hunting rifle accuracy

[Joe-boy]

So I'm a little different. I go 1MOA as acceptable but cold bore 10 for 10 must be within 1/2 MOA of my point of aim.

This. If you never miss your point of aim by more than half MOA, you don't need much more. The internet shooters who only count the lucky groups will be telling how much better they and their rifles are, but what sea2summit said is what counts and most often the tiny groups either move slightly around the target or require excluding "a flyer" or other kinds of self-deception.

Group size is not what matters, what matters is at what distance you are 100% confident to hit the target. Still, the "average" 1 MOA rifle/ammo/shooter combination should not miss by more than 4 inches at 800 yards, never. How many of us can really do that?

 

[Joefrazell]

Would you rather have a 100 shot 1 moa rifle or a 3 shot 1/4 moa rifle?

I'd rather have a 100 shot 1/4 gun

 

[Rosebud]

See how you're favorite rig shoots when you've gotten a buck to stop 5 yards from stepping into the thicket and you have 3 to 5 seconds to shoot. Most hunters here don't care if the rifle will shoot half inch groups. Can I put a bullet in its chest at 200 yards and in in that time frame. Doesn't matter if you can ring steel at a 1000 yards. Most time of flight is over one second at that distance! How far can a animal move in a second? That being said, yes you should have the best shooting rifle you can afford and practice, practice, practice. Myself and friend shoot little basking turtles that come up for air on Talladega creek in the summer on his property using CZ453 .22s. You learn to be quick but to stop and squeeze the trigger or you miss. Missing causes some small amounts of ridicule among the shooters. today is the last day of Alabama deer season, and I'm grumpy ! Guess it shows by this response. One last hunt this evening until next October.

 

[Louisiana Reloader]

I've read this thread thoroughly this morning and there are lots of very good responses. When I think of a good, reliable magnum hunting rifle in terms of accuracy and precision, I guess the first question is what are you wanting to do in terms of how far are the majority of your shots going to be. I see all the pictures and stories on the internet about 900yd elk kills and so forth; however I can tell you that is not the norm and those guys shoot at those distances for practice regularly and are very familiar with their equipment. I also see just as many stories with nice elk killed 100yds and closer. So first, you need to figure out how far you are going to be shooting before you set your parameters on group size. I am not a bench rest shooter; however I am demanding with my rifle accuracy expectations. I will tell you that based on my experience with FACTORY PRODUCTION rifles, if you can get .75 MOA at 100yds you are doing pretty good. Although I like to see tighter groups than that--again, it depends on your hunting requirements. On my property most of my shots are less than 200yds so 1MOA at 100yds would render an ethical kill all day long. However, as I said--I like to see .75 MOA or less out of my hunting rifles. I am also an avid reloader so my criteria with my reloads out of my hunting rifles is .50 to .75 MOA at 100yds. If I can do that with my hunting rifles (all of which are factory production rifles) I am happy and it is plenty accurate for the shots I take at my deer hunting property in Northwest Louisiana. Recently I bought a SAKO S20 Hunter in 6.5 PRC and with factory Hornady Precision Hunter ammo in 143gr ELD-X I shot a .50 MOA group at 100yds--very impressive with factory rifle, factory ammo, and having only 3 shots down a new barrel when I shot that group. I am very excited to see how my reloads will shoot in this new SAKO rifle. So, forgive my rambling but with all this said, I think if you can get .50 to .75 MOA out of a factory magnum hunting rifle you will have excellent results and be plenty accurate for hunting big game.

 

[eric1115]

Under 1" moa carried out to 800yds puts you in the kill zone of all North American big game even whitetails and antelope. Agree with all, Less moa is much better. Anyone referencing 5 shot groups is not talking about hunting. If you have to take 5 or the animal allows you 5 (you shouldn't eat it or it was a pet), you probably are not or should not be hunting. My elk rifle is a 1/4moa rifle (proven at 100 and 200yds, but I am not 1/4 after that) - I have shot it 1/2-3/4moa to 600yds, my personal, far outside limit for hunting. 505yds on an elk is my longest and may very well always be, but my .340 also has the horsepower for much further than that. As Springfield and Ruark say, "bring enough gun".

