When do you stop chasing accuracy?

[coyotemaster]

I have a Tikka T3X Veil in 6.5 PRC, I am loading 143 ELD-X not because I particularly care for them but that's what shoots so far. I am using RL26, Nosler blem brass and Fed 210M primers. If I have not had much coffee, it shoots .5 to .6 at 100. My intent is to use it for whitetail to 800 yards. My longest shot so far is 519 yards with a 257 weatherby. Is there any point looking for another 1/4" of accuracy since I will be shooting off a bipod in field conditions?

Unless you're shooting field mice in the off season 1/2-3/4" is all you'll ever need. I agree with the guys who suggest component utilization and also barrel life are issues to consider.

Accuracy can be a very expensive game and the saying really good or really good enough has some bearing.

 

[bigngreen]

I have a Tikka T3X Veil in 6.5 PRC, I am loading 143 ELD-X not because I particularly care for them but that's what shoots so far. I am using RL26, Nosler blem brass and Fed 210M primers. If I have not had much coffee, it shoots .5 to .6 at 100. My intent is to use it for whitetail to 800 yards. My longest shot so far is 519 yards with a 257 weatherby. Is there any point looking for another 1/4" of accuracy since I will be shooting off a bipod in field conditions?

Just to echo some of the others, at 100 yards you really don't know what you have and if your goal is 800 it and you need to be good to a 1000, IMO.

I'll mess around out to 600 but when you hit 800 things start getting real, we really owe it to the game we hunt to put in the best effort we can, I really hate the idea we would have a "good enough" line, it kinda the same thing as minute of deer being acceptable, we definitely should respect the game enough to give ourselves as large of an error window as possible and bring a top level A game when going long. If I was very consistent at 1/2 moa group at 800 I would hunt with it but not till I'm dropping a cold bore within that margin of error when I'm picking my shot, I give myself a lot of leeway when just picking a day and that's the shot I get which should be different when hunting because some days you can only put that cold bore in side you 1/2 moa at 300 others you can go 1000, know the difference!!

 

[Joefrazell]

This does not track with reality.

A 6" plate at 800yds is essentially .7 MOA. A half moa rifle would leave roughly .15 MOA on either side of the group if that group were fired dead center plate. A 1/4 MOA rifle would leave twice that.

Running mils at 800, the delta between a 10mph wind and a 11mph wind is a tenth of a mil commonly. That's .35 MOA. So, if you're off on your wind call by 1mph with a 1/4 MOA rifle, you still have a fair chance of hitting the target. With a 1/2 MOA rifle, your chances are massively worse. Then there's the reality that only the best of us can call wind under 1mph. Even fewer can do it at 800.


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That sounds great if we were all machines but we're not. Were human beings. We ALL cause errors and I'll effects on a rifle system. You'd be hard pressed to convince me that there's a significant advantage in the real world of a quarter min rifle compared to a half minute rifle in the conditions that the op described. Hunting conditions. Also, show me a hunting rifle that produces 1/4 min results every single time. This is not reality. They may do it a lot of the time or even most of the time but definitely not ALL the time.

I agree, we should all strive to get to perfection but there's many many other things to work on in long range hunting/ shooting and life in general that our time and efforts need. Truth is a half minute rifle with a good es/sd isn't holding anybody back in a hunting scenario.

 

[milo-2]

I feel hunters more than target shooters need to ensure their rifles or platforms shoot to the best of their ability for both game and themselves. Their will always be circumstances where things do not go as planned, this is life. And know the limitations of said rifle. Task at hand, it means something.
All of us have been at the range when some hotdog shows up and declares an Elk at 1K is the goal. And after 25 shots and warm barrels he asks you to spot for him, Right, after 6 shots of calling correct misses, you ask the clown to use the same aimpoint and shoot 3. The writing is on the wall. He needs to be told to go home, grow up, and shoot within his capabilities.

 

[Jon Bischof]

"Good enough", "Close enough", "paid over $3,000 for my rig, handload and I'm satisfied with 3/4 MOA" "If I can hit a pie plate at 25 yards, I'm good to go."

My least of all favorite for a bum who hunts tree squirrels with a 22 LR that won't shoot 3/4 MOA at 50 yards: "Minute of Squirrel", I hate that expression and the lazy so-called hunters who don't respect their game animal enough to take them seriously. Extreme Close Range, Intermediate Range, or heaven forbid, Long Range...the excuses for poor preparation and inadequate marksmanship are all pretty much the same.

