[John Karsten]

Ok guys. You all probably know by now that I've just purchased a Savage Model 16FXP3. I've choosen a Bushnell 6x24 Elite to compliment it. I'm not sure what I should expect of the firearm(not the shooter). I don't plan on shooting this gun at less than 100 yards. Where to start???

What is a reasonable yardage to shoot bullets through existing holes? Drive tacks maybe?
What kind of grouping is the gun capable of at said reasonable distance?

At 300 yards it would be kind of fun to show off and smack cherry tomatoes. Providing the ammo shoots well and I make the necessary adjustments on the scope for bullet drop, should I be able to hit, say a baking potato, at 400 yards? 500 yards?......

 

[John Karsten]

Thanks CV. I expect the gun is better than myself. I will be shooting the gun out of a vise, or at least on sand bags. On a side note, my Savage is very well balanced and actually "feels" lighter than my brother's marlin 17. It's not quite as barrell heavy.

 

[TSU_Silent_Soul]

I have a remington sps varmint in a 204 and was shooting about a .25" group at 130-140 yards. i havent tested it any further yet but I would say it will shoot through the same hole with ease and a grape tomato at 300 can be done if you do your part, the same goes for a potato.

 

[mattsbox99]

I don't think the gun should shoot any worse than 1/2 MOA to 400 yards. Thats about 2.1" in group size at 400 yards. My Rem 700 will do that. I shoot 40 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips and Ramshot TAC powder with Win cases and Rem 7 1/2 primers.

 

[John Karsten]

thanks guys. Good information.

 

[Skyler]

The accuracy you want is rarely seen in a completely stock rifle (cherry tomatoe is roughly 1/4-1/8 MOA at 400 yards). The quality of your compenants will determine a lot about your rifles overall capabilities. I know there are alot of factory rifles that can produce 1/2MOA a 100 yards with some quality ammunition but those same rifles can't maintain that accuracy standard as the distance increases. Even custom rigs can't do that. My M40 shoots .2-.3" groups at 100 yards with surprising ease. However at 1000 yards expecting to get 2.5"-3.5" groups is a pipe dream for all but the most accomplished shooters.

Figure out what your rifle can do at 100 yards first off. If you are getting 1/2 MOA go out to 200 yards and see if you can keep it at 1/2MOA. If so go out to 300 yards and see if you do it again. Then go out 400 yards and see if you can do it again. If you can then you have like a 50% to hit the tomatoes. To do it everytime then you're going to have to invest in trueing your action, gettig a new barrel, new trigger and a new stock.

I wish you luck though! I hope you get one of those gems that can shoot a gnats *** at 400 yards. Show us some pictures!

 

[John Karsten]

Thanks again! This is what I need to know. I'll just shoot the best I can and enjoy the stock rig. If I need to hit something at 400 yards, I'll buy some watermelons just to make myself feel good. LOL