Sighted in a Rem 783 7mm-08 yesterday. New gun, scope, rings, ect..
At 25 and 50 yds, clover leafed 3 shots. At 100 yds, 3 shots in a 5 in circle.
Using factory Swift 160gr A-Frames.
Rechecked at 25 & 50, clover leaf. Bullet to heavy? I have a 7RM does the same thing with 175 gr bullets.

Google says the twist is 1-9.25.”

What’s the velocity?

Also, why the desire for a heavy bullet? I use 140 and 150 grainers in mine.

Shooting at 25 and 50 is a waste of components. It really doesn't tell you anything. Making it damn near pointless. How much experience do you have as a shooter? Was your rest stable? What were you shooting off of and were you using good sand bags or front rest? Did you install the bases, rings and scope yourself?

Odd bullet choice for a 708, might as well gone with a 308 with some 165s

When my groups opened up like that, my ring screws were loosening. Sorry Fat wrench....

Everything installed at a gun shop, including a Boyds stock. Gun club shooting rest, sand bagged front a rear.
25 & 50 not a waste to me. If I started at 100, I would have gone to 1 or the other anyway.
At the time Swift ammo in the 160 A-Frame was all I could get at the gun shop.
I don't shoot a 1000 rounds a year, but I do ok.

This is probably the problem. Just because some feller works at a gun shop, it doesn’t mean he’s competent.

And, my 2 cents worth. You don’t need that heavy a bullet for anything you’ll shoot with a 7mm-08! I shoot mainly 120 gr. Ballistic tips. If I need more, a 140 gr. Partition gets the nod. Just me.

I'd go over all the mechanicals before anything else.

I load 120 Barnes for mine, hammers deer and pigs.

I loaded the 120 Barnes for a new to me 99 in 284. They shot really well in it. I’m giving some thought to trying that bullet in some 7 mags.

I'm going to drop it off at the guy who does my reloading. He more assets to work with than me. Plus a lead sled.
It's not a primary weapon. Something I bought from a friend who won it at a club drawing, with no use for it.
Invested a few bucks to get rid of the syn. stock and bought the last 5 boxes of ammo he had in 7/08.
Been dealing with same shop for over 35 years, 4th Boyds stock fitted. Other 3 bench fantastic.
Appreciate the responding posts.

We don't need half the schit we use, but that doesn't stop anyone.
There's nothing wrong with using 160's in a 7-08 and I haven't had one yet that didn't shoot them well.

Nosler 140 Accubonds, will cover your bases, if you can find them.

Sure would be nice if you could find 5 ot 10 rounds of some basic hunting load and see how they group. As already stated I would go140 gr and see how that does.

Yessir!! My Titanium 7-08 stacks Sierra 160’s at 200 yards.

Slings studs weren't in the bags were they?

Check all your mechanicals, as Jordan said. Pull the scope and check the base screws, then the ring screws, then the action screws. Before giving any of this other stuff a second thought. If all those things were tight, throw another scope on and check the gun with that.

What TX35Wsaid…. Are those A frames copper fouling the bore?

Get a very bright light and shine it down the bore from the muzzle. With the gun unloaded! If it looks like a shiny penny get to cleaning. Then try a different bullet. I’d try a 139 hornady or 140 whatever.

check for any interference between barrel and stock unless that particular gun likes to touch the forend. also, i'll second try your reloading guy to reload you some 120 ballistic tips,139 interlock and 140 partitions. surely one of those will git 'er done. check the action screw also and see what the manufacturer says they should be at.
Big Ed

Did they glass bed it? Something is mechanically awry. That starts with how the action fits in the stock and how its bedded. You have to start at the start there. You answered my question about rest used. I'd chit can the lead sled. Use bags or a good front rest and rear bag. That brings me to my next question you didn't answer. What is your experience level? However, if your rifle isn't properly glass bedded and you don't know for sure your rings and bases are probably installed, you can throw everything out the window. You also say you have another rifle that does the same thing. New rifle, new scope put in rings and bases by someone else, so you aren't even sure they were done right and using factory ammo. This whole thread spells disaster.

