trouble with the old elk gun

[dmarsh38]

Im shooting a savage 14 in 308 that's shoots dead nuts all day at 200 yards. So I moved out to 300 and cant put a bullet in a 18 by 18 target WHY does that caliber run out of gas that fast. oh and im shooting win. power points 150 grain

 

[FAIR CHASE]

It doesn't. What is your idea of "dead nuts" accuracy? Check your scope mounts.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

308 is frequently shot out to 1000 yards. Not trying to bust your balls but chances are its the trigger puller if its holding MOA at 200 yds. Any little screw up on your part is magnified as distance increases.

 

[mtmuley]

Yep. Operator error most likely. mtmuley

 

[dmarsh38]

Sorry I asked all you know it alls

 

[belly-deep]

Sorry I asked all you know it alls

Truth hurts. Don't "shoot" the messenger.

Seriously, the 308 Win is one of the most accurate chamberings out there and the Savage platform will usually do it justice.

Take this opportunity to listen and fix the issue instead of getting upset. There's a lot of good advice on this forum for the humble.

 

[Muleyfanatic]

Sorry I asked all you know it alls

Really!

 

[jryoung]

Are you compensating for drop? What does "dead nuts @200" mean?

 

[mtmuley]

We should establish "dead nuts" first and work from there. Nobody here knows it all, but I bet the guys here can help you figure out the issue. mtmuley

 

[fishing4sanity]

You'll have around 7 inches of drop between 200 and 300 yards, are you giving your point-of-aim enough holdover?

 

[St52v]

If you can shoot 2" groups at 200 yards all day long and not hit a 18"x18" target at 300 something is wrong or a few things. For people to help you , give us some info. What kind of scope? Shooting off a bench? With bags? Are you zeroed at 100 or 200? Holding high at 300 or using a line in your scope ect???? I would think if you can shoot 2" groups all day at 200 your shooting is pretty good. Could be paralex or something else that may make you slap your forehead!!!!

 

[Epfd217]

I personally shoot a .308 and have my gun zeroed at 200yds. Drop for me with 165gr bullets is 7.5-8" at 300yds.

With an 18x18" target there is no reason you can't put a bullet on paper. If you're asking if the bullet runs out of gas at that distance, then you don't know enough about your caliber or ammo to criticize advice.

Either be happy with your 200yd groups and limit yourself or listen to advice and learn.

 

[Tradewind]

Occasionally you will get a bullet that begins to tumble. It usually happens around the 250-300 yeard range. If it were me and I'm using factory ammo, I'd walk the target out at 25 yard increments. 225, 250, 275. It's your only and best choice if you are hitting something close to 1 min on angle or 2 inches at 200 yds. First and foremost you need to find out where the bullet is going (hitting) before you can diagnose the problem.
And yes, the boys are a little harsh. If you are hitting within 2inches at 200 you can easily hit 18 inch target at 300

 

[belly-deep]

Occasionally you will get a bullet that begins to tumble. It usually happens around the 250-300 yeard range. If it were me and I'm using factory ammo, I'd walk the target out at 25 yard increments. 225, 250, 275.

No. Just...no...

If a bullet is stabilized out to 200 yards, it will still be stable at 300.

There's only a few things that will make a bullet "tumble." (Tumble isn't even the correct word. The bullet's (in)stability is what causes the type of inaccuracy you're referring to.)

The first is if the twist rate is not fast enough to stabilize the bullet. A factory .308 with factory 150gr loads is NEVER going to encounter this problem.

The second is if the velocity is too low to get the bullet to stabilize. I've run into this when practicing with reduced loads, usually loaded with Trail Boss powder. But it shows up at 100 or even 50 yards. It never makes a first appearance at 300 or 400.

Odds are the problem the OP is seeing is either caused by shooter error (as others have said, little problems at 100 show up big time at longer distances), parallax (probably unlikely), or factory loads with a huge velocity spread (if vertical stringing is present).

 

[sbhooper]

First, don't ask a question if you cannot deal with the responses. People are giving opinions, many times based on lots of knowledge.

My little Ruger American .308 shoots 1/2 MOA at 300 on the days that I can do it right. If the rifle shoots MOA, or whatever, at 200, then it will do it at 300. If it shoots 9 inches at 200, then you might get 18 inches at 300. You have got to tell us what your parameters are for current accuracy.

I would start from scratch and check all scope mounts, action screws, barrel channel clearance etc. and then try a different load to see if it shoots the same types of groups.

The .308 is very accurate and repeatable with many different loads. You cannot blame the caliber. You showed your lack of knowledge when you said it ran out of gas too fast.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

No. Just...no...

If a bullet is stabilized out to 200 yards, it will still be stable at 300.

There's only a few things that will make a bullet "tumble." (Tumble isn't even the correct word. The bullet's (in)stability is what causes the type of inaccuracy you're referring to.)

The first is if the twist rate is not fast enough to stabilize the bullet. A factory .308 with factory 150gr loads is NEVER going to encounter this problem.

The second is if the velocity is too low to get the bullet to stabilize. I've run into this when practicing with reduced loads, usually loaded with Trail Boss powder. But it shows up at 100 or even 50 yards. It never makes a first appearance at 300 or 400.

Odds are the problem the OP is seeing is either caused by shooter error (as others have said, little problems at 100 show up big time at longer distances), parallax (probably unlikely), or factory loads with a huge velocity spread (if vertical stringing is present).

Well said. I will add, though, that if a bullet is stable at say 300 yds, it can and probably will become instable when it goes sub sonic. Which if im thinking correctly would be in the 1300yd range for .308....

 

[Recon_Doc]

What? its one of the most accurate rounds out there. Sounds like operator error. check your zero, make sure everything is tight.

 

[belly-deep]

Well said. I will add, though, that if a bullet is stable at say 300 yds, it can and probably will become instable when it goes sub sonic. Which if im thinking correctly would be in the 1300yd range....

Yeah I forgot about that one

 

[elkantlers]

Sorry I asked all you know it alls

I literally laughed out loud... Good grief.

 

[AH_14]

Original Poster literally got lots of great responses and is upset???

I guarantee you one of these suggestions will help---quite possible all of them could be helpful!

Every time anyone asks for equipment advice on here, (hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, photography) they get a great response....How could anyone ask for a better, more helpful site???
Huge thanks to all you guys who provide such helpful information.....
I learned a ton and I didn't even ask the question.

*If the question is I can hit inside 2" every single time I shoot at 200 but I literally can't even hit the target at 201 yards than I doubt there is anything that can help that silly scenario....