Every hunter has experienced the first time in which he realized the gun he was sighting in was not as precise as he surmised it would be. Anyone can correct the accuracy of a gun, but precision can only be corrected by training and constant shooting — and even then, the gun itself may not shoot the groups you hoped it would. So what can you do about fixing that?
Some people might suggest only shooting the gun at closer ranges, and there is truth in that. But when the quarry that you have your sights on is just out of range, and it’s only at 35 yards, you are really going to wish that you had taken the time to do what most of us don’t do — experiment with different brands of ammunition.
Although it may seem a waste of time, experimenting with different brands or kinds of ammo can change a gun that earlier was shooting two-inch groups into a tack-driver. Some people probably doubt the validity of this statement, so I will use a couple of stories from my own experience to prove this point.
I was sighting in three different types of guns, all open sights, and the first one that I shot was right where I had left off the previous year — shooting within two-inch groups. Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have worried me, but seeing as how I was shooting at 25 yards and using a gun that I would employ for squirrel hunting, I couldn’t possibly settle with two-inch groups. I had to bring the gun into at least one-inch groups. The ammunition that I was using was perfect for two of my scoped guns, a Ruger and a Remington. So that meant that the ammo I was using worked perfectly for two different guns, each from different manufacturers. Certainly that also meant that the gun I was using right now should work just fine with this ammo, right?
Wrong.
I was speculating that the gun’s rifled barrel wasn’t in good condition, but I figured there was no harm in trying a different brand of ammunition. Once again at 25 yards, I fired three shots at the same bullseye and went to take a look. I was stunned at what I saw. Without any sight adjustments, the gun had changed from two-inch groups to one-inch groups — just with a different type of ammo.
The second time I was surprised at the difference another brand of ammunition can cause occurred several weeks later. Again I was shooting an open-sights gun, which had been unsatisfactory with my main brands of ammunition. I decided to try two other brands of ammunition that I had never used before. The first brand left me disgusted — a 4-inch group at just 25 yards. This definitely was not satisfactory either, so I loaded the gun with the second brand of ammo. After shooting three shots, I walked over to the target and inspected the1 ½” group. In my mind, I was asking myself, “How in the world can you change from 4 inch groups to 1 ½ inch groups with just a different brand of ammunition?” To this day I still do not completely understand why, yet it does occur.
So, does ammunition really matter that much? In some cases, yes. In the cases I just mentioned, yes. There may be times that the gun itself truly is not suitable for how you desire it to function. But instead of concluding that the gun is off, just like I did in these examples, give a try with a different brand of ammo. If the ammo you try does not work, give another brand a try. The worst thing that can possibly happen is that you find out the gun is not suitable for you. But more often than not, the gun itself is fine — it just “prefers” a different brand of ammunition. So grab that inaccurate, dusty old gun in the corner and give it another try with a different brand of ammo. You’d be surprised.