Too Many Holes

I managed to shoot 30 rounds today from the new platform. Things went well, but not too terribly well.

First, the platform. It’s stable. It’s comfortable. There was no cow spit on it when I went out to shoot, so maybe I don’t have to worry about them licking it.

Now, the shooting. I’ll go ahead and post the target. I was shooting a CORE-15 M-Lok Scout with a 16″ barrel, a LaRue Tactical MBT-2S trigger, a Midwest Industries quick-detach scope mount, and a Primary Arms 4-14x Mil-dot scope. I was using 55-grain Australian Outback ammo, which is pretty much the same thing as Hornady Urban TAP, only better and cheaper.

The bullseyes are 4″ wide. I shot 10 rounds into each one.

I started at the bottom left. If it looks bad, it should. After I finished, I noticed the scope was moving.

I followed the instructions when I mounted the scope, but quick-detach mounts are not like mounts and rings that use screws to hold them on. Ordinarily, you can use a torque wrench to make sure a scope is secure. Quick-detach mounts have weird, gimmicky systems you have to adjust by trial and error. I tried, and I got an error. I stopped shooting, got a screwdriver, and fixed the scope mount.

I shot the bullseye at bottom right next. I adjusted the scope first. I believe I adjusted it before realizing it was loose. Not the best practice. Anyway, I didn’t do all that well.

I shot the top left bullseye last. Seems to me I improved a great deal in some ways but not in others. I have seen stringing before, but this takes the cake. I made an 8-shot-long, contiguous bullet-hole snake, along with two flyers.

I am not a gun expert, but here is what I make of that: the gun will shoot sub-MOA with cheap ammunition and a 16″ non-match barrel, IF I can figure out what I’m doing to make it move sideways.

Is the problem parallax? Well, if it is, why isn’t there vertical stringing? This group is super-tight, vertically. It’s wonderful, if you ignore the width. Parallax isn’t just a horizontal thing, so it seems like a parallax problem would be likely to work along both axes.

I am not completely in love with the trigger I bought. It’s a LaRue MBT-2S. It seems to be a fine trigger, but they send them out with a 4.5-pound pull. That’s kind of heavy for the technique I use. I was taught to bend my finger at a right angle and put the trigger way down near the end, where I get no leverage. This makes any trigger seem heavy, so 4.5 pounds may be more than I need.

The funny thing is that the point of the new technique is to stabilize the rifle horizontally.

How is my cheek weld? Not that great. My scope is inexpensive, and it has a small eye box or area in which you have to put your eye to make it work well. It’s not easy to get situated accurately, consistently. Maybe I should think about a new buttstock or some kind of pad. I have read that cheek weld problems can cause horizontal stringing.

Of course, practice is also a major factor. I haven’t been able to practice because of rain, lack of a suitable platform, and equipment issues. I think I’m going to get out the .17 HMR and get some practice in. The ammo is really cheap, and it’s very, very accurate.

Why am I complaining about a relatively inexpensive rifle, scope, and ammo that appears to be able to nail squirrels reliably at 100 yards? Because it’s stupid to shoot badly if you can shoot better. Why not keep fixing your problems? I don’t think there is anything significant wrong with the gun, ammo, or scope, so I believe I can get considerably more precision if I try.