less horizontal but some of the others were also vertical.

As with most things, you need to deal with one variable at a time and it appears as though you have several.

yeah guess you are right steel. guess i'm just hoping the front rest being wobbly is it cause i really like the meopta i recently installed on it. i know all my screws are at spec as i double and sometimes triple check my torque settings. like i said the gun is a known variable but the scope and loose/wobbly front rest is not. i felt like an idiot that i didn't check that WHILST i was at the bench instead of when i was frustratedly packing up. i know the barrel wasn't too hot due to the fact i'd shoot a 3 shot group then switch to the Glock 19 for a lil pistol practice and grabbed the barrel to check that it wasn't hadly warm let alone hot. gonna be a long couple days till i can get back and give it a second go. this was the hardest time i've ever had sighting in a rifle and i thought it would be a slam dunk cause i knew the rifle would shoot.

Doubt it was the rest. Sounds more like the 'new' scope. Like Steelhead suggests, one thing at a time.

Check the mounts for tightness, and get your rest straightened out. Those would be the first variables to eliminate.

I'd take a known-to-be-good scope with me to swap out if the problem persist and eliminate that variable.

Always ask yourself "what changed". Obviously mounting a different scope is what really changed which includes the scope, mounts and rings as the most likely variables to consider.

All this assuming your were not shooting in high wind that was switching directions...

nope 1nut it was an absolutely perfect 52 degree sunny 5 mph wind today. that particular gun like 130 grain accubonds and i shot them after really wanting it to shoot 140 grain core-lokt's and neither would give me the accuracy that i expect from this rifle. imma make sure the rest is tightened down before taking the scope and mounts off to replace with another scope cause i will have to take rings and all off. the meopta is a 30mm and the vx-3 that came off of it is a 1".

Could you just be having an off day? For me to shoot my best, my concentration has to really be there. There are days where my ability to concentrate varies. Some days I am just really focused and the sights seem like a vice. No movement and the trigger pull is consistent with no hesitation. Some days I cannot get really focused. I'm not flinching or jerking the trigger, I'm just not as focused for any number of reasons. I have a slight OCD issue also.

Hard to believe a Meopta scope to be bad outta the box, but stranger things have happened. Maybe it's you. Too much caffeine? grin.

thats what i thought too. i'm a huge meopta fan but this scope was a new old stock meostar 3-10x50mm from '05. so scope is 10 yrs old but nib. i'm sure the highly caffeinated pre wkout on board didn't help but i've shot some of my best groups after hitting the gym all juiced up on pre wkout. man i hope its not the scope as i really like it and looks sharp being a silver scope on my stainless tikka. i really like the #4 reticle too. its my first time shooting with a true #4 reticle and not a duplex style. my other meoptas have the illum 4k,+,reticle and its wider to the bold lines than the #4 that i shot today. i didn't have a problem keeping it on target and concentrated as to not snatch the trigger as that was my first thought that i was jerking the trigger with maybe a lil target panic. so, i settled down and made sure it was a surprise shot every hammer drop.

If the rest was wobbly loose it most certainly could have been the problem. That's an easy remedy and a simple test.
Take your old scope and replace if the rest didn't help.

g

Too many variables and yesterday wasn't your day.

I would say it's the scope if your mounts are tight. Might have some parallax playing with you with that 10x 50mm scope. Good luck.

thanks fellas. 1st variable i'm making sure of is that once i'm at proper elevation imma lock that set bolt down on my rock fron rest. then,if thats not the issue guess i'll check action screws,don't see how that could be it cause last time out before scope change it dropped 3 accubonds in 3/4"@100yds but ya never know, then i will try another scope as bad as i will hate it.

This stupid phuqcker married a man cause he can’t tell the difference.

What was wrong with your old scope? If it was holding zero and shooting sub moa with the old scope, why change it out?

I have daze like that all the time.

Anyone that says they don't isn't telling you the truth. I always take one or even two extra rifles with me to the range, just in case. Generally, I pack up the errant rifle and walk away from it. I'll shoot one of the others for a while. My brain is still thinking about the dud, trying to figure out what went wrong. After a while, I'll have a look. If the reason why shots aren't flying straight still isn't apparent, I leave it for another day.

I used to say a bad day at the range is better than a good day at work, but that's not the case anymore. I'll shoot something that prints little groups and leave knowing that I still "got it".

When I get home, I toss a few darts at this and feel much better.

quick answer: i wanted a longer opportunity to make a ethical shot when the shadows grow long and dusk sets in here in the deep south. i went from a Leupold vx-3 4.5-14x50mm to the Meopta meostar 3-10x50mm with the german #4 reticle which will make my 30min after sundown shots hopefully much easier. nothing wrong with the Leupold i just wanted to try the Meopta scopes and i love the clarity and i'm really hoping this isn't a scope issue.

Sorry, the last white piece of white trash, meth using, black cock sucking whore was married to you.

Say that again, slowly to yourself and make sure it made sense. TFF

How clean is your barrel???

The .75 opening up to 2” sounds like a fouling issue to me...

Also stock/action screws? Sometimes its good to pull the barrellled action out just to make sure nothing fell in there and is causing a pressure point.

Check/ fix the easy things first.

barrel is clean with no visible copper on the lands of the rifling. after shooting it yesterday i ran the patchworm down the bore 3-4 times with some ballistol on the patch and will run a dry one before i shoot in a day or so. i will chesk the torque on the action screws toos but wanted to eliminate the wobbly front rest first off to try and isolate my issue.