sometimes the autoloaders like a crimp at the cannelure, it aids in having uniform groups with them.
My Browning BAR 308 Win. does good with SGK 165 gr. also!!View attachment 1114620
Shot today with my MKII Safari 30-06 loaded with 165g SGK from 305 yards. Exactly to my point of aim after 10 clicks up. As I said earlier in this thread, mine is a sub MOA shooter. Better than needed for deer hunting.
I think people use the wrong accuracy standard for this type of gun. Shooting groups is somewhat helpful to develop a load with some ballpark consistency but it’s irrelevant to hunting. What matters is first round impact.
The way I like to really test hunting rifles is to shoot 1 shot on paper on 4 or 5 consecutive days. I also like to do this when it’s cold out and leave the rifle and ammo in the garage overnight so it’s cold like when I’ll be hunting. You might find that your rifle which struggles to shoot a 5 round group because of the barrel heating up and moving shoots very consistently day after day on the 1st shot.
My favorite hunting rifle is my 444 marlin handi rifle. If you sit and shoot strings, the 2nd shot will be about 1/2-1 moa higher and shots will continue to walk vertically about 3-4 moa and then stabilize. Shooting a 3 round group over consecutive days though it will print within an inch of POA, and that’s what really matters.
Side note, I also do this with all my hunting rifles when it’s -20 deg F out. You’ll sometimes find that your load that shoots perfectly at 40 deg is not so hot at -20.
I think these "running groups" are a very good idea. With hunting rifles, I like to keep a target with the gun, and whenever I take the gun out I put the first cold, clean shot into that target and then put the target away. Over the years I've gotten a very good idea of what to expect - and it's never as good as advertised. A rifle that sometimes will print 1" three shot groups after it's settled down can turn out to be a five MOA gun in the real world.
Nice, but that BAR is a different rifle from today's version. Produced out of different materials and in different countries.View attachment 1115151 My Wife bought me a BAR .30/06 probably 30 years ago. It shot sub 1" groups with plain Jane Remington 180 Grain at 100 yards yesterday at my sighting in. I've never once had to track a Whitetail with this combination. My Son's Browning X bolt will shoot a one hole group at 100 yards with the same ammunition, but a Deer is bigger so I don't care.