I don't think of 5 or 10 round groups with the intent to shoot at an animal 5 or 10 times. I'm also not ripping off 10 rounds in a row to shoot that group. I want to minimize noise in my data. If I shoot 3 different 3 shot groups, I could have 3 slightly different centers, and group sizes .5-.8 moa. If I shoot all 9 (with cooling time in between) at the same POA, and that aggregate group size is 1.1, centered on my POA that is much better data than trying to chase those 3 shot small groups adjusting zero by a click or two. It's a much more realistic representation of me and my rifle. This photo of a 3 round 300 yard group with (marked up hypothetical but realistic) 3 more 3 shot groups shows what I'm talking about. A realistic picture of where I can be confident I'll hit. A .25 moa group that's .25 right of POA, then another .25 group that's off .25 the other way on the next target or the next day is not a .25 gun.

 

[62flint]

This was my ladder test today at 625 yards. I think it shows potential.

 

[sea2summit]

This was my ladder test today at 625 yards. I think it shows potential.

Why ladder test at 625? Did you have a target cam, or how do you know which is which?

 

[kgunz11]

Group size in a hunting rifle means nothing to me. Cold bore accuracy means everything. Dot drills are great in determining the precision of a hunting rifle. 1 shot per dot, each shot on a cold barrel.

 

[62flint]

Why ladder test at 625? Did you have a target cam, or how do you know which is which?

I went down and marked each powder charge. Gave the barrel time to cool

 

[Eagleye242]

I have been blessed to live in British Columbia, in game-rich territory that has allowed me to
hunt a wide variety of game in varied terrain.
In 65+ years, I have changed my opinion about "hunting" accuracy. I agree with those posters
who assert that the first "cold-bore" shot is the most important.
While I have a personal limit of 600 yards in the field, I am interested in rifles that maintain
excellent accuracy right out to that [and beyond] ¼moa rifles are nice, but extremely rare in
hunting weight [<8 lb] firearms. I have a custom 308 Norma Magnum that is one of these.
Nice to build confidence, but in the field, a 1 moa rifle that always places the first shot where
it should will bring home the game consistently. Dave.

 

[StanleyActual]

If your rifle / ammo / optic is not consistent and repeatable than it doesn't matter what the shooter does.

On the flip side, it doesn't matter if your rifle / ammo / optic is consistent and repeatable if you the shooter can not apply the fundamentals when the pressures on.

Having that accurate 1/2 moa or better rifle / optic / ammo combination is a benefit 1) because it allows the shooter some leeway / error factor when that buck fever hits.

That 1/4 or 1/2 moa bench / prone range rifle just became a 1-1.5 moa rifle due to shooter error / pressure / wind etc.

Now if your rifle shoots 1-1.5 moa off a bench, when everything's calm and going right, what do you u think it's shooting with all other factors considered?

Having that tack driver of a rifle combo removes any doubt that anything another than the shooter was at fault for that miss, and 2) it affords the shooter some additional error factor when the pressures on.

1/2 MOA or better for me from bench or prone off a bipod and anything less is not something I'm gonna be satisfied with .

 

[Plinker147]

With my bigger mags anything under MOA was acceptable for me. With my medium sized mags 7SAUM, 280AI in 7 l s gun I get 3/4 MOA. I regular kill game in the west in hunting situations with them from 200-600 yards. 3/4 MOA is plenty good and achievable in light weight hunting guns. I feel try to achieve better accuracy is diminishing returns. More factors will affect your hits the an extra 1/4 MOA on your rifle.

 

[Grey Goast]

Rule #1 know your weapon and its shooting ranges #2 know your ammo and the effects of weather heat and cold the enviroment will have on it. rule #3 know your range not with just a range finder but with your own judgement train yourself you can get good at this. rule #4 know the area where your going to hunt visit it in off season watch how the heat rises and drops thru the day which can create wind swirls in low gullies that create down drafts that move your sent around. the more you know of where you hunt the better the hunt. rule #5 where there is water there is life know where all water sources are not just for the game but also for you. Rule #6 Always say a prayer for you and your hunting party to be safe to and from a great day of hunting......

 

[crm3006]

Get closer. 400 yds. closer.