Big bullet drop

[gundogblue]

I was at the range this mornning with my Savage model12 in 204 Ruger, my load is a Hornaday 32 gr Vmax and 25 grns RL 10, it was last chornographed at 4,210 FPS average of 10 shots. At first I was shooting at 100 yrd,and put 6 shots into a 0.379 in group. Then I moved to 200 yrds to see how much the bullet would drop, the bullet drop was 4 1/4 inches, I didnt expect that, I thought the bullet would drop no more than an inch or two!!! I just cant figure out why that bullet would drop so much at 200 yrds, If any of you guys can shed a little light on this Id be very gratful.
Thanks,
Paul

[Rick in Oregon]

Paul, same load, same exact POA for the 200 yard target?

Sumthin' ain't right for sure, especially at that velocity. No scope adjustment done for the 200 yard target? No wind blowing in from a nearby canyon or other anomaly?

[gundogblue]

Rick,
Same load, all I did was put a plain piece of paper with a one inch dot out to the 200 yrd line, then I put the crosshairs on the dot and pulled the trigger. I fired five rnds and all grouped about one inch, four and a quarter inches below the dot, I didnt make any scope adjustments as I wanted to see what the bullet drop would be at two houndred yrds. I shot it exactally the same way I shot it at 100 yrds, and shes spot on at 100 yrds but four and a quarter inches low at 200 yrds!! I know I cant figure it out.

[johnhenry]

Doesnt make sense.
Maybe, sight it in at 200 then check it at 100. Reversing the process may offer up an answer?

[dsandfort]

The mv sounds a little suspicious. 25gr of 10x "should" give you around 3800-3900 fps by the book (Lyman #49). Might account for some of the unexpected drop. Even so, I wouldn't expect much more than 1 MOA drop.
Did the POI come back to zero when you moved back to 100? Maybe a scope shift.

[Bill K]

I would say or think the same. At 4200 plus, that bullet should not drop that much. I would recheck the FPS, then run another 100 yard group, then a 200 yard one and then another at 100, back too back and see what you come up with. Just does not compute with a drop of 4 inches. Bill K

[gundogblue]

After I shot at 200 yrds I cranked the scope back for 100 yrds and she was right on. Maybe my buddies chronograph was wrong. I'm going to zero my scope for 200 yrds, then shoot it at 100 yrds to see how high the bullets impact the target. My scope is a 2001 Nikon Monarch, that's when they were still made in Japan, it's a very good scope. There's gotta be something I'm overlooking.

[Bill K]

Waiting now too see if you find out that you miss-dialed the scope. My shooting partner, did just such a thing, the last chuck hunt and missed 3 times, shooting about 1-2 ft low, when the rifle and all were dead on the trip prior. Bill K

[B23]

Often, many scopes don't track like they should. If you diealed up for shooting at 200 yards, I'd say it is either the scope isn't tracking like it's supposed to or you possibly dialed incorrectly. It would take a significant velocity error to have that much drop going from 100 to 200 yards so I don't really think that's your problem.

[dsandfort]

I'm confused.....as usual.
You first told Rick you simply moved the target to 200 yards, aimed and shot. Then you said you "cranked the scope". If you did dial the scope, perhaps it's as simple as 1/4 versus 1/8 MOA on your elevation turret. How many clicks did you give it and are you sure you went the right way?
I have been guilty of wrong way turns on a scope or 2.

[Rick in Oregon]

I have been guilty of wrong way turns on a scope or 2.

I'm also guilty of that, and I wondered the exact same thing. Seems like this issue is human-related, and not mechanical or ballistically induced. In the end, I've muttered to myself....."crap, I did that?"

[skipper]

Repeat the test without adjusting the scope. Just simply move the target to 200 yards.

[gundogblue]

Something is not right, and Im the culpret, I dont know what Im missing or what I've overlooked. what I originally done was fire my rifle at 100 yrds, it was spot on, then I fired it at 200 yrds without touching the scope, and the impact was 4 1/4 inches low. Since my scope is 1/8 inch at 100 yrds, it would be 1/4 inch at 200 yrds, correct? I cranked my scope up 17 clickes, 17X.25=4.25. I then fired at the target, a one inch dot at 200 yrds, the impact was about 1/2 inch high of the dot, but I beleave that was operator error. I then cranked my scope down 17 clicks and fired at the target at the 100 yrd line, and it was spot on.
I've just finished loading 40 new rnds, all charges were double weighed,as the charges came off the chargemaster, they were put on the ballance beam scale, all brass was trimmed to length, cartridge length measured from the ojive is 1.982, that length works best for my rifle useing the 32 grn Vmax. Since I can't figure out whats wrong I figure the best thing to do is repete everything with cartridges that were very carfully put together and documenting everything I do at the range. Im going to the range tomorrow to try this thing again, the weather here in central In is going to be almost perfect, 64 degrees, 71% humidity, and the winds will be 2 mph WNW, and Im shooting due south. as soon as I get home from the range I'll post a range report and hopfully put this enigma to rest.

[GJS]

That's more like the drop at 300 yards, are you sure the range was 200?

[Jim White]

Have you done a box test with the scope at 100 yards [since it seemed to shoot good at that distance]? If not I would try that, could be a scope issue.