Loose Scope or Junk?

[BR-549]

My buddy bought a new Savage .243 bolt action and put a Redfield 4-12/40mm scope on it. We took it out to sight it in and the first time he tried with two different cartridges, both at 100 gr. One was a cheap Serbia made sp, the other was a Hornady BTSP. I could not believe the difference between the two bullets. The cheapos shot closer to aim point than the Hornadys. There was about 8" between the two groups, so we couldn't figure out what the deal was until we looked close at the target.

The Hornadys were wobbling, you could see the elongated hole in the paper. Our first thought was too heavy of a bullet. His rifle has 22" barrel with 1/9.25 twist. Went and bought some lighter rounds and tried the next day again..... then we got this action.

4 shots, each walking down and left. They are numbered in this pic in order of fire. I say loose mounts but he swears up and down they were tight.. I dunno. Somethings moving. What do you guys think?

[survivalshop]

New barrel , needs breaking in (Some say the Tubbs break in bullets work )

Rifle barrels/chambers will like some ammo better than others .

Was the rifle strapped down on a rest ,like a lead sled ? Eliminating all human error.

Could have a stock fitment problem .

If you think the bullets are tumbling , that would rule out the scope or its mounts .

If you believe its the scope or mount , replace one at a time to see there is a difference.

8" between groups ? Does that mean group size or point of impact ?

[BR-549]

New barrel , needs breaking in (Some say the Tubbs break in bullets work )

Rifle barrels/chambers will like some ammo better than others .

Was the rifle strapped down on a rest ,like a lead sled ? Eliminating all human error.

Could have a stock fitment problem .

If you think the bullets are tumbling , that would rule out the scope or its mounts .

If you believe its the scope or mount , replace one at a time to see there is a difference.

8" between groups ? Does that mean group size or point of impact ?

Maybe this pic will help explain better. We had it locked in a sled. First shot the cheap stuff to get close to zero and check grouping, 3 shots marked cheap in pic are after about six rounds fired. We also ran a snake through it every other round.

Changed to Hornady, no adjustment to scope, 3 shots high and right (one out of picture) from previous (8" between groups), but they were not stable... you can see it in the paper. We quit then because we didn't know what to think about the whole deal and bought some lighter bullets. Next day was shots 1,2,3 and 4 using a 95 gr, see pic on original post. That perfect line made me think the scope was moving, ... or broke.

As far as the rifle goes, it has what they call an accu-stock, it is a free floating barrel, so to me it has to be the scope. When we looked at target closer, it became obvious that the boat tail Hornady was not stable, so that would explain the huge distance between the first two brands of shells.

I  think we will look at the mounts first, and then maybe swap out scopes from another rifle to check it out. He also bought the same rifle in .308 a few weeks ago, and that thing is a tack driver. We had it setup and zeroed at 200 yds easily, and were able to duplicate our results at our next shoot.

[survivalshop]

AS far as the bullet being unstable , I don't believe that would be the case . In most cases , it is some thing making the bullet act that way . some thing with the barrel ,crown or path of the bullet .

Different ammo with different bullet weights & shapes  or configurations will and can cause different points of impact , some dramatic.

Mass produced rifles ,no matter what they are made with or made by , can have an occasional out of spec component(s) . I say that only because you can not leave any possability out of the equation when dealing with a potential problem like this (new rifle ).

I would do , as you are , deal with the inexpensive things first  & check the out come .

The scope & or mounts can cause funny things to happen , but the bullet being unstable is kinda odd.

The range of harmonics of the different ammo can cause different results.

[constructor - Banned]

AS far as the bullet being unstable , I don't believe that would be the case . In most cases , it is some thing making the bullet act that way . some thing with the barrel ,crown or path of the bullet .

Different ammo with different bullet weights & shapes  or configurations will and can cause different points of impact , some dramatic.

Mass produced rifles ,no matter what they are made with or made by , can have an occasional out of spec component(s) . I say that only because you can not leave any possability out of the equation when dealing with a potential problem like this (new rifle ).

I would do , as you are , deal with the inexpensive things first  & check the out come .

The scope & or mounts can cause funny things to happen , but the bullet being unstable is kinda odd.

The range of harmonics of the different ammo can cause different results.

A 9.5 twist is on the edge for stabilizing a 100gr bullet especially if it is a long 100gr. The 95gr SMK does not shoot well in a 10 twist. Most use a 8 twist for shooting longer 243 bullets.