Why am I shooting so badly?

[MG5150]

Hi all

Last time I was on a hunting trip the scope on my 30-06 came loose and had a bit of movement without it coming all the way off. I was able to borrow a led sled over the weekend from a mate to sight it in again.

I took a shot at 50m and was on the edge of the orange zone (yellow circle)

I then took 3 shots at 100m, aiming for the top left target and was nowhere close... (red)

I adjusted down four clicks and left four clicks then fired three shots at the bottom right... The first shot had the right horizontal axis but was too high, and the next two were out even more. (blue)

The led sled itself never quite lines up with the point I'm aiming for, so I have to put a bit of pressure on the rifle or lean on it to get the reticle over the target. (it was on a table so I could get enough elevation to see the target).

Is this causing parralax issues where I am moving my head rather than the rifle, or is it the table vs the recoil? I've had similar issues when using the led sled in the past and put it down to me being inexperienced, but have noticed that in previous attempts at zeroing I tend to get better groupings when using sandbags and bipod+sandbag off the back of the ute.

For comparison, my .223 was having no such issues and I was able to put 3 bullets through the same hole with my day scope and two through the same hole and another a few cm away with the thermal clip on - the only difference was I had the led sled on the ground (photo provided below)

Any help or feedback is appreciated.

[bladeracer]

I don't know what is causing the issue, but I would not zero off the sled, unless you actually use the sled in the field. If you shoot prone off a bipod then zero prone off the bipod, if you shoot off a bag on the bonnet of a ute then zero the rifle the same way.

Those groups are certainly concerning so I hope you can sort it. You mentioned having to apply force because of the sled so I would remove the sled first to rule that out. Do you have another scope and mount/rings you can try on the rifle to rule that out as the issue?

[GQshayne]

Just recently I had to sight in my rifle after changing mounts. Also did some test firing of my fathers rifle. Conditions were bad, and were getting worse, so I was trying not to waste time. Dad is also shorter than I am, so the set-up was too low for me. And when it was my turn to shoot I ended up with groups like yours. I would get the set-up how you like it and try again before looking for other issues.

[wrenchman]

If you have another scope to put on the gun try it and see if it is the gun or scope.
If you were fine before the scope was loose it might be a scope issue

[Wapiti]

Hey 5150, have you checked to see if your scope has a parallax issue when you're sighting in?

If it has, then yes, using different holds and varying pressures to get the crosshairs consistent when looking at the target definitely WILL open your groups.
Why? Because you will have your nogging in a slightly different position each time, and parallax will make you think that the rifle is really consistently holding on the optical centreline of the scope.
Not to mention that having to use different pressure on your rifle between shots to align the sights by using those awful things, has a negative effect on consistency.

Check if parallax is indeed present at your group-shooting range first.

[Wapiti]

Try these videos for an idea on this issue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-MqEftkPVw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxpu01FKwy0