Accuracy

[Wayspr]

It just kills me to read how accurate most shooters claim their rifles to be. As I read other threads, most claim to have "shooters" that are Sub-MOA. I believe most of this is pure BS. Most all current production rifles are accurate, but not consistentlt below 1" accurate. I have seen guys shoot 2 boxes of ammo, have 1 group below 1" (the rest in the 2" range), save that group and claim to have a "real shooter". BS! What about the guys claiming to have 1/2" guns? Most people I know do not have the skills to consistently shoot 1/2" even if the rifle can.

I am happy that my 3 rifles can consistently shoot below 2" with an occasional 1" group. If I had to guess, this type of shooting would be welcomed from most on this site so they could CLAIM they have an MOA gun.

Whats really fun is when you ask them to shoot with ya, and then hear the excuses rolling. I have one honest submoa rifle. I will take anybodies challege that I can pull off a submoa group 4 times out of 5. All the other ones, I would take a bet on them. I got some that will pull it off most of the time. But always get pesky flyers. But I would a bunch are honest 1.5MOA shooters.

But then again, you are on a gun forum. And that means most are more interested in rifles and such than the rest of the crowd. I bet there are a few on here I wouldn't want to bet gun to gun on a challenge

[Retaks]

Yea well all of my rifles shoot .11in groups at 300 yards.Not really. I have 2 that i know can shoot sub-moa. A 30-06 that is between 3/4in and 1in with the right ammo and a 17 HMR where there are ideal conditions. I think my 204 might be able to if i find better ammo but im happe with the 1 1/4in groups im getting with it. The rest of my rifles are between 1 1/2in and 3in except my 223 with is around 15in at 100 yards for some reason.

[cascadedad]

ORIGINAL: Retaks
except my 223 with is around 15in at 100 yards for some reason.

Wooow, specifics? Ammo, gun, rifling twist........

I have a friend that has a 1-8" twist in his 223. His groups were not good at 100 yards (3-4") if I remember right. When he gets to 200 yards and beyond, they tighten up.

Also, the faster twist is for shooting heavier bullets. So, possibly if you have a fast twist with a light bullet, or a slow twist with a heavy bullet, this could be your problem.

[Retaks]

I had a different post on here about it. Ive tryed everything to get it right and it just dosnt shoot well. its a Rossi Single shot i got for $100 new just to have in the truck for when im up to mountains. Ive tryed every different type of ammo i could get. I have around 16 half boxes laying around and i know i shot up atleast 10 other full boxes. The best group ive ever got is the first 2 shots out of a cold barrel they will be around 1 in but they are anywhere in the 15in circle.

[Tony Orlando and Dawn]

The better quality guns usually are and should be capable of sub MOA groups. Most sporter weight "afordable" rifles aren't. Although I expect more of my Tikkas, Sakos, etc., I'm happy if my "Remchester" deer rifle shoots 1 1/2" MOA with it's best ammo. Any worse and I sell it off.

I'm am amazed at the amount of rifles shooting 1/4" groups all day long on the internet. I've seen a number of shooters over the years shoot a dozen three shot groups, then pick out the best oneto show people what their rifle will shoot "all day long". I never knew there were so many world class target rifles and world class shooters until I learned about the world wide web

[eldeguello]

Most people I know do not have the skills to consistently shoot 1/2" even if the rifle can.

Yes, there's a lot of truth to this. I happen to have had TWO rifles with which I once was able to "consistently" shoot groups of less than 1" @ 100 yards. I still have them, and they MAY still be able to shoot that well. I don't know, because I can't shoot that well any more!

Of course, there's a big question here too. As you noted, ONE .5" group does not make a half-inch rifle! How many tiny groups must a rifle shoot to qualify as a sub-MOA shooter? 2? 5? 25?




On the day I shot this (5-shot) group, I managed to shoot four other groups with that gunthat were similar, but this is the best one. I have not tested the accuracy of this rifle since that day, so can't swear it would do it again. (6mm/.284, 26" Douglas Med. Wgt. Premium Grade barrel, FN action, Leupold 7.5X fixed-power scope.)

[Retaks]

To me a 1/2in rifle must shoot 1/2in or better atleast 2/3 of the time it is shot.

[Duffy]

If I was a bench rest target shooter or if I shot woodchucks at 300 yards, I would be pretty fussy about "sub MOA" capability from my rifle.

But I am just a run of the mill hunter who shoots at moose, bearand elk, deer,pronghorn and coyotes. I consentrate on teying to get within my effective range of my game and making a killing shot into the chest cavity at around 100 yards or less. If I have to I can make a shot too 200 or 250. (If I am hunting with my Win. M70 in.264 win mag. I can really stretch that out to 300 yards I suppose).

I am not as rich and smart and handsome as I sometimes claim and my rifles do not shoot as accurately as I sometimes claim. But they do the job.

Robin in Rocky

[Mykey]

Good post!, i agree it's fun to talk about the one holers but thats mostly what it is, talk!
I use to be real fussy about the accuracy of my rifles but i think there's alot of truth to the statement "with age comes wisdom". I use to beat myself up trying to get a rifle to shoot in the same hole, did i ever do that? NO!, will i ever do that?, of course not and neither will anyone else.
I use to be so caught up with the accuracy hype that it completely took the fun out of reloading for a while. It became more of a job than a hobby and it wasn't fun anymore. Seems i forgot why i started reloading to begin with and that was so i could shoot more myself and with the kids which IMO is where 99.9% of your accuracy will come from to begin with....shooting more!

Don't get me wrong here, everyone loves to shoot an accurate rifle at least i know i dobut how accurate does it need to be. Iguess that depends on each individual and what type hunting they intend to do. The best group i've ever shot was with a 25.06 that measured 0.325 but that surely didn't make that rifle a 1/2" shooter.Have i ever shot like that again?, another NO! I guess the stars must have been lined up right or something that day .I went around with a big head for a while saying yeah i got a 1/2" rifle but that wasuntil i got back on the bench and reality set inand i done good to get it to shoot 1".

Very seldom will i be presented with ashot that will be 300yds so i don't need that. Heck a 2" moa rifle will still be in a 6" kill zone at 300yds if you can put it there. My main two rifles are a 25.06 and a 30.06 and both will shoot consistently around1" at 100yds if i do my part and i'm pleased with that and the days they (I)shoot 1-1/4"-1-1/2" i'm pleased with that as well.

Idon't have the time or the patience anymoreto get caught up in the 1/2" moa, tack driving, one holerstuffsoi leave itto those who do.I spend my timethese days reloadingto shootwhich is why i started reloading to begin withandguess what?......thingsare so much simpler!