minimum accuracy requirements

[Vapodog]

You just bought a new .270 Remingchester and are going to use it deer hunting in Wyoming. You load up a bunch of ammo and head to the range.

You' ve free floated the barrel, glass bedded the action, and all other tricks you can do for accuracy.

At what accuracy level are you willing to go hunting with that rifle and have confidence in it?

Replys should be mostly numerical....such as 3/4" at 100 yards.

[FL/GA Hunter]

2" three-shot group at 200 yards would be a minimum, and I' d make sure I held myself within particular limits.

What would I expect out of myself? The same group at 300 yards.

Remingchester.

[WildBuck]

Seeing as how most guns will shoot better than most people can shoot them i would say 1 moa at 100 yds. There are a lot of people that go hunting in every state each year that can not shoot 1 moa at 100 yds off a sandbag much less off hand shooting at deer or any other game. I have seen people at the range zeroing their scope and if they can hit anywhere in a 6 inch circle at 100 yds they are ready to go hunting.

[kimndavid]

RAGGED HOLE WOULD BE NICE.
But really, 1 1/2 " or less @ 100 yds would be my preference...mainly because some of the shot opportunities I get can be a little on the long side (300 + yards)

>>>---DAVIDP---SILERCITY,NC--->

[mauser06]

jeez you guys are tough.....your deer hunting!! you dont need to beable to hit the hair you aim for....if you can put one within a 4 inch circle every time thats good enough for me.....you got what....atleast 8x8" of an area to hit!!! i mean accuracy is great and it ensures if you do your part your bullet will go where you put it....but you dont really need a tack driver for a deer rifle imo.....a 4 inch group at your max range is good enough in my book

[PABuck_HNTR]

I like atleast 1 1/2 or less at 100.

[Danny45]

if you can put one within a 4 inch circle every time thats good enough for me.....you got what....atleast 8x8" of an area to hit!!!

But Mauser06, that 8x8" area looks mighty small out there at 300 yards. A 4" group at 100 yards is gonna be a 8" group and 200, and 12" at 300 yards. And that' s from a bench. Add in odd shooting positions, wind, and other factors and you' d be lucky to hit anything beyond 100 yards.

Now a rifle that will group 1/2" on the bench at 100 yards, well, if you miss, you can' t blame the rifle.

[Briman]

I' m with Mauser06 on this one. except I would stae that a 4" group isn' t even necessary- an 8 inch group at 300 yards would be good enough provided you are consistant and base your group size on many more than the 3 shots you use to sight in a rifle a week before deer season. If you can keep 10 shots in a row within a pie plate at the maximum distance that you will be hunting at from an improvised position, you will do alright. Shooting a 1/2" 3 shot group at 100 yards really doesn' t mean much and isn' t even an accurate representation of the limitations of your rifle. Shooting from a bench means even less unless you are going to set up the same shooting bench at the edge of a field pointing at a bait pile at a known distance.

[handloader1]

1.5" or less @ 100 yrds. Good luck.

[westbronco]

People seem to be mixing rifle accuracy with shooting accuracy. Weatherby MK V' s, for example, used to come with a proof target proving 1 1/2" group size off the bench with Wby. ammo. That was considered to be good rifle accuracy. If you don' t handload, try different ammo to see which load gives you the best rifle accuracy, hopefully inside 1 1/2" @ 100 yds.

Once you know what the rifle / load combo will do, work on your shooting accuracy to learn what distances you can accurately shoot from different positions. Then you will have a much better idea of when not to shoot to avoid cripples and misses.