I only bore sight a couple shots at 25 than go to 100. Anything more than that is a waste of time and components.

I use 120gr NBTs in my 7x57 for deer and 160gr NPs for moose.

I boresight and start shooting both at 100 yards. It's a rare instance for the first shot to land more than a few inches from the bullseye.

I go to 25yds for a boresight and then get close to 1/2" low at that distance. Then I can go to 100yds.

Why would the OP's rifle shoot well at 50yds and then open up tenfold at 100yds? Seems really odd....

sounds like the twist of the rifle won't handle that heavy of a projectile to me.
Big Ed

I didn't think about twist, but it could be. Optics was where I was leaning.

Definitely try a light bullet.

If the bullet is stable at 50, then it'll be stable at 100.

How's parallax at 100?

I would have to agree with this. I would remove the scope and remount it. I would also remove the stock and see if there is any binding anywhere, some boyd stocks need a little fitting.

Went to the range over the weekend.
Wasn't the rifle or ammo. It was the way I was gripping the thumbhole stock and the difference in the bench at the 100 yrd target.
This style thumbhole stock fits small in my hand, depending on where I had placed my thumb, it would cause it to rotate on the bags ever so slightly. Thumb high rotate, right, thumb low, just the opposite. Guy with me picked it up right away. Put a bag under my forearm helped a bunch. Now 3 the size of a pocket watch. Good enough to sit in a gun cabinet.
Appreciate the suggestions. I'm not a professed bench shooter. Pushing 70, guess I developed a fault.

Glad you figured it out. I was going to suggest getting someone else behind the trigger as the first step. None of us want to admit we might be the x factor when things go south for no obvious reason, but more often than we want to admit we are. In the future try to get some 140 grain ballistic tips. They are extremely accurate in my 708 and hell on whitetails. Hotter I push them the tighter they group.

Bluecat not sure I've seen you post before.
Welcome to the 'Fire Neighbor.
I have kin in Greencastle.

Do some field position shooting with that thing if you plan to
hunt it.

Always wonder about folks who bench rest to zero, then go hunt.
Especially with solid bags or even more so with the sled.

Bubba, shooting over the hood (Not in Commyvainia!) with a blanket
as a pad, probably has a better idea how it's gonna shoot in real
world use.

Dillonbuck,
How are ya?
Know a few people in the Greencastle area. Took a couple to Idaho elk hunting a couple years. Filled their spike tag both times.
Don't plan on hunting with it. bought it cheap, invested a few bucks in a Boyds stock. It's a loaner if someone around here needs to borrow one.
Take care,
Where are you located

when you say "clover" leaf at 25 & 50, does that mean touching,or does that mean a 1-inch cloverleaf? shooting at 25 yards is very helpful for getting on paper then moving out as you did. I see no reason a 160-grain bullet would not shoot in that caliber, so my guess is one of two things. the Boyds stack needs some touch-up, i.e. bedding along with the scope rechecked (you did not mention the type of scope). Second, and sad to say, I bought my grandson a 308 in that rifle and after extensive loading with 130 Barnes, 150 Hornady, 165-grain Sierra, and 3 different powders and god know how many loads that gun refused to shoot anything less than 2" groups and I have been doing this for 50 years. sometimes, you just get a lemon. I had a second 308 in that rifle that was easily sub moa with everything I ran through it. trial and error is the fun, yet exasperating part of getting any gun to shoot, but if I were a betting man, I would bet on bedding and pressure on the barrel somewhere. good luck!

Bedford area.

My Tikka shoots 160gr Nosler Partitions quit well with RL26 at 2760FPS or so. But I like 145grSpeer or 140gr bullets. I like to keep the speed up to 2900 FPS. Just

my thinking.