300 Weatherby...Interesting Results

[8x68]

I got a really good deal on a Synthetic 300 Weatherby VG2 and was anxious to try it out at the range. I put a Zeiss HD5 2-10x42 Z-600 on it with Talley mounts. After a bit of range time I was able to get a 4 shot grouping just under 0.50" I shoot 4 shot strings as I have a tendency to screw one of the shots up. Not this time though. 2 shots were good enough to go through the same hole. I thought that was pretty good. I went back the following week. I put targets up at 200 & 300yds. This is where it gets odd. The smallest group I could get at 200yds was 3". I was a bit perplexed. I then shot 5 shots a 300yds (all I had left for the day). 2 high shots were fired from a lukewarm barrel. The next three were shot fairly quickly from a hot barrel. Grouping was 1.38"...like...huh? Why such good groups at 100 & 300 but crappy at 200? I'm guessing the bullet destabilizes somewhat at 200 yards but re-stabilizes itself when it gets to 300yds. I have attached pics of the 200 & 300yd targets. I'm too cheap to buy targets so I make my own hence the "cut and paste" repair areas on the targets. My eyesight also sucks hence the big shooting area. (200yd target also had 416 Rigby target results on it.)

 

[brushmore]

The "destabilizes somewhat at 200 yards but re-stabilizes itself when it gets to 300yds" just doesn't make sense to me. I am thinking what you should have done was go back and shoot the 200 yard target after the 300 yards. Maybe the pattern would have been better? Since you are using home made targets, could the aim point been a little different between the two targets? What about wind?

Still 3" groups at 200 yards is not too bad for a hunting rifle, 1.38" at 300 yards is fantastic!

 

[8x68]

The "destabilizes somewhat at 200 yards but re-stabilizes itself when it gets to 300yds" just doesn't make sense to me. I am thinking what you should have done was go back and shoot the 200 yard target after the 300 yards. Maybe the pattern would have been better? Since you are using home made targets, could the aim point been a little different between the two targets? What about wind?

Still 3" groups at 200 yards is not too bad for a hunting rifle, 1.38" at 300 yards is fantastic!

Doesn't make sense to me either. Aim point was exactly the same. I was using the Caldwell Leadsled DFT so the rifle never moved. Next time I'm at the range I'll try 300 then 200. It just seems odd that you could have a 0.50" group at 100, 3" group at 200, and then back to less than 1.5" at 300. Wind wasn't a factor.
I found that the higher the velocity of the Hornady 180gr SST the wider the groups got. The Weatherby liked the velocity around 2650fps. Still I can't complain. 1.38" group out of a factory production rifle is pretty good. I have a Smith & Wesson 1500 Deluxe in 300 Win Mag (made by Howa) that I've had for over 25yrs that shoots almost as well.

 

[Scott Slough]

simple statistics ... you shot your worst group ONE TIME at 200 yards and your best group ONE TIME at 300 yards back to back ... it happens. For this to be a real thing with explanations of destabilization followed by re-stabilization you would need to reproduce the same effects REPEATEDLY!

BTW - The re-stabilization is not possible without a new force and there is no way to add a new force to a bullet 200 yards after it has left your rifle barrel!

 

[tarbe]

Scott nailed it.

Do not try to make too much out of a few groups.

You will have a much better read on the rifle's capabilities after a few hundred rounds.

Tim