SH*T THAT DON’T MAKE SENSE

I was sitting at the shooting bench with my shiny new (new to me, anyway) Winchester Model 70 and driven to a new level of frustration. I had purchased the best scope and mounts I could afford, and while they might not have been impressive, they were certainly reliable. The rifle was chambered for .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, and though fully capable of taking any game animal on earth, it doesn’t crush the shoulder. In other words, the rifle, scope and mounts were capable of fine precision—and is sweet-shooting compared to the bigger bores, where recoil gets serious.

I also acquired the best ammunition I could get and did my best to zero the rifle. Once the gun was printing on the bull’s-eye, I settled down to evaluate group size. The rifle would—routinely—print the first shot in the 1-inch bull’s-eye, the second shot 2 to 3 inches up and to the right and the third shot within ¾ inch of the first. I was convinced it was my shooting that was the culprit, so I asked my dad to send some lead downrange to prove me wrong. He had the same results.

Blaming the ammunition, I quickly ordered some reloading dies and necessary components, and I began to develop