Let me rephrase it.....If you are lucky enough to have a hunting gun that shoots 1/2" groups from a bench and another gun that shoots 1.125" groups from a bench, they are equivalent deer hunting rifles in my mind. I say this because you won' t have a bench shooting at deer.....you can' t really take advantage of the better accuracy.

The gun that shoots 1.125" at 100 yards is totally adequate for the task as far away as most modern guns can shoot. If the target is so far away that you actually need the better grouping gun, it' s probably out of practical range anyway.

Don' t misunderstand, I' d rather have the 1/2" grouping gun anyday. However my comfort level with a gun that consistantly shoots 1 1/8" is just as fine.

A gun that shoots 3" groups is a totally different story.

My .300 H&H shoots very accurately...an inch and less. However on my recent African Safari I couldn' t use the accuracy.....I couldn' t find a rest anywhere to shoot well. All the shooting was over sticks and in many cases I had to turn to my PH and say...we got to get closer. That gun should have been able to make a clean kill on an animal the size of a Kudu at 400 yards.....however I couldn' t hold it still over those damn sticks.

That' s why I say that we can overdo groups sometimes. I' d rather take a trophy bonded bear claw that grouped 1.125 in my gun after elk than a Nosler BT that grouped 3/8" ....