Custom rifle

[Gene Allen]

Or as my brother aways said he could shoot the wings off a fly at a hundred yards & make him a walk seriously though when we are measuring groups does everyone measure outside to outside bullet holes or center to center it makes a big difference in group size?

 

[cjuve]

Or as my brother aways said he could shoot the wings off a fly at a hundred yards & make him a walk seriously though when we are measuring groups does everyone measure outside to outside bullet holes or center to center it makes a big difference in group size?

So which group would be 1/2"

 

[Gene Allen]

i am not questioning anybodys groups just asking for my own reference if I measure correctly because I am not sure!!

 

[Dragoon300]

Shooting small groups at 100 yards DOES mean something. It means the rifle and shooter are capable of at least that moa. Wind doesn't effect it as much at 100 yards and helps the shooter see their mistakes. Accomplished shooters may not need this confidence building, some do. Be reasonable, 1 moa is ok, especially at range. Sure 1/2 or smaller is better, and may be needed depending on the target size. It is always good to check your setup at range, this is necessary too, but it is testing more than just the rifles capability. As far as things go, I have never seen a 1/2 moa rifle, shooter and load at 1000 yards, turn into 1 moa at 100 yards, everthing being equal. And I can't say it would be likely to see a consistent 1 moa shooter and rifle at 100 yards, shoot 1/2 moa consistently 1000 yards either.

 

[Recon$$]

To beat the dead horse some more I do 3 shot groups. Once I hit .5 MOA at a reasonable velocity that's my load assuming it's repeatable. I'm shooting seekins and fierce for my hunting rifles. Once I accomplish everything I want at 100 I shoot steel out to 800 (all I got for distance right now) and I go on my way.

 

[Gene Allen]

Again I am just asking how everyone is checking group size so I know the the correct size of my groups , I am getting up there in age and not a great shot compared to all the great shooters I read about Thanks!

 

[RUFFIAN R - NY]

need to agree with Wild Rose & 340WBT-4- If one needs more than 2 rounds for a kill , give it up . Have hunted all over US/Canada and Alaska from woodchucks to Elk, moose, Bears, goats, rams , and only placed one shot on target. Only one time did I have to take two shots and that was the guide that made me take the 2nd shot and that was on a double shovel caribou out some 350-400 yds bullet went through the same hole and hit a small bull some 30 yards behind mine and did not see it there..That was with my custom Wby MK-V action and a 28 inch Hart bbl in a tight 7MM Rem Mag rifle which is a 1/2 @ 150 - 160 Yds shooter. Besides its placement placement one shot one kill.. What did XXXX say about his 270 Win ????? bullet placement !!!!

 

[Recon$$]

Checking group size by Center of the impacts, not the outer edges.

 

[cjuve]

i am not questioning anybodys groups just asking for my own reference if I measure correctly because I am not sure!!

Well it was a legitimate question, you have to subtract the bullet diameter out of the outside group measurement. The pictures were for visual effect of a .338 vs .243

 

[Zen Archery]

1) what's the average 5 shot group of your custom hunting rifle -

.50

2) what are the worst 5 shot groups you see (with your tunes load)

Trying to rationalize difference between "average" and "tuned load?" I only avg. a tuned load.

At what point do you guys call it good and start shooting and not trying to develop the perfect load?

Hunting 1 MOA - don't care about velocity spread.
Long range 1 MOA - absolutely predictable velocity spread.

 

[sp6x6]

I have 3 customs and I hope they go 3 in 1/2,but not always.Heaviest is 9# bare and 7# 338NM. I am more interested in hitting at distance and thats more how I practice.Back when I built my first custom, I shoot archery with 2, 1000 bench guys from the days of Alex on here.These fellows helped me set up my rifle and loads.At the time we had a 1000 yrd range that we lost use of.So I shot there rifles a few times and ya,you get to see what accuracy is.First shot ever at 300 yrd at a sticky dot, fire form,I hit dead center and I wasnt even in gun yet! NO IM not used to your 2 oz. trigger,heh.But for these guys everything was ten shots, for score. My best was 1 1/8 '' at 400 yrds-3 shots w/my light 338NM.I just picked up a 6# 6.5prc and shot 3/4 first group ,of hood out on a cold day.Hoping it shoot well.My rifles hunt

 

[Gene Allen]

Thank you for the explanation, now I know the correct way to check group size.

 

[PNWdude67]

I'm well aware of that. It doesn't matter however what the rifle and load are capable of if the shooter isn't capable of 1/2 moa him/herself.

And the environment at that time is the X factor. Some days it's easy and other days uncle gust has his way with us. Want to separate decent shooters from the elite? Put us in a match with terrain and variable winds fro 8-15 mph. That's where we really need to trust our gun, mechanics and believe what the shot we just sent tells us. It takes time in the field to trust your gun and trigger pull and make a .5 mil correction at 800 yards after you sailed one wide of the target mis judging the wind. Most of us make a .1 or .2 and mis again in the same spot. Over and over. Some of the best "groups" I have seen are in the dirt off the target during a windy match!

 

[LongBomber]

I like to use 10 shots into 1moa at 300y as the benchmark. Depending barrel contour some groups may take a bit longer to shoot, but rarely would I take more than 5 min to shoot a 10 shot group.
If you have a load and a shooter than can hold that standard its pretty likely your accuracy will meet any hunting needs.