[JerBear]

Hey guys. I just bought a new Ruger mini 14 in 6.8 SPC. I took it to the range today shooting Hornady 6.8MM SPC 110 GR BTHP/WC. I put a NEW Bushnell Elite 3200 series scope on the gun. I was shooting 100 yards over a bench. I would shoot one round and it hit pretty much where I expected. The next round would hit 6" low. The next would be 6" somewhere else.. BTW the wind was calm. Any ideas? I shoot all the time just in case someone asks. I have a Bushmaster in 450 Busmaster caliber that I can shoot three rounds that touch at 100 yards and I shoot a Remington 700 Alaskan TI in 270 WSM that makes one three shot hole at 100 yards. So, I need some help with this Ruger.

1. Are you using the factory rings? When I first mounted my scope on my 6.8 mini I had a similiar experience. I found the front base kept loosening. I had to tighten the base screws a lot more than expected to keep it solid.

2. How many rounds did you fire? It took about 80 to 100 rounds before mine started grouping well.

3. Try some Silver State Ammo. My mini doesn't care for the Hornady factory loads (3+ MOA). I've never shot the Remington (don't want the large primer brass), however most folks here don't like it. The Silver State 110 gr. ProHunters and 115 gr. OTM shoot about 1.5 to 2 MOA for me.

4. Reloads are what work for me; both the 90 gr. Speer TNT's and the 110 gr. Hornady V-Max loaded to 2.290" will shoot 1 to 1.5 MOA.

5. I've found that to get good groups with my mini, I have to wait about 1 minute between shots and 5 minutes between groups.

Don't give up on it--I've got about 1,100 rounds through mine and it's shooting better than ever.

Here's the latest 100 yard 10 shot group:

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/90gr-10_Small_.jpg