Consistent fliers

[Roblonsberry]

How everyone,

Today I was trying out some match grade hornady 68 grain loads out of my tikka t3x. I would shoot three times per weight change. Practically every time I would shoot through the same hole twice, and would have one flier. The flier was usually the second shot.
Is it me or is it something I’m doing wrong with my handloads?

 

[hafejd30]

Is the flier consistently in the same spot. That could suggest a loose base/ring setup shifting under recoil

Try a 5 or 10 round group to see what it really tells you

 

[GrumpyOleFart]

☝That's the go.
The more data you get, the clearer the issue will appear.

 

[Roblonsberry]

Is the flier consistently in the same spot. That could suggest a loose base/ring setup shifting under recoil

Try a 5 or 10 round group to see what it really tells you

It’s pretty consistent on the second shot. I’ll reload some and try 5 shot groups.

 

[308pirate]

Is the flier consistently in the same spot. That could suggest a loose base/ring setup shifting under recoil

I think it's the opposite. Something loose in the sighting system will introduce randomness in the results.

A consistent error points to something else.

 

[308pirate]

It’s pretty consistent on the second shot. I’ll reload some and try 5 shot groups.

Consistent how?

It's always the second shot but the location on target is random?

It's always the second shot and the location on target is always the same?

You need to be much more specific if you hope to get any useful feedback.

 

[Ledzep]

I'm not going to get full soap-box on you here, but 3 shots is only good for a very brief sanity check, not for qualifying anything.

Short soap box:
Shoot 10 at a minimum, 20-30 if you're serious. I know that sounds absurd but it only sounds absurd because this community has been chasing it's tail in white noise for probably 70 years now in an attempt to get the "most data for the fewest shots fired", and unwittingly gone way too lean. If you were watching any production line anywhere, and pulled 3 or 5 random samples off the line of hundreds or thousands to inspect and said "Yup, they're all good!", you might not have a job for very long.

 

[OREGUN]

Short answer, it’s you.

 

[GreenCanoe]

I'm not going to get full soap-box on you here, but 3 shots is only good for a very brief sanity check, not for qualifying anything.

Short soap box:
Shoot 10 at a minimum, 20-30 if you're serious. I know that sounds absurd but it only sounds absurd because this community has been chasing it's tail in white noise for probably 70 years now in an attempt to get the "most data for the fewest shots fired", and unwittingly gone way too lean. If you were watching any production line anywhere, and pulled 3 or 5 random samples off the line of hundreds or thousands to inspect and said "Yup, they're all good!", you might not have a job for very long.

Agree. If you are developing a load for your rifle that you will use for the life of your barrel, and you do that based off even 5 round groups, that's a big decision based on a sample size of about 0.0016%. More holes mean more data.

 

[37L1]

Try a different bullet. Not a fan of the Hornady 68.

77 SMK or Berger 77 OTM.

Tikka T3X Varmint at 200 yards:

 

[JAS-SH]

Short answer, it’s you.

Happens to all of us more times we like to admit. It's a positional error. Your body gets into a slightly different position. To quote:

"The dispersion of a group is primarily driven by two factors:

1. Mechanical precision of the weapon system (i.e. barrel, optics, ammunition, and other parts, combined with how all those things attach and interact under recoil)
2. Aiming error of the shooter (i.e. the trigger was pulled when the sights weren’t perfectly centered on target or perhaps your body position or rest wasn’t consistent shot-to-shot causing the weapon to move differently under recoil in a way that skews the bullet’s trajectory)"

The link:

Precision & Group Size – Statistics for Shooters Part 3

This article is going to dive into the most effective ways to quantify the precision of a rifle and...

precisionrifleblog.com

 

[308pirate]

I guess the OP didn't get the answer he wanted and left.........

 

[supercorndogs]

Consistent fliers is an oxymoron. If they are consistent, they aren't flyers.

 

[Steel head]

Consistent fliers is an oxymoron. If they are consistent, they aren't flyers.