Back in the 90s and 2000s it seemed like I could walk into any store pick any gun and any ammo and it would shoot. It didn’t matter if I was buying a Ruger, Remington 700, Savage, Winchester, or whatever. Even though I was favorable to Hornady, the Ammo selection didn’t really matter either as long as I didn’t overload the twist.
I could take this random over-the-counter gun with the just OK stock, the crappy trigger, And a $75-$100 scope and shoot lights out. Granted, from age 10 to 25 I was an exceptional shot unlike now with my unsteady old man hands. With all of that average Joe gear, I would cite in a rifle with five rounds and then shoot at worst two Clover leaves.
Today, with a $1000+ rifle, $500+ glass and best ammunition it is sometimes difficult to even get under that minute with a group. The days of me leaning over the hood of the truck and shooting quarter minute groups are long gone!
My question is, What changed?
Saami specs haven’t changed. Are manufacturers just using the full range of tolerances? Is there just no consistency in factory ammo anymore?
I don’t get it!
No thoughts from the community?
Given what I’ve seen / read / observed, there seems to be (IMO) a very disturbing lack of adherence to specifications! Seeing YT videos from various gun channels showing differences in factory bullet performance as well as in some reload bullet performance (meaning, maybe even powder not fully meeting the specification).
After I completed my 300BLK SBR build, I tested a variety of supersonic AND subsonic ammo (primary use-case is subsonic with suppressor attached). I found that only certain grain weights of ammunition worked in my rifle (147 or 150gr supersonic) and 200 or 220 grain subsonic.
110 grain supersonic — BLAH NO JOY!
190 grain subsonic – BLAH NO JOY!
208 grain subsonic – BLAH NO JOY!
When I got my Sako S20 in 7RM, I did the same thing. While this rifle (currently) is supersonic ammunition only, I found that 162gr ELD-X was the absolute best for MY rifle. There were a couple of others that were pretty close (154gr SST and 162gr SST), but not quite as accurate as the 162gr ELD-X.
I have also seen a variety of worthy ammunition for my LR308, where the 168gr Sierra Match King works better than any other round I could find.
Seems the Mfrs just aren’t following the specifications / standards close enough these days!
I was not shooting rifles in the 90s and 2000s. In the late 90s I was starting to get serious as a handgunner focused on self-defense. I’ve come to the rifle more recently, so I don’t have a personal data point for reference. That said, not to be contrarian, I have to wonder if rifles really are less accurate today. I have talked to a number of people with more experience than I have with the rifle who say 1.5 in groups used to be pretty normal from factory rifles. Your question did get me thinking though and I found this article on the subject with some quantified data How Accurate Are Today’s Rifles? | An Official Journal Of The NRA
If there is a difference, I have to wonder if it isn’t on the ammunition side. I have an older Savage in 308 Win, pre-accutrigger. I picked up second hand at a great price. I couldn’t find a factory load that shot better than 1.5 in. I started handloading and worked up a load with a 150 gr Barnes TTSX and got moa out of the gate. I’m tuning from there.
That article is correct, the accuracy of an average rifle has shrunk as tighter tolerances have become easier and cheaper to achieve.