I stopped at my local gun-shop today to pick up some moly lube spray, and while I was waiting on the cash register guy to show up,
I hear the guy behind me having a rather loud discussion, concerning his desire to buy brand xyz ammo,
because its noticeably more accurate, than what ever the clerk had handed him, in his marlin 35 remington lever action.
now a 35 rem is a decent deer rifle but its certainly not a 500 yard deer rifle, so I asked him how much more accurate was the ammo he wanted and how had he sighted in his rifle?
he stated, he had, several years back, purchased that rifle, from a buddy, along with a partial box of ammo,
and had gone out and placed a coke can on a berm (raised dirt bank in the glades) and backed off maybe 70-80 yards,
as that was the furthest he had ever needed to shoot, and he had drilled the can, on the first shot, he was thrilled!
and he was not about to swap ammo,
brands as he had seen it written many times that different brands of ammo , tended to require re-sighting in the rifle!
yeah! most of us are more knowledgeable and have more skills but I'm constantly amazed at guys who worry if the groups they shoot are not 1" or smaller, who get all that frustrated , if an occasional bullet opens the group an extra 1/2"
I asked him what bullet weight he had been using?
he said he was not all that sure but it came in a yellow/green box and said remington plainly on the end
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/29...oint-box-of-20
it was definitely not this BLUE box the clerk had suggested he use.
at that point I just wished him best of luck, and as the cash register clerk had showed up .....I paid and left......
honestly I don,t think this guy had a clue.....but hes most likely not the only one who figures that his rifles correctly sighted in, if he can hit a soda can at 60-70 yards on the first shot.
and anyone who thinks his rifles perfectly sighted in if he can hit a coke can at 70 yards, with the one test shot, and has not bought a box of ammo in several years might want to check his rifles zero again.
https://www.sportsmansguide.com/prod...unds?a=1586756
now this got me thinking, Ive hand-loaded hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammo for myself and several other guys over the last 50 plus years, and most of those guys have gone to the range and sighted in their rifles to print groups either at 100 yards or at maybe 3" high at 100 yards, most rifles are easily able to keep a 2" or tighter group, which basically suggests that a decent shot can expect the bullet impact to be with-in about 1" of the aim point if they have a good rest.
now that may not sound all that impressive but if the rifle can consistently place its shots with-in 1" of the aim point at 100 yards it should rather easily hit within the vital area of a deer or elk well past 300 yards, and damn few guys I've hunted with can accurately judge ranges or hit squat past 300 yards. so any real concern with their rifles ACCURACY , is not all that valid, it should not keep anyone up at night.
if your average guy sights in your average , deer rifle like a 243, 25/06, 308 win, 270 win, 30/06 or 7mm mag to hit 3" high at 100 yards, and then sees a deer or elk and just places the scope cross hairs on the dark red star, (basically center chest) that bullet is going to hit close enough to the vitals out past 300 yards to be lethal.