When I'm sighting in i put my hand between the gun and the rest . Thanks Tom like you i love my .303s

LOL, thanks Sergeant!

I think he nailed it with that statement!

Bingo! My short 60+ years of hunting reloading and collecting rifles that is the number one reason even though I will never admit it🤔😳😂

​@@edwardabrams4972 😂😂😂 You 2 as nope I won't admit to that either.

Thanks 308 guy, and it's a small world so you never know. We might bump into each other before it's over?

Totally agree. Controlling the forend with you hand instead of a rest is the way to go. It is more difficult, granted, but more consistent if you put the work in.

I feel your pain Bro.

Thanks USAACbrat

Hyskore? Which model?

@@anthonykaiser974 DLX PRECISION REST

Therea, thanks for the heads up on that! I had someone else say they had the same problem with a Weatherby. I will definitely check that rest out.

T/C encore will crack in a heartbeat too

Thanks Big T!

The lead sled should always be more accurate than a human shooter, but that's kinda the point. The lead sled removes a variable by isolating out shooter errors, particularly breathing and flinching. You can adjust your sights after load development, like you would with factory ammo. Removing shooter errors from the equation is a better answer in the load development phase.

Dalan, I absolutely love shooting an SKS. My uncle bought one at a gun show when I was with him when I was about 12. He brought it back home and we cleaned it up. It was brand new and packed in cosmoline and I got to go over inch of that rifle. Then we went to the range and I had a ball shooting it and I absolutely loved those iron sights on it. And back then I think he paid $80 dollars for that rifle and it came with a giant can of ammo. I forget how many rounds but it was a lot! And I hope that new post works out like you want it to. I just wish I still had the eye sight to be able to appreciate great iron sights like those again.

The one I have is too.

The trigger might help because HE is pulling the shot that is off each time! I have been guilty of this many times but sometimes would not admit it🤔😳

Jonathan, I shoot exactly like you described. I don't wait between shots in a group but I do let the barrel cool down between groups. Sometimes it can be 20 minutes between groups depending on ambient temperature. And the things you're talking about is something I experimented with some time ago with my Winchester Featherweight in 7x57. The first 2 shots would always touch but then the 3rd and 4th would be flyers. Everyone I talked to about it said that it was because it was a Featherweight with a thin barrel and to let the barrel cool between shots and I did and it made a big difference. But I eventually figured out that the stock had warped and that the barrel was so close to touching the forend that after it heated up it was no longer free floated. Once I removed some wood for clearance the 3rd and 4th shot flyers completely went away. What I got from that is the barrel heating up doesn't affect accuracy on thin barrels, but they are very sensitive to anything that affects their harmonics. That might end up being the issue here? Or at least that might be what keeps it from shooting really small groups? But for the moment this rifle seems more than capable of shooting 1 MOA. If I ever want it shoot smaller I might have to work on this forend?

David you've got me curious about something. I wonder what the tolerance range for bore diameters is for most manufactures? I don't doubt that someone found a Ruger with a .313 bore diameter but I suspect all manufactures start with oversize tooling that produces bores however many thousandths oversize and then as the tooling wears it get's closer to nominal and then is replaced or adjusted somewhere around nominal? I'm sure they all have a tolerance range for bore diameter I just have no idea how big the range is?

If you go back to the bible of Sharpes Reloading Book - he has no hesitation saying the bullet should match the bore perfectly. Not a commonly held view. Pressures and obturation taken into account. He does have a point. I think I agree with him.

Most likely answer is the barrel harmonics of the load 2 gr lighter than max were the best match for that combination. A change as simple as a different primer or different seating depths would likely alter that, but whether it would be favorable or not, you would have to test.

Easttexan, I will try that the next I go to the range. Honestly as hardheaded as I am it's tough for me to do it but I suspect it will help? And I love how you phrased that about almost having an interesting rifle! Col. Whelen would be proud.

@@TomRiverSimpleLiving LOL....few will get that remark. Love your vids. Always learn something during.

Winston, I know from experience that the eyesight can make it a lot more difficult!

Zach, I'm working on something for next season. They say this Alpha Gal thing will go away after a long enough time without getting bit by a tick so I'm going to try hunting really hard next year and see if I'm there yet? And I'm going to try and do a video once a month on scouting starting in January. I hunt mostly public land and it's tough to find a spot this late in the season. Actually it takes a lot of scouting to find even a marginal spot and constant scouting because spots change so fast on public land. Plus I'm using just about every free minute I have remodeling the new house right now. But I think it will be a lot of fun to go through the process of scouting public land, coming up with different strategies for different places, choosing the rifle, and then seeing if all comes together? Or not? And this is probably the rifle I would choose for most of hunts so hopefully we get to see what it does next season!