 

[bah bah black sheep]

I believe you refine your load until you've achieved the amount of accuracy you want THEN see how much your positional shooting needs refining. Once all of that is done pick the absolute worst days, rain, wind, the more suck you can get the better then try out that load with the positional aspects. Ammo and environmentals play a dirty game when the suck really sets in. Remember if it ain't raining it ain't training

 

[nealm66]

At my local, basically blind( not much for sighters) 600 matches,I see a lot of guys leave incredibly disappointed. Definitely a good idea to shoot distance and not weigh too much on what your seeing at 100 yards

 

[.30-06]

when you have trouble finding the holes

wow I came on and seen 16 alerts, I knew my reply was out of the ordinary ! LOL

 

[LRNut]

This does not track with reality.

A 6" plate at 800yds is essentially .7 MOA. A half moa rifle would leave roughly .15 MOA on either side of the group if that group were fired dead center plate. A 1/4 MOA rifle would leave twice that.

Running mils at 800, the delta between a 10mph wind and a 11mph wind is a tenth of a mil commonly. That's .35 MOA. So, if you're off on your wind call by 1mph with a 1/4 MOA rifle, you still have a fair chance of hitting the target. With a 1/2 MOA rifle, your chances are massively worse. Then there's the reality that only the best of us can call wind under 1mph. Even fewer can do it at 800.


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This is exactly the kind of math I use and have written about extensively. No rifle shoots a one hole group but too many calculate allowable wind drift error as if they have 4" to play with but they don't. The more accurate the rifle, the more allowable wind error you have.

I can't believe I am the only person on this site that seems to quote Bryan Litz's WEZ models (I am sure there are, but I don't spend as much time as others). If you take his WEZ concept and run the numbers, which is essentially what Okran is doing in his post, no one has any business shooting at a deer 1000 yards away unless they are willing to accept a high probability of wounding that animal. I think a lot of guys shoot to 400 or 500 and extrapolate the results; big mistake. I can pound that 8" gong at 500 yards all day long in just about any wind, but doing it at 1000 yards is a different story.

As a few others have said, too many are too anal about accuracy when they would be better off shooting in the wind at LR to sharpen their skillset. And as another said, anyone can correct a miss at 1000 yards but first round hits are all that counts.

 

[BillLarson]

I have a Tikka T3X Veil in 6.5 PRC, I am loading 143 ELD-X not because I particularly care for them but that's what shoots so far. I am using RL26, Nosler blem brass and Fed 210M primers. If I have not had much coffee, it shoots .5 to .6 at 100. My intent is to use it for whitetail to 800 yards. My longest shot so far is 519 yards with a 257 weatherby. Is there any point looking for another 1/4" of accuracy since I will be shooting off a bipod in field conditions?

No.... now start shooting off your hunting set up...
Good hunting..

 

[Stonyman88]

I have a Tikka T3X Veil in 6.5 PRC, I am loading 143 ELD-X not because I particularly care for them but that's what shoots so far. I am using RL26, Nosler blem brass and Fed 210M primers. If I have not had much coffee, it shoots .5 to .6 at 100. My intent is to use it for whitetail to 800 yards. My longest shot so far is 519 yards with a 257 weatherby. Is there any point looking for another 1/4" of accuracy since I will be shooting off a bipod in field conditions?

WHY, unless you have the time, money can find stuff to reload with. Like to know what your loading, Gn, Know the 143, ELD-X but how many gn, of RL 26. My BERGARA PRC shoots .18 @ 100 with out of the box Hornady ammo, I have the materials to load the same seeds and powder , but what's your best load? Have you messed with seating depth?

 

[Stonyman88]

As before , WHY and have to pay attention to what LR Nut had to say, why such long shooting on white tails, or is it a story thing. ?

 

[bigngreen]

What other things have been done to dial this rifle in? Is it bedded, trigger tuned, barrel floated? Are your shooting groups of the bipod?
I agree with more shooting BUT you will never learn to shoot better than your rifle is capable of, the same as not shooting better cold bore when your not taking everything into account at all times. The tighter and more knowns your working with the better you can concentrate on the things that do take skill development in the field.

 

[bigngreen]

As before , WHY and have to pay attention to what LR Nut had to say, why such long shooting on white tails, or is it a story thing. ?

This is a long range forum, the why is the OPs reason, not relevant to the conversation on this forum!!