Having just finished the second hunting season with the Cross, I’m of the opinion that it is a damn good hunting rifle for the type of hunting I do. Which is west Texas, deer, hogs and turkey, mostly from a box blind at 100-150 yards, with hand loaded ammo, suppressed. All I have is a 500 yard range so long range is not a required capability, but the Cross is light, compact, fits well and is the most accurate rifle I have. It’s also the only bolt action I own. That said, it is not the rifle I would choose for long range, tactical applications or if the goal was to shoot single hole groups from a bench. There are much better tools for those jobs.
It has been said that accuracy means different things to different people, but this is what it means to me. I have two .308 loads for the Cross, 165 grain Sierra Game Kings over Varget and 168 grain Sierra Match Kings over Ramshot TAC. Fiddled around with some Berger bullets and other powders, but this what I have on hand and will last me for the foreseeable future or until the supply situation improves. I typically zero for the match rounds and the game rounds are close enough. Before this rifle season started I checked 100 yard zero and decided to adjust for the game load. This target has three groups, the three round group was first, adjusted windage and shot two, then backed off the windage, moved the elevation, fired one and called it good. I should mention that my brother was also shooting his custom built Creedmore at the target next to mine. He has around two and a half times the investment in his weapon and was getting around two and a half times larger group sizes, with factory ammo. However, we were both happy with accuracy of our guns and either will get the job done.