Great! I’ll be looking forward to the scouting vids, but yep you better get that house done. Thanks Tom. Merry Christmas

The best thing to do is start at the beginning and check each thing off as you go! The number one reason for fliers is the shooter just so you know so don’t assume anything just go down the list and let it be what it is not what you want it to be!

Lawernce, I can't imagine recoil was an issue with that one? Maybe it was just a bad one because anything in 22 hornet should shoot decent at the very worst.

Keith, I have no idea but my guess is after they came out with the 30-06 and the 7x57 everyone just figured, why bother? LOL

Scotty, I sure do wish you included some more data: grains of IMR-4064, COAL, primer, hell . . .even case used. But at least it's a starting hint, so cain't look a gift horse in the mouth. Thanks. ☆

@@fjb4932 I used Remington standard primers and 52 1/2 grains and seat the bullets 20 to 30 thousand from the lands I been using Remington case’s

These single shots do tend to be load sensitive and my No1 B in 270 definitely is.

You nailed it on the bullet staying seated. I usually load my bullets .020" off the lands and when I checked the distance to the lands with these 150 grainers the bullet was completely out of the case when it touched. And someone else mentioned that their worst shot in a group with their No1 was always the first one. Maybe that's just something with the cold bore shot on these? But you're right, all of these groups are more than good enough to go hunting with and I would be better off stopping right here and to just go hunting. But curiosity always gets me! LOL

@@TomRiverSimpleLiving December 2023: After I wrote and submitted that, I wondered if you didn't already know that. I do not recall hearing about conversation nor seeing that phenomenon of the first shot in my own trials. I did notice the PPU ammunition (duplicating the 174 grain Mk 7 ammo) grouped not incredibly, but sufficiently. Truthfully I haven't done much experimentation with loadings and the rifle. Now I feel rather embarrassed, I should have attempted this before. I do have the reloading gear and components for this. Thanks for the feedback to my observations. Have to wait for enough spring to get out to the range.

1st ( and Only ) shot is the most important. One shot . . . ☆

Derek, after someone else mentioned their did the something it's got me wondering as well? I hear a lot about people trying different things with the No1's to get them shoot like bedding the forend and playing with the forend screw. I'm starting to think the serious accuracy problems are from the weight of the rifle but then that other stuff is to shave that last little bit off the group size? A couple of those groups were decent but would have been a lot better with out that first shot?

@@fjb4932 unless it's elk or something big and dangerous. Then, every shot counts. You don't want to chase that animal across hell's half acre, only to be beaten to it by a Grizzly. And you can't shoot the Grizzly that hasn't attacked you. And you can't go after another elk. So forget the long range nonsense, and the idea that one shot is all that is needed, and get in close enough to get a couple good shots. And practice taking them.

I have been following him for some time and his channel is growing too because he cares and is down to earth kind of guy!

Barrel life! I hear it's really tough to get a No1 re barreled. Other than that they are a tough rifle and because they are a single shot they generally don't get a whole lot of rounds through them. But I would shy away from cartridges that are known to be tough on barrel life like a 257 Weatherby.

Love you're content, but you're shooting skills need help. Question whatever happened with the Model 70 257 Roberts? You never finished that series after JB bore pasting the bore, etc?

Warren, the Speers are .311".

see if a .308 fits down the barrel@@TomRiverSimpleLiving

I've heard of people doing that and it worked but accuracy isn't good?@@warrenporter302

could be i only know what worked for me. i only have one 303 LOL@@TomRiverSimpleLiving

Warren I'll have to try that sometime but first I have something else to try. I just ran across some new loadings for the 303 that I'm hoping to try this weekend and it should be really interesting?@@warrenporter302

Terry, I take that as a complement because no matter what I'm honest about my results be it good, bad, or indifferent. And fortunately for me I don't watch other channels much. The only person I'm competing against is myself and the rifle I'm trying to figure out. Besides, how boring would that be to just shoot little tiny groups all of the time! LOL

He who cast the first stone🤔😳😂 everyone is an expert! Not! Being a good shot or not doesn’t make a channel good, it’s the people who run it🤔😳 I am retired and spend about 8 hours a day on watching channels and this is one of the best on rifles but what do I know after 60+ years of hunting reloading and collecting rifles! You should be Thanking Tom for all the effort he spends trying to educate people who like rifles and hunting who only helps our cause!

⁠and that is the reason I watch you channel and Know it’s one of the best out there!

That seems a little unkind ! I have to say though, that our .303 was not exactly developed on light rifles ! I wish you well on your journey Tom, hope you get where you want to go.