S&W 686 accuracy

First topic message reminder :

I have an S&W 686 with the 6 " barrel. I've been trying to find a 50 yd load that will shoot less than 4 inches at 50 yd. The loads are using cast bullets 158 grain SWC with 4.5 grains unique and with 4.5 grains bullseye. Cases are R-P brass with CCI magnum primers.

The best grouping I've been able to to do so far is 9 inches and that's off the sandbags. It's not just 1 flyer it's the whole string of 5 rounds that are all over the target. Any suggestions? Am I expecting to much from the gun?

I was being somewhat facetious, but, to even remotely be accurate with irons would require a mechanical rest (Ransom, Broadway, etc) otherwise any crosshair scope would be much more accurate than irons.

of course, Elmer and I never needed such fancyness....

I have an older 686 that isn't drilled and tapped for a scope. That may be an option that I'll have to follow up with. I'm headed out to the range later on this week to give it another try. I know I can do better that last time. I'm staying with the HP-38 and 160m grain loads but I'll also try my 13.5 grains of 2400 with the Hornady 158 grain HP. This was a reliable load when I was shooting IHMSA matches.

Thanks for the feedback.

I liked my Jim Rock 180 gr Speer and 15.7 gr H110 though....

in a Merrill Sportsman of course.

Well, I returned to the range today with the .357 mag 686. I set up at 50 Yds to retest my zero and grouping. I had 3-4 inches at 50 Yds then moved back to the 100 Yd line. Loads were 4.9 gr of HP-38 behind a 160 gr cast RN with CCI small pistol primers. This time the .357 cases were from a mixed lot and untrimmed.

I did change my shooting technique using the sandbags. Both elbows rested on the the bench with the gun supported on the sandbag just forward of the trigger guard. The barrel was not resting on any support. I also positioned the gun higher from the bench to allow me to see the sights without having to lower my head into an uncomfortable position.

13 shots went into a 6 inch circle with 2 flyers out 6 inches from the center of the group. This was an improvement from my previous attempts and now equates to the group size I was getting at 50 Yds. I attribute a portion of this to my changes to my shooting position.

I'll continue to improve on this. I have 2 Ruger 44 Mags that also need to be tested at the 100 Yd line.