hunting rifle accuracy

[BrentM]

Well..... we all got opinions......
but if you want to find out how accurate your rifle is....use a bench and bags....
of which the shooter is part of the system.....
once you know you got a .25"MOA ...gun
practice off a good bi pod.... tri-pod or back pack....

I'm good with my method. I can and do shoot very small groups at zero and long range. I'm not the least concerned if the rifle can shoot better since the rifle and me are one system. No need to have a .25 rifle and a 2 moa shooter.

 

[memtb]

13-1/2lb rifle and I'm 62yo, 160lbs soaking wet.

I'm glad that you're still upright and still hunting! How many miles per day on foot can you hunt with that rifle and all of the associated gear to make for a safe hunt?

Granted, we all experience different hunting condition. Elk hunting on foot with all of the gear that is associated with the conditions that one may experience on the hunt ….for the average hunter requires that we cut as many pounds as possible to make the hunt as pleasant as possible for multiple days of hunting!

If hunting from horseback or from a vehicle…..there is virtually no limit to the gear one can have and the rifle weight doesn't enter into the equation! memtb

 

[StanleyActual]

I rarely shoot prone hunting though. 99% of the time I got to see over some shrubbery, cattle, and whatnots! Since the animals don't shoot back, I am perfecting my 4 wheeler rest positions, truck window, and throwing a light fill bag over a log, some makeshift stuff.

Thats not what we're talking about though. We are talking about zeroing and load development not training for practical shooting positions.

Shooting off a bench and bags is no more stable than shooting prone off a bipod with a rear bag. And seriously, if a guy can't shoot a 100 yard zero target from the prone or off a bench without introducing a bunch of shooter error to the point he can't get usable information, than he's got bigger problems..

 

[Varmint Hunter]

How? A 1/2 MOA group at 100 is still a 1/2 MOA group at 1000. Bryan Litz and many others have shown this with their shoot through targets.
I think it's the shooter that has problems at 7-800 yards for whatever reason. Many are good at setting up on bags on a bench and shooting good 100 yard groups but terrible at laying prone or other field positions and shooting those same tight groups.

IMO, this is patently incorrect. Numerous factors effect a bullet in flight that have nothing to do with how a shooter is shooting.
Shooting strictly from the bench, using BR rests and bags, a comparison of groups between 100yds and 1,000yds is easy to do. .5moa groups @ 100yds aren't all that difficult to achieve with quality guns and ammo. But .5moa groups at 1,000yds are infinitely more difficult.

 

[StanleyActual]

I'm glad that you're still upright and still hunting! How many miles per day on foot can you hunt with that rifle and all of the associated gear to make for a safe hunt?

Granted, we all experience different hunting condition. Elk hunting on foot with all of the gear that is associated with the conditions that one may experience on the hunt ….for the average hunter requires that we cut as many pounds as possible to make the hunt as pleasant as possible for multiple days of hunting!

If hunting from horseback or from a vehicle…..there is virtually no limit to the gear one can have and the rifle weight doesn't enter into the equation! memtb

Or you can just get strong.

Not everyone's capabilities are the same. Some peope shoot better than others,
Some Can hump more weight for longer etc. if the guy is comfortable shooting at 800 why should he limit his range to what some guy on the internet has to say about it? If the guy is capable and comfortable elk hunting with a 13lb rifle, why should have to hunt with a 6lb rifle because some guy on the internet said that's the proper weight for a hunting rifle?

 

[Lee7588]

I'll begin this comment by saying I haven't read the entire thread since it was started.

I love getting what I think is great accuracy in my guns. But I also understand that I am responsible for my part.
Does anyone put their rifles in sleds like what benchrest shooters do? Something that would have less human influence on the rifle and shots. I know when I shoot mine are on bags, bipods, or tripods with a rear support but I can mess up a shot. We are taking about accuracy and in my opinion this would be the best way to check the guns accuracy

 

[StanleyActual]

IMO, this is patently incorrect. Numerous factors effect a bullet in flight that have nothing to do with how a shooter is shooting.
Shooting strictly from the bench, using BR rests and bags, a comparison of groups between 100yds and 1,000yds is easy to do. .5moa groups @ 100yds aren't all that difficult to achieve with quality guns and ammo. But .5moa groups at 1,000yds are infinitely more difficult.

