Sighting in trouble.

[Big Jack]

We're going to go to a gunsmith to take a look at the torque of the scope screws and the action screws as we're not too sure what exactly the specs are supposed to be.
However there are no loose screws at all on the rings and we make sure they're tight, not "strip the screw" tight, but definitely tight. We installed it the same way we installed all our other scopes which we never had any issues with.

So far I've eliminated the possibility of shooter error as both me and my dad have shot it with the same results and we're stacking shots on top of eachother with our other rifles.
I'm also just super curious as to why the much cheaper vortex scope worked so much better than a top of the line Zeiss scope 4x it's price and we installed them both the exact same way. Any ideas?

I’ll ask again. Have you checked the crown?

Action screws - try 35 inch pounds. Both same.

Are you recoil sensitive?

A 2000 dollar scope means little to nothing. It sounds to me like you may have slippage in the scope and rings. Look at the ziess, is there evidence of the scope possibly moving in the rings under recoil? I had one doing that once and it was a pain to figure out. It was a heavy recoil gun.

If you don’t own a wheeler torque screwdriver, buy one if you can find one. Takes the guess work right out of it. Have you used removable version of loctite on the bases?

How heavy is the trigger pull? My brothers S20 needed some adjustment if I remember correctly. People don’t often realize how much a heavy trigger affects accuracy.

I loaded 6 test loads for that s20 and all were .5-1.25 at 100. Factory hammerheads also shot really well but my loads were heavier and faster which is what he wanted for moose.

Finally, with the new scope and 1.5 inch groups instead of 3, you may have solved most of the problem. that change speaks to mounting issues. Heavy recoil guns make things move that would not happen same way with say a 243.

Have you tried the other ammo again?

I have found federal fusion to have some really great properties in the big calibre stuff. One foot per second spread, great accuracy etc.

[Fenelon]

I ditto what Jack is saying. Order a Wheerler Fat Wrench online. I think mine was $70 and it was worth the purchase. Use it to check all your action screws, rings, and base torques.It does 10 to 60 inch pounds and comes with 10 crew driver tips. I torque based on the crew size that comes with the base/rings. Here's the settings from the Wheeler manual, based on the size of the fastening screws:

6-32 UNC, 6-40 UNF, and 6-48 FINE screws - use 18 to 20 inch pounds
8-32 UNC, 8-36 UNF, and 8-40 FINE screws - use 28-30 inch pounds
10-24 UNC and 10-32UNF screws - 40-45 inch pounds.

I have Optilok bases and rings on my Sakos and Tikkas. I torque to 30 inch pounds +/- 2 inch pounds on all screws (for .243 and .270) and seal all with blue Locktite. I've had several friends who had scoped rifles that were not shooting consistantly. Common theme was they had mounted the scope themselves without a torque screwdriver, and didn't Locktite. Just this past November my friend came cursing to me with his new Accutrigger .308 Savage. He had spent almost $300 in ammo trying to get it to shoot. He'd get about a 2" group at 100meters. When we checked with the Fat Wrench, the torque settings were not uniform, and in many cases were too tight. In a single ring series of four mounting screws we found 18, 24,38, 32. inch pounds. We used the wrench to adjust all 8 ring crews to a uniform 30 +/- 2inch pounds . His base was about 28 and 34. We used wrench to set them at 34 inch pounds, then Locktighted everything. The gun now cloverleafs and it's held its zero. The problem was definately his scope mount job.

Get a Fat Wrench and do what Jack said since it's a big kicking caliber - torgue to 35 and spank the blue Locktite to it!

[Fenelon]

https://www.amazon.ca/Wheeler-710909...s%2C924&sr=8-5
Here's what you need. You'll have it in a few days. Looks like the price has gone up since I got mine. Just rub some dirt on the box when you get it and tell your Pappy that you found the damn thing in the ditch when you were driving home.

[Fenelon]

Oops - previous one is digital. Here's the non-digital model that I have for $82
https://www.amazon.ca/Wheeler-Firear...s%2C334&sr=8-1

[MihajloSimsic]

Update.

The action screws were a bit loose and we tightened them up. The groups tightened up to around 1.25" at 100 yards which is ok but still satisfactory. The first shot would go high and the next two land right next to eachother. So we took a closer look at the ammo. Some of the rounds were 0.5-1mm deeper in the casing than the other.

Safe to say I'm very disappointed considering this is MATCH Hornady ammo at $10/round... My dad is planning on starting reloading now.

[sharps4570]

Update.

The action screws were a bit loose and we tightened them up. The groups tightened up to around 1.25" at 100 yards which is ok but still satisfactory. The first shot would go high and the next two land right next to each other. So we took a closer look at the ammo. Some of the rounds were 0.5-1mm deeper in the casing than the other.

Safe to say I'm very disappointed considering this is MATCH Hornady ammo at $10/round... My dad is planning on starting reloading now.

Belated response, however, these things are always interesting.

Now that you have the action screws torqued (to Sako specs I presume) ......

Should you still have sufficient ammo left - an idea may be to group the remnants of that box by simply measuring COL and then shoot 3-rd groups (same COL per group) to determine which might perform better.

A CBTO measure would be much more accurate compared to COL. However, at this point in time, its neither here nor there i.e. till such time one gets to start handloading and have the proper tools available for such task.

Nevertheless, one may still be constrained by mag length limitation, as far as precise seating depth may be concerned.

Best of luck in your quest for accuracy.