Originally Posted By: Rem700WYI bought a Savage Axis XP SS for a prairie dog chambered in .223. I took it to the range after breaking in the barrel to see how it would shoot.
I have that exact rifle and the worst factory groups were less than 1.5 inches and that was with the stock trigger with no adjustments made. I've tested 45 to 55 grain slugs and all have had acceptable performance, although my rifle seems to favor 50 grain slugs. The only thing I did to the rifle out of the box was to run a clean patch down the barrel to make sure there was no grease or fouling from manufacturing. The first 5 shots I fired after adjusting the zero at 50 yards, I shot 45 grain loads and the 5 shot group measured 1.1.
With handloads dialed in, the rifle is sub-1 inch at 100 all day long and it's around an inch at 200.
When you say "breaking in" the barrel, could you explain what you did?
Also, when you say "shotgun pattern", honestly how big of a group?
What scope did you use and could the scope, rings, base be the problem?
Grouse