I think we're all on the same page with that and he's not disagreeing with it. A rifle doesn't know whether it's aiming at a 100 yard target or a 1000 yard target. We zero at 100yds to remove the effects environmental conditions have on the bullets flight to have an absolute true zero.

Past that, environmental conditions, the shooters ability to call wind accurately, bullet design, ballistics etc all play a part in that group size. But your .25 MOA rifle
doesn't just go to s*** because your aiming at a 1000 yd target. The rifle is capable, but maybe your ammo and or the shooter is not.

The point being, if your rifle is only capable at 2 MOA at 100 yards the absolute best you'll ever get at 1000 yards is 2 MOA and Vice versa, which is why we strive for the absolute best we can get at 100.

 

[DoneNOut]

Thats not what we're talking about though. We are talking about zeroing and load development not training for practical shooting positions.

Shooting off a bench and bags is no more stable than shooting prone off a bipod with a rear bag. And seriously, if a guy can't shoot a 100 yard zero target from the prone or off a bench without introducing a bunch of shooter error to the point he can't get usable information, than he's got bigger problems..

Amen

 

[Dirtrax]

I'm glad that you're still upright and still hunting! How many miles per day on foot can you hunt with that rifle and all of the associated gear to make for a safe hunt?

Granted, we all experience different hunting condition. Elk hunting on foot with all of the gear that is associated with the conditions that one may experience on the hunt ….for the average hunter requires that we cut as many pounds as possible to make the hunt as pleasant as possible for multiple days of hunting!

If hunting from horseback or from a vehicle…..there is virtually no limit to the gear one can have and the rifle weight doesn't enter into the equation! memtb

Quite a few. Although the terrain I hunt is very steep and rugged. How one distributes the weight is as important if not more than the weight itself.

 

[BrentM]

I think we're all on the same page with that and he's not disagreeing with it. A rifle doesn't know whether it's aiming at a 100 yard target or a 1000 yard target. We zero at 100yds to remove the effects environmental conditions have on the bullets flight to have an absolute true zero.

Past that, environmental conditions, the shooters ability to call wind accurately, bullet design, ballistics etc all play a part in that group size. But your .25 MOA rifle
doesn't just go to s*** because your aiming at a 1000 yd target. The rifle is capable, but maybe your ammo and or the shooter is not.

The point being, if your rifle is only capable at 2 MOA at 100 yards the absolute best you'll ever get at 1000 yards is 2 MOA and Vice versa, which is why we strive for the absolute best we can get at 100.

Only exception to this imho is large es and sd spread that doesn't show up at short range zero's etc. I have a example of a group at 400 that looks pretty dang good but it was 5 charges with around 150-200 fps spread. That example at longer range such as 600 plus would absolutely go to crap. I put very little faith in close in groups without low sd and es.

 

[StanleyActual]

Only exception to this imho is large es and sd spread that doesn't show up at short range zero's etc. I have a example of a group at 400 that looks pretty dang good but it was 5 charges with around 150-200 fps spread. That example at longer range such as 600 plus would absolutely go to crap. I put very little faith in close in groups without low sd and es.

Absolutly, but I would consider that covered in my statement regarding ammo quality / ballistics. The rifle Is capable, but your ammo is not

 

[BrentM]

Absolutly, but I would consider that covered in my statement regarding ammo quality / ballistics. The rifle Is capable, but your ammo is not

Yeah gotcha. I might have missed a lot of posts and points. Sorry about that. I've been out playing in the outdoors.

 

[StanleyActual]

Yeah gotcha. I might have missed a lot of posts and points. Sorry about that. I've been out playing in the outdoors.

Beats the heck out of playing on the internet!

 

[DoneNOut]

Beats the heck out of playing on the internet!

Well, play on internet about guns, go shoot guns, come back and play on internet about guns. It's a rough one, but fella's I'll manage!