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Rifle Accuracy Question

Art Vandeley

Art Vandeley

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I recently picked up a rifle and scope combo (Bergara b14 6.5 creed) that I would like to shoot a little farther than my typical 100 yard sight in. I had it shooting a 100 yard group that was roughly 1.5" across on Friday. Yesterday, I took it out and started shooting farther with it. The furthest I got was 260 yards but I was disappointed with the results. There was no consistency and I shot roughly 10 shots that were in the 20" circle range for accuracy. There was a slight breeze but pretty calm. I was shooting off a front and rear bag and felt I was pretty solid.

I went back to 100, and it was still pretty much right on at that range. I am curious why the accuracy went down hill so quick. I was wondering if temperature had something to do with it? The ambient was right around 2 degrees F. There was likely a lot of rapid heating/cooling in the barrel.

I don't have much experience with shooting rifles so I'd appreciate any suggestions. Maybe I should re-zero the scope at 200?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hmmm. Kinda surprised at the "lack of accuracy" from that combo.
Bergara's are somewhat known for their accuracy.
You didn't say what your feeding it.
Factory, or handload? Bullet type and weight?
Group of 1.5" at 100 yards doesn't tell us how many shots per group. 3? 5? 20?

I would say your barrel doesn't care for what your feeding it.
If factory, try a different bullet, or different manufacturer.
 
Maybe that rifle does not like the ammo that you were using. 1.5 inches for aCreed, is not very good. Bergara should be better than that. Temperature should never affect the groups that badly. Also, make sure all of your mounts etc., are tight.
 
Lots of factors go into accurate shooting. My initial thought is scope set up, mainly parallax issue.
That rifle, especially in 6.5 should group nice and tight at 250.
 
std7mag said:
Hmmm. Kinda surprised at the "lack of accuracy" from that combo.
Bergara's are somewhat known for their accuracy.
You didn't say what your feeding it.
Factory, or handload? Bullet type and weight?
Group of 1.5" at 100 yards doesn't tell us how many shots per group. 3? 5? 20?

I would say your barrel doesn't care for what your feeding it.
If factory, try a different bullet, or different manufacturer.
Click to expand...

Sorry fellas. I should have specified ammo. I was shooting factory ammo, Hornady precision hunter 143g ELDX.

The group at 100 yards was a 3 shot group.

Maybe I need to try new ammo.
 
Re-zeroing at 200 will have no affect whatsoever on accuracy. I doubt ambient temperature was a factor either.

"Roughly 1.5" at 100 isn't bad, but it isn't great. How many shots in this group? 20" at 260 is pretty abysmal. The first thing I'd do is have someone else shoot the gun and see if they replicate the same level of accuracy. I would also find a different scope and swap them to see if that has any affect.

What ammunition are you shooting? What scope? Mounting system?

You need to start eliminating variables one at a time. Don't change more than one at once.
 
Different ammo is worth a try for sure. I shot the Precision Hunter ammo through my Weatherby creedmoor and the results were anything but precise.
 
Last edited:
JLS said:
Re-zeroing at 200 will have no affect whatsoever on accuracy. I doubt ambient temperature was a factor either.

"Roughly 1.5" at 100 isn't bad, but it isn't great. How many shots in this group? 20" at 260 is pretty abysmal. The first thing I'd do is have someone else shoot the gun and see if they replicate the same level of accuracy. I would also find a different scope and swap them to see if that has any affect.

What ammunition are you shooting? What scope? Mounting system?

You need to start eliminating variables one at a time. Don't change more than one at once.
Click to expand...

The scope is a Vortex Viper HST 4-16x44.
 
Clean it with a good copper removal, keep pushing patches thru until there is little to no blue streaks. 1.5” is way to big of a group for the Sub MOA guarante. My B14 took some time to break in but is a tac driver with the right ammo.

Then try a different ammo. Federal Fusions are cheap and a lot of folks get great groups with them. Report back and let us know.
 
