Hopefully, this story is something that can be helpful but also inspiring to shooters of any experience who’ve ever dealt with what can be the mind-numbing and costly task of troubleshooting your rifle/shooter system.
I realize this may not seem a big deal to the average shooter today who can purchase an 8-10k rifle add half again for scope and mount and load some pristine ammo to shoot single holes at several hundred yards today, and I love that. But this story is for anyone who has struggled troubleshooting a system that includes yourself for box after box of ammo unsure whether it’s rifle, scope, mount, ammo, or you…having your suspicions…wondering if it’s you but finally giving up on what you’re almost certain is the glass…well that day of vindication is a sweet one.
This 300 Weatherby Accumark is a very special rifle…especially to me, but as a piece of mechanical precision that’s finally proving worthy of unicorn trust. My dad bought it thirty years ago to hunt elk and mule deer and it has since then taken dozens of western big game animals quite effectively. Last year he passed it to me and with my first shot I took my elk just inside 400 yds with it dropping like a sack of rocks. It’s always been “a great rifle”, but there have been times it just didn’t seem right. Never by a lot for most people’s standards, but we just knew.
In the last few months preparing for our hunt this next week, it again seemed to be unable to really hold zero making me really question myself…the ammo…the system. After spending enough ammo I finally in frustration decided to can the Leupold. I planned on buying a Nightforce because I’ve had good luck with the durability, but was turned onto Trijicon for something reportedly as durable but with simpler reticles and a bit less money. That said, durability and reliability were something at this point I wasn’t really concerned about cost at least in the sense I was willing to spend a few thousand for peace of mind. It needed to do what it was told.
I love my ffp scopes but for this application I think sfp is king with its trade-offs. The results here were immediately apparent and I’m hoping it provides a long rewarding service life. I cleaned and remounted the 7075 Leupold pic rail with red loctite, cleaned, mounted and torqued the NF extreme duty mounts I purchased, and leveled, mounted, and torqued the caps with blue. Next day, I went out and fired some Barnes ttsx 180 grain…half a box to try to get some real data…checking fps with Garmin etc. I’ve never tried them but have heard excellent reports of their performance both grouping and terminally. The results were wholly underwhelming and I was dejected.
I decided to just send a few “nuttin’ fancy” factory 180 interlocks (silver box) that we’ve used for years to take elk…i have hundreds of rounds of this stuff. The first three rounds went through the same hole at 200 yards. I didn’t even check the spotting scope until I finished the group. I was blown away. Heading to Idaho, I knew I wanted to be 3.5” high at 200 to be zero at 300 so I dialed 8 clicks up and sent three more in a slight rush as the RSOs were trying to get us all out the door. The next three still landed half-minute. Unbelievable to me…yet believable.
The next day I returned to the range with the bore taped up to fire a single cold bore taped shot hoping I wasn’t dreaming. I dry-fired ten reps and sent one downrange at the 200 landing it perfectly at my expected POI…insane. I covered the scope and put it away. I’ll take it out once I’m in Idaho to zero at the 300 range but the peace I now feel and confidence in my rifle is something unlike i think I’ve ever felt. Tack-driver seems to be an understatement, and I don’t know that I would appreciate it as much as I do had I not had to struggle with it a bit…tho most of that struggle was with my own Mark V I’ve semi-retired now…expecting it to shoot like this.
It all had me really questioning my shooting as we should always be quick to check ourselves, and it was a source of real frustration, but the work in learning to really manage and shoot these heavier recoiling rifles has also paid off. Having a tool like this makes me appreciate even more those rifles I see here in the sub, in videos, and elsewhere tho because I know what goes into it, especially with a rifle like this that by comparison is just a little more bare bones. The precision bug is real.
Anyway…I had to share of course to do a little boasting, but to also illustrate sometimes if your gut says it’s the equipment…maybe it really is. Now that I know what it’s capable of I’m looking forward to finding out what it can really do. Best to all in your shooting journeys.
