A fellow in our club has a scout rifle with a Leupold pistol scope on it. He has been reloading for it and getting unbelievably scattered dispersions. He was at the bench this past week with a dial caliper and paper tracking his results. His loads were BLC2, 147 grain bullets, and he was trying to resolve the weird POIs via seating depths to the thousandths. Not working. Minute of man with unexplainable flyers at 100 yards.

The first time I saw him he was waiting a good three or four minutes between shots, in an effort to keep the barrel from getting too warm. (I think he is onto something there.)

Meanwhile I was shooting my .308 bolt rifle with my 168 SMK, RL-15 and IMR 4064 loads which tend to group clover-style or better at 100. I asked if I could try my loads in his rifle and he agreed.

One of my front rests is a scissors jack with a piece of metal I attached formed into a U with dense foam taped to it. A small bag supports the heel of the stock.
My rifle on this arrangement can wiggle a bit. That M1A did not. It was like it was sitting on rocks. Wow.

First shot. Oh, there it is. Second shot about an inch off of the first. Third shot several inches in the opposite direct. Fourth wider still, and in the other direction.
Damn! I kept firing and it continued to have a mind of its own.

The "group' was within a six-inch circle including the weird flyers. I had pretty much duplicated the dispersions he has been fighting.

So, I am posting looking for info from experienced M1A fans. I'd really like to help this gentleman. He is trying so hard to tame the beast. I have been perusing sites addressing the subject and it appears that some of these rifles just refuse to be more than a minute of man battle rifle. As a long-time reloader, I still think a right combination lurks.