Went today and sighted in my new rifle. It shot terrible groups at 100 yards. The guy I was with wanted to shoot 3 4 and 500 with his rifle. We went to that range and I figured what the heck my rifle don't like this ammo so I was just going to shoot it
Well I went 6 for 6. 2 shots at 350. 2 at 435 and 2 at 515. Like dead center of the plate. How does my rifle shoot bad close but decent at distance.

It was just you unfortunately no reason for it to shoot poor up close and great far away. My guess is that you didn't shoot the same shot count at those other ranges you did at 100. Or either it was windy.

I shot off of a sled at 100 sand bag at longer ranges.

Lose the sled

Two shots really don't mean anything, even at 100 yards. Honestly left and right don't mean that much either as many factors will add to this. What you are looking for is vertical spread. Either way congrats for hitting the targets.

This^^^ the sleds can affect POI. Never have liked 'em.

Yep,they can also trash a scope in short order. You just need to shoot more to see what is going on.

always use sand bags over sleds if you can ...

A good set of bags and a steady table or bench is a good combo. Shoot your gun five three shot groups at each yardage and you can see what it's doing at each range. Let cool in betweeen each group for about 3-5 mins. This will give you better results as to what your gun and you are capable of.

What's the chances of the rifle needing to be "broke in" before it starts grouping. I know I have had rifles before that liked a little fouling in the barrel. I cleaned this one about 3 shots till 10 or 12 rounds. And then the rest I just shot 2 or 3 and let it cool.

Yep, new barrels need to be broke in. Lose the sled also.

Possibile, but I only have one rifle that needs more than 2 fouling shots to group well and several that shoot great with a clean, cold bore. One rifle which is my first gun, a tang safety Ruger 7x57, will not show it's accuracy potential until I have fired 12 - 15 shots.

Also, if you are not cleaning the barrel completely each time, you could leave spotty fouling in the bore which could degrade accuracy. What products and methods are you using to clean? Are your patches showing copper fouling after only 3 shots?

Just hoppes powder solvent. Naw it looks like powder. Just black no other colors. I usually run a couple wet patches then brush it good followed by a couple more wet patches. Then finally I run dry patches through until I don't get moisture in patch.

I've got a couple rifles with more than 500 rounds through it since the last cleaning. Barrel cleaning is overrated in my opinion. I clean them if I get mud in them, or accuracy falls off and that's about it.

Hoppes will only remove powder fouling unless you leave it in the barrel for a long time, at least 30 minutes. Even then you will not remove all copper unless you use a good copper solvent like shooters choice or Montana extreme.

I use Patch Out Wipe Out, but everyone definitely needs to use a good copper solvent. Hoppes ain't one.

If the rifle ain't shooting right go back to the start.

Check torque on action screws.

Check all scope mount screws. Every screw should have been degreased with Acetone. Every hole in the action and scope mounts should have been degreased with acetone. Every screw should have had locktight applied and torqued to spec.

If all the above wasn't done to start,start over and do it right. If it still won't group repeat the process with a different scope. After that start looking at barrel problems like a nick at the crown.

Yep,the same cleaning routine for me. Also when going to shoot(testing loads) I'll take 6-8 cold wash clothes (in ziplock bag) and lay them from breech to crown on the barrel to keep it cool as possible. I'll shoot 5 shot group and change rags to fresh set and put the used ones bag on ice and rotate them like this. Haven't found a way to keep my presicion ar cool like my bolt gun yet.i also like using bags/bipod more than a sled

I agree Josh,but I would say that higher quality guns will have better finished barrels and won't need cleaning as often.

The key,is when accuracy falls off,and to be honest most guys probably just don't shoot that much.So,for most of them,they will likely need to clean from being in the rain or just after season to insure it doesn't sit in the safe all year with a damp barrel.

Tried different ammo today with much better results. Evidently the rifle just didn't like the hornadys

Mine loves the 165gr. Federal Fusions and the deer hate them.