sighting in my new gun

[squirrel slayer]

hey guys heres a question, my wife recently got me a new gun, Savage .308, i absoltely love it but i have put 2 boxes of winchester 180 grain shells thrrough it and still havent had a good group on bull. i have a 3x9x40 riflescope on top mounted securley because after a few shots i thought maybe the scope mounts were loose and it was causing a bad pattern, but it was not. is the 180 grain maybe a little too much for my deer hunting needs, should i drop down in load size what are some ideas to get this gun ready before i really need it next month. i do not want to chance going afield with a gun that may not be sighted correctly and make a poor shot and chance anything but a clean kill.

[waterweasle]

every gun likes different bullets, you may have to try several brands and bullet weights to see what your gun likes

[Pygmy]

The first thing to do is to besure that all mounting screws are tight and you have already done that.

Second, be sure you are shooting from a solid rest with sandbags or something similar to remove as much human error as possible. Could you be flinching ?

Some rifles just don't likea certain load or bullet weight. I would try some 150 or 165 grain loads and see if there is a noticeable difference. You will notice that the 150s recoil somewhat less than the 180s.

Good luck..Keep us posted on your results.

[squirrel slayer]

i had though about dropping to a 150 load, and i have never had an issue with flinching before but it could very well be that. i also did not bore sight just kinda looked down barrel and set up a target at 50 yards to get on paper. ill be going to get some shells this week after i get paid and will try 150, 165 and see what happens. also have to get the ol .22 out and let the wife shoot some maybe her steady hand can get it sighted in a lil better than mine. lol. time will tell all i want is meat in the freezer one way or another.

[Gthphtm]

If it is a Bolt action.You can try this.Set up a target 25 yards away from a solid bench or table.Target could be any material,Take a carpenters square 2 foot size,Draw a vertical line and then a horoz. line in the center of that.Magic marker works good.Take a level and try to get the target leveled out.Mount the rifle in some sort of vise or what ever holds it in one spot without moving.Take the bolt out of the rifle first.Now look threw the barrel and try to center it the best you can on the target Tighten holding device and make sure the barrel is still centered,now look threw the scope and see if the crosshairs are lined up with the target.Been doing this for 40+ years and it will get you pretty close to the bulls eye.And saves a lot of ammo.After that as said every rifle likes a ceritne weight bullet best.Also look up what weight bullets the barrel on the rifle is grooved for.

[Pygmy]

I would try the 150s first, since it is 30 grains lighter, while the 165 is only 15 grains lighter. It is plenty of bullet for deer and your trajectory would be a bit flatter than the 180 also.

[ants]

every gun likes different bullets, you may have to try several brands and bullet weights to see what your gun likes

Yup. Try a different brand and bullet weight. I shoot 150grs. out of my 06 it's plenty for deer.

How bad are your groups now and at what range?.....Good luck

Edited October 6, 2012 by ants

[squirrel slayer]

last time i was out i had a 5 shot group all about 3 in high and 3 in left of bull at 50-60 yards. but it dont seem to come in any closer if i move the sight at all. just very strange. maybe a faulty scope? ill try the 150 and see what happens.

[Pygmy]

That sounds like a scope problem..

If it were an ammo problem, you should still be able to MOVE the location of the group with scope adjustment, but the group would be unacceptably large.

[squirrel slayer]

i have been able to move the group some but i just ran out of ammo to move it any closer to bull. im going to get a box or 2 of the 150 gr and see if it helps any. also going to use sand bags instead of a 2x4 bench rest. lets hope this works as i dont want to have wasted this much time and money on a faulty scope.

[shawnhu]

Hi squirrel.

Think you may need to look into that scope or rings for it. At 50 yards, if you're 3 inches off and already ran out of adjustments, your scope is seriously off. Take a look at your mounts and make sure they are not crooked or installed wrong. Try flipping one of them and see if that helps.

A trick someone taught me, take the bolt out, and look down the inside of barrel. Line it up to bullseye and then without moving the gun, look through the scope and confirm.

Hope you figure it out without breaking the bank on bullets.

[sweet old bill]

sure sounds like it is the scope setup and not the rifle. Were did you get the rifle and was it the bolt action model...and what type of cost for a new rifle... I had that occur and had to take the scope off and start all over. I found I did not have the rings on the scope seated the way they should be, after geting alll back together I started out at 25 yards, if you are on at 25 yards it will be close at 100 yards. I found I was just a few cliks off and made the adjustment and was set so far ofr many years. I shoot both the 150 and 165 loads with not much change at all and also both remington and western mfg of the bullets...

[noob52]

Stop bs'ing and laser bore sight the thing. Your wallet will thank you. Also keep in mind that as your barrel heats up, your groups will spread. Bore sight it, fire a 3 or 5 round group, then let it sit for a while. Repeat as needed.

[steve863]

Are there any clicks left in your scope adjustments or have you gotten to the end? If not how much have you moved the adjustments? You have to realize that most scopes have 1/4 inch adjustments at 100 yards. This means to move point of impact 1 inch you need to move the adjustments 4 clicks. At 50 yards you would need to move the adjustments 8 clicks to move the point of impact 1 inch. So maybe you aren't moving the scope adjustments enough at the 50 yards you are shooting at? To move it 3 inches in any direction at 50 yards would require roughly 24 clicks.

[315hunter]

what kind of savage is it. I also have a savage in .308 i got last year, have the same exact problem. put it away and havent messed with it since.

[eagle rider]

Sounds like either bad glass, possible rings misaligned which are straining the scope or ammo. Remount the scope, lapp the rings if needed and make sure the ring allignment is dead on. Try different ammo as well. Have you called Savage yet?