Thread: Variables affecting precision

Originally Posted by 19Badger

There are never any zero wind conditions, just those you can see and those you can't see.
In competition when the flags aren't moving I have seen people shoot BIG groups and think their gun/scope or something is broken, of course when the flags start moving and they shoot several good groups it shows they couldn't see what was making their bullets move all over the place.

If you aren't using some form of wind indicator when shooting all you are doing is guessing and being oblivious to something that affects the bullet, remember wind can blow bullets into a group as well as out.

The groups I was referring to were shot using a factory Sako in 223Rem, I have seen this rifle perform in competition more than once and the results were pretty similar both times.
I wouldn't have a clue how many different loads he tried before ending up with the final load but that load performs very well in that rifle, and he used the standard Benchrest tuning method of seating depth and powder charge to end up where he did.
I cannot take photos of those groups because the person that shot them has them, not me.

With a Benchrest rifle you can see the difference in seating depth and powder charge, and it is definitely more noticeable and repeatable than with the factory rifles I own and even more noticeable and repeatable at 200.
There are some who have joined the Benchrest group and bought Benchrest rifles because their custom rifles weren't as consistent as they thought they should be, I need to ask them if they find the Benchrest rifle is more consistent.

I can only comment about the rifles I shoot and what I have found.

gimp, perhaps you need to sit behind a Benchrest rifle and try it, experiencing the actual results will tell you more than listening to someone else, my offer is still open.

It seems like we more or less agree on the point that's relevant to this thread & load development discussions on the forum more generally - that whatever the effect size of tuning with charge weight and seating depth in a benchrest rifle (and I am yet to be convinced of that with evidence rather than hearsay but it's not the hill to die on here), it is not easily detectable in a hunting rifle, particularly a factory rifle - and people probably shouldn't worry about it very much


The reason BR keeps coming up of course is that people look at BR shooters "tuning" and assume that because those people do it, it must be necessary for good precision in a hunting rifle. My evidence so far just shows me that any effect that exists more or less cannot be resolved in the practical constraints of hunting weight shoulder fired rifles in the real world - even extremely high quality rifles with extremely high precision