I see lots of questions on here regularly about what rifles and scopes to choose and thought I would share a few observations and conclusions that I have come up with. All too often I see people steered towards heavy, high powered scopes and varmint style rifles as more accurate and needed for long range hunting.

I used to have a thing for accurate rifles . I used to shoot off the bench canstantly trying to alter loads and work on my shooting skills to shoot tinygroups. I used to think the smaller groups I could shoot the more comfortable and confident I could be shooting game. Over the years I have gotten pretty proficient off the bench shooting true sub MOA with several rifles out to 500 meters. I gravitated to large scopes and heavy barreled varmint style rifles.

Last summer I started something new. Once I zeroed my rifle and had it shooting where I wanted, I only shot from feild positions. Both at targets and cardboard cutouts of animals. It took a lot more practice to get proficient at shooting the carboard cutouts than you would think, totally different than shooting at bullseyes. I also practiced moving targets, I would practice shooting balloons in the wind or tied to the antenae of a RC car. I did most of my field shooting with 22lr and 223 but I made a point of shooting at least 100 rounds from field positions with each of my hunting rifles. I found a few things out that were pretty interesting.

Number one was that even out to fairly long range I was able to shoot just as well from feild positions with low power scopes than I was with higher magnification. It was fairly easy to center a 10" kill zone out to 300 yards even with a 2.5x scout scope. Matter of fact unless I had a very stead feild rest or shooting stick position no more was even helpfull out to 300 yards.

Number two was that lighter, handier, more comfortable rifles work better. Given the choice between a heavy unweildly rifle that shot 1/2 MOA off a bench and a lighter, handier rifle that shot 1.5-2 moa, I would choose the lighter, handier rifle every time. While it may not be the more accurate rifle it is easier to shoot accurately in hunting situations. They were also infinately more comforatable to carry and hunt with, especially when climbing or hiking back on snowshoes.

Number three was that I could shoot MUCH better at extended ranges with a ballistic plex scope. When armed with a decent range finder and a ballistic plex scope I could place shots out to 500 meters, my fartherst range,fairly consistantly inside of a 8" paper plate. Usually 80% or better depending on wind. It was much easier to aim dead on than try holdover. Even in between distances was much easier to aim halfway or third way betweendots than just aiming high with crosshairs. As a result all of my long range rifles now wear a ballistic plex reticle scope, the biggest being a 3-12 on my 338 RUM.

I have never been more comfortable shooting at game. I shot my moose this year at 270 yards with a 9.3x62 using a 2.5x scout scope with no problems, I also shot a nice whitetail with a 243 usint the lowest setting on my 3-9 scope. I hit it 4/5 times in the heart lungs as it ran by from 80-120 yards, offhand. Any of the shots would have worked but the deer was all jacked up on adrenaline and I'm a shoot till they drop kind fo guy. I'm sure the miss was deflected in the brush.

Another classic example is a buddy of mine. He shoots everything with a Ruger 77 in 300 Win Mag with a 1.5-6 swarovski. I doubt his rifle is capable of much better than 2.5-3" groups at 100 yards but it just plain kills things. He hardly ever misses game with it.

I agree also. I have never been a sub-moa at long distance shooting. My grandfather and my father told me wisely that if you can hit in a 6 inch circle at 200 yards then your good to go. It all has to do with being able to hit that game animal in the kill zone from field positions.

Amazingly I tend to shoot better with open sights than with a scope on shots of 125 yards or less, and if I am shooting with my .30-06 Model A3-03 with a peep and post I can hit consistently in a 6 inch circle at 350 yards.

So unless you are trying to take head shots at 300 yards then sub-moa, or even 1.5" groups really does not mean as much to me(just my opinion).

Another case for what you say. The rifle that I have killed the most game with over the years is a 308 rifle in the old Remington 788 LH. This rifle will not shoot better than 2-3 inches off the bench at 100 yards. It does however seldom miss the point of aim by more that1 1/2 inches. This rifle blew my mind for years. I couldn't believe that a rifle which always hit the kill zone for me would not shoot a decent group. I finally quit trying to shoot groups with this gun, now I just shoot animals with it.. I used a very unlikely scope on it however. The only scope it ever wore was a 10X Bushnell silhouette scope.

I would never be one to suggest a heavy rifle for hunting. Nor would I suggest a huge scope. I do tinker quite a bit with my loads/rifles to eek the very best they can deliver. Honestly, I am pretty anal about accuracy. I am just as anal about my ability to shoot from field positions. I have been know to spend many a Saturday shooting at cut-outs on a woods walk my dad and I like to do. Shooting from a bench is fine and necessary to work out the kinks in anyone's rifle/ammunition combination, but few of us have a bench we can shoot a deer from.

Just like we say in archery, practice like you hunt. If you are going to be taking off hand shots, you best practice them, same way with longer distances. I would never try a 200 + yard shot on live game without knowing me and the rifle could pull it off.

I assume shooting at game sized targets with a rifle would be simular to archery as well. Shooting at a bag target is NOT the same thing as shooting a 3-D target. It really helps you to learn bullet placement at different angles and what not.

I also agree that lower power scopes are usually better. The higher the power the harder it is to hold the gun steady, or find your game in the scope. I Normally get a 3-9 power scope for my hunting rifles, but rarely turn them up that high unless I am shooting off from a bench. My rifled slug gun only has a 1.75-4X scope on it. It's plenty for what I use it for. And it will shoot around 1 inch or so at 100 yards from a rest and the right ammo.

My 17HMR has a 20X scope on it and you can see your heartbeat in the scope sometimes.

Lot's of people think you need to see the bullet holes to shoot accurately, I just don't think that is the case. I think that is one of the reasons why someone switching from open sights to a scope has trouble at first. They have a hard time holding the gun steady. You don't notice so much with open sights. I tried a 4X on a pistol once and had to take it back and get a 2X, it was just too hard to hold steady off hand for me.

Not to mention you can get a much better scope in a lower power for the same price. $200 will buy you a really nice low powered scope, where it won't get much in a higher power scope. If I had to pick between high power and quality optics, I would take quality optics everytime.

Just my opinions though.

Paul

Here is an interesting article by Chuck Hawks on accuracy and hunting rifles.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/practical_accuracy.htm

I would tend to agree with him. While having an ultra accurate rifle is sure nice, it isn't worth pulling your hair out when hunting large game at medium distances.

Usable sights and the best bullet for the job is more important to me.

I strive for 2 inch groups or better at 100 yards though, just because I am anal and do more target shooting than hunting with most of my guns.

However the current load I am using in my slug gun only gets 4 inch groups or so and I didn't have any trouble putting the slug where I wanted it this year. I felt the 600 grn slug was worth the trade off.

Paul

I have honestly never shot my rifle from a bench, I have always sighted in from my pickup window or shooting prone over a backpack. All of my hunting rifles are less than 1 MOA shooters, and none are heavy barreled varminters.

I sight my rifles in at 100 yards and then I throw out empty pop bottles, etc filled with water out to however far I feel like shooting that day, and I proceed to blow them up shooting from hunting positions. My hunting positions are from Harris Bipods, Steay Stix, and prone over a backpack.

I would like to shoot from a bench someday to see just how tight of groups I can shoot with my rifles, but I know for a fact shooting either my 243 or 7mm at 300 yards I can put 3 shots into a 1-1.5" group shooting from prone over my backpack, so thats good enuf for me!