How accurate is accurate enough?

[Johnny5]

I'm not sure if this is the proper category to post this in but I'm sure the mods will move it if it's not.

My questions to all those who have significant experience is: how accurate (under ideal conditions and in the hands of a proficient marksman) should a rifle (338 calibre) be before you would stop screwing with it? 1 MOA, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4.....ect....?

I am really interested in what someone could expect from a truly top notch 338 Lapua/Edge/ etc... So for those who have witnessed or shot precision 338's how accurate is kick ass accurate?

-John

[J E Custom]

Originally Posted by Johnny5

I'm not sure if this is the proper category to post this in but I'm sure the mods will move it if it's not.

My questions to all those who have significant experience is: how accurate (under ideal conditions and in the hands of a proficient marksman) should a rifle (338 calibre) be before you would stop screwing with it? 1 MOA, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4.....ect....?

I am really interested in what someone could expect from a truly top notch 338 Lapua/Edge/ etc... So for those who have witnessed or shot precision 338's how accurate is kick ass accurate?

-John

Accuracy is an individual thing and each person has his/her maximum and minimum.

Most people hope for 1/2 MOA at any distance and this is a very good accuracy to settle
for, but the distance and the game one wants to shoot really dictates the minimum group
size required.

If your hunting 400 to 500yards 1 MOA will work. (500 yards 5" groups) but the further
out you shoot the tighter the group should be. (1000 yards most would prefer 3/4 MOA
or less for 7.5" groups.

At 1500 yards a 1/2 moa rifle should produce around 7 or 8" groups under perfect conditions
(Which is rare) so you can see that the accuracy requirement is determined by the distance.

Like most on this site I never stop trying to improve accuracy in any weapon but I do limit
the shots to the capabilities of the rifle and myself.

Also just because a rifle will shoot 1/4 MOA at 100 or 200 yards doesn't mean it will at 800
to 1000 yards . This can only be verified by shooting at these distances.

And in answer your question about the 338s mentioned. A well built 338 with good loads
and good optics in the hands of a competent marksman should be capable of sub 1/2 moa.

Kick ass accuracy would in my opinion be 1/4 MOA or less.

J E CUSTOM

[Mikecr]

Your target and range determine this

Needed MOA = ((KillZone-BulletDia)/(Rng[yds]/100)) x .955

So if your KillZone is 8", minus .338" = 7.662"
If your range is 1000yds then 7.662" Divided by 1000/100 is .7662[IPHY], times 95.5% is .732MOA

1/2MOA would be needed for that Kz to 1460yds

Groundhogs provide considerably less Kz...

[hammertyme]

How accurate is accurate enough_ if all bullets follow the first bullet into the same hole at 1 and 200 yards then I am satisfied. I currently have 4 handguns that if I do my job that day will shoot 2-3 inches at 500 yards.

Example below:



Neal

[Johnny5]

Interesting responses. I'm trying to gauge whether I should stop having my 338 Lapua tinkered with or not. It's a Timberwolf action, sentinel stocked rifle wearing a krieger barrel. I am currently averaging around 1/3 MOA out to 500 meters. Normally I would be extremely pleased with this however I have been spoiled by my tuned up Remington 700/AICS in 300 win mag. With that rifle I average around 1/4 MOA out to the same distance.

I know there's not alot of difference between 1/3 and 1/4 MOA however I think I might be a little OCD and am obsessed with wringing the last little bit of accuracy out of my rifles.

I am wondering if my accuracy isn't being restricted by the loads I am shooting. I had the 338 throated so I could load 300 grain Sierra matchkings to the lands and still run them through the magazine. This winds up having the base of the bullet seated around even with the case body/shoulder junction and from what I understand this is not optimum for accuracy.

I am hoping the berger 250's come out soon so I can give them a whirl and hopefully load them to a more sensible length.

-John

[Greywolf18]

It really depends on how anal you want to be. If you are satisfied with the groups then your good. Just remember, you can have a rifle that will put the bullet through the same hole, but if the shooter can't make the shot then the rifle won't. I've seen several people, granted it was with regular hunting rifles shooting under 200 yards that sold a rifle because they could only shoot it @ 1.5" @ 100 yd. The guy buying it using the same bullets took his time and shot a .75-1" group. So its not always the gun!

[bsl135]

Good replies.

I'd like to bring up some additional considerations.

The groups that the rifle/shooter are capable of is a relatively small part of the picture as far as LR hunting is concerned.

I think there are a lot of rifles/shooters out there capable of shooting 10" to 15" groups at 1000 yards. However, I think there are very few rifles/shooters out there who can hit 10" to 15" targets at 1000 yards on the first shot.

I think many shooters falsely believe that if their rifle shoots 10" groups, then they can hit 10" targets. It's not that easy. The important knowledge that's required to center shots on the aimpoint at long range is often overlooked. This important knowledge is of course related to ballistics.

The topic is addressed in this article: Hitting Targets at Long Range

It's important to tune your rifle to shoot the smallest groups possible, BUT that's only a prerequisite for hitting small targets at long range. When you consider the challenge of addressing all the ballistic effects, it puts the 1/3 MOA vs 1/2 MOA question into perspective. When 2 degrees of cant cause you to hit over 10" wide of your aimpoint at 1000 yards, it doesn't matter if your rifle shoots 1" groups at that range, you still miss.

This is pretty common sense stuff that doesn't disagree with anything that's been said. I'm only bringing it up because it's important to keep questions and answers in proper perspective.

Best of luck,
-Bryan