I took my newly built rifle out to try a little more sighting in and accuracy.  Well things are not looking good for budget ammo.  At 50 yards I was getting flat out terrible results.  Couldn't hold the 9 ring on an NRA 100 yard target with Wolf.  Q3131A was not doing much better, inside the 9 ring 3" (NOT good).  I was getting VERY unhappy with it at this point.  On a lark I picked up a box of Winchester Ballistic Silver Tip hunting rounds at 55gr.  I loaded up a mag, and damn,  I had every shot but one of the 10 round string in the X ring.  That was a flinch due to a 30-06 being touched off just as I fired.

Now since this ammo is about $0.80 per round I will not be playing with it very often.  I also have some BH 69gr SMK on the way to try as well.  Is it normal to see that level of ammo pickieness?  I have a non-chromed that does WAY better with Wolf and Q3131A, and I was really disappionted that my new rifle is nowhere near the accuracy of my steel moly DPMS rifle.  

But the Winchester results make me think it's just ammo picky.  The whole group was about 1" with a 5 shot group under 5/8".  Is that common?  I really expect better than 6 MoA from plinking ammo, and even my SKS can deliver better than that.  The results from the Silver Tip stuff suggests I'm not just a shitty shot.  I'm conflicted now.  I love the looks of my new rifle but I'm not hot on it's performance with affordable ammo.  

Any common things to check to make sure I'm not losing accuracy?

Bushmaster 16" patrolman's barrel / chrome lined.