My guess is its the guy pulling the trigger. Not trying to be rude, but any inconsistency by the shooter will be magnified the further out you get. That 143ELDX ammo is some of the best out there.
 
Last edited:
Were you dialing for the come up at that range? Or were you holding over? It could be that there's something wrong with your scope when you dial, but that still seems strange. From what I've heard that gun and ammo combination is usually good for at least under an inch.

One thing that I typically forget is to take off the sling swivel on the front so it's not riding on the bag, but with a hunting rifle maybe that's not something to worry about. I'm a newby so take my musings with a grain of salt.
 
Addicting said:
Clean it with a good copper removal, keep pushing patches thru until there is little to no blue streaks. 1.5” is way to big of a group for the Sub MOA guarante. My B14 took some time to break in but is a tac driver with the right ammo.

Then try a different ammo. Federal Fusions are cheap and a lot of folks get great groups with them. Report back and let us know.
Click to expand...

I will try that thanks.

TimeOnTarget: That definitely could be the case. I have a lot to learn. Would shooting off a led sled help eliminate that variable?
 
MT Muley said:
I will try that thanks.

TimeOnTarget: That definitely could be the case. I have a lot to learn. Would shooting off a led sled help eliminate that variable?
Click to expand...

Don't use a lead sled as a crutch to learning to shoot. Concentrate on your trigger press and nothing else. Dry fire to see if your reticle is moving at the trigger break.

Edit: This is why I told you to have someone else shoot it. Then, you know if it's the nut behind the trigger.
 
The problem with lead sled is they really can throw off length of pull and cheek weld position which can create a bunch of parallax. If you can't get it to shoot, I'd suggest getting sandbags and a bipod
 
I recently bought the same rifle in the same caliber. I've tried 4 different factory loads and the ELD-X and Barnes LR have been the best so far. My best groups have been around an inch to inch and a half. A little disappointing, but I would guess a lot has to do with me. I shoot my .243 extremely well. The .243 seemed to tighten up after a couple hundred shots and started out with about the same size groups, so I am guessing that over time I will shoot the Bergara better too. I am pretty recoil shy, so I bought the 6.5 because it isn't much more kick than the .243.
 
mtmuley, if you shoot your .300 ultramag reasonably well, then you can rule out shooter issues. Assuming your groups are representative of the true accuracy capabilities of the rifle and ammo, then the only way that they can open so many multiples more than in proportion to the distance increase is if the bullets are unstable. WHY they are unstable is anybody's guess, but they are flying curves beyond the one specified by gravity.
 
I'd wager the scope is a POS long before I'd believe the bullets are unstable to the point of 10 MOA accuracy at 260.
 
OhHeyThereBen said:
Were you dialing for the come up at that range? Or were you holding over? It could be that there's something wrong with your scope when you dial, but that still seems strange. From what I've heard that gun and ammo combination is usually good for at least under an inch.

One thing that I typically forget is to take off the sling swivel on the front so it's not riding on the bag, but with a hunting rifle maybe that's not something to worry about. I'm a newby so take my musings with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...

I was dialing for that range.

The scope could be in question as the zero stop thing is not working after putting all the shims in that it came with. Not that the two are related but if one element isn't working, who knows what else is wrong.

I appreciate the help so far guys.
 
Last edited:
MT Muley said:
I was dialing for that range.

The scope could be in question as the zero stop thing is not working after putting all the shims in that it came with. Not that the two are related but if one element isn't working, who knows what else is wrong.

I appreciate the help so far guys.
Click to expand...

If the scope is bad, then the group size would still increase in direct proportion to distance. 1.5" at 100 becomes 3.9" at 260. You reported 20" at 260. That is an increase of 5.1 times what would be expected from a bad scope problem. You need a factor that is causing the bullets' flight to become worse as it flies. It doesn't just depart on the wrong line, it is flying off the line it left the muzzle at.

There are a lot of reasons why that could happen. An easy one to check is the muzzle crown. But look at the bullets holes. And shoot your targets on a clean cardboard backer so that your holes are reliable predictors of how the bullet was flying.
 
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