I wasn't sure if I should post this in the hunting or reloading forum. What is your definition of "accuracy"? What is acceptable to a hunter might be garbage to a dedicated target shooter. My personal standard of acceptable hunting accuracy is a maximum 3" group at 100 yds., though I'd prefer 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" before I'm content. After 50 yrs. of shooting I no longer have the eye I did when I was young and my skills have deteriorated somewhat. Now I reload and shoot solely for hunting and plinking. For many years, my primary game getter was a Ruger M77 varmint model in .308. This is the old model, blued and walnut stocked heavy barrel with the tang safety. On my best day, my reloads gave me dime sized one hole groups (5 rnd.) at 100 yds., opening to 3" at 300 yd. I nailed a lot of deer with that rifle. Now, the weight bothers me a little and I was looking at some alternatives.
I have a tweaked No.4 Lee Enfield "Sussex" sporter that I was working up loads for. Yesterday at the range, I found my dream load for that rifle. Hornady 150 gr. Interlocks on top of 43 gr. of Varget gave me a three-shots-touching 5/8" group at 100 yds. Now I turned my attention to a fairly new (to me) sporterized Swedish Mauser. I've tried about 16 different bullet/powder combinations as well as some factory ammo without anything that tickled my fancy and I was getting some frustrated! I was debating about not hunting with that rifle for this year until yesterday. I managed an 1-3/4" group with 130 gr. Sierra Game Kings on top of 39 gr. of Varget, and an 1-1/8" group with 130 gr. Nosler Accubond on top of 39 gr. of IMR4064. I can live with that.
My heartbreaker was my SKS. I've reloaded a lot of different bullet/powder combinations for it and tried every factory ammo I could get my hands on; Federal "Fusion", Hornady SST, MFS, Sellier & Bellot, PPU, and Norinco soft point. Nothing would give me better than 2-1/2" at 50 yds. so that rifle was out of the question for anything over that distance. I have an absolute horror about wounding an animal. I feel it's my duty as an ethical hunter to ensure that my accuracy is optimized to give me one shot kills. I've missed 2 deer over the years, once from a scope mount that had loosened and once from plain old buck fever. I've only needed a second shot three times in my life to finish off a deer, and those are standards that I'm proud of. My damned SKS still managed to get a nice little 5 point buck 2 years ago, but it was only a 35 yd. shot. Once through the heart and it was down, using the Norinco soft point. WELL!!! Yesterday at the range I tried my latest load, I used 123 gr. Hornday Interlock on top of 25.5 gr. Reloader 7. That gave me a 4 shot 1-1/8" group at 50 yd. which opened up to 2-1/2" at 100 yd. Happy camper? You betcha!
Where we hunt, there are only 2 places where we have up to about 140 yd. line of sight. Most game engagements take place within 70 yds. For me, it's nice to know that whichever rifle I take out on a given day, I will nail my game cleanly if I do my part. To my fellow hunters, I wish you luck in the upcoming season.
I have a tweaked No.4 Lee Enfield "Sussex" sporter that I was working up loads for. Yesterday at the range, I found my dream load for that rifle. Hornady 150 gr. Interlocks on top of 43 gr. of Varget gave me a three-shots-touching 5/8" group at 100 yds. Now I turned my attention to a fairly new (to me) sporterized Swedish Mauser. I've tried about 16 different bullet/powder combinations as well as some factory ammo without anything that tickled my fancy and I was getting some frustrated! I was debating about not hunting with that rifle for this year until yesterday. I managed an 1-3/4" group with 130 gr. Sierra Game Kings on top of 39 gr. of Varget, and an 1-1/8" group with 130 gr. Nosler Accubond on top of 39 gr. of IMR4064. I can live with that.
My heartbreaker was my SKS. I've reloaded a lot of different bullet/powder combinations for it and tried every factory ammo I could get my hands on; Federal "Fusion", Hornady SST, MFS, Sellier & Bellot, PPU, and Norinco soft point. Nothing would give me better than 2-1/2" at 50 yds. so that rifle was out of the question for anything over that distance. I have an absolute horror about wounding an animal. I feel it's my duty as an ethical hunter to ensure that my accuracy is optimized to give me one shot kills. I've missed 2 deer over the years, once from a scope mount that had loosened and once from plain old buck fever. I've only needed a second shot three times in my life to finish off a deer, and those are standards that I'm proud of. My damned SKS still managed to get a nice little 5 point buck 2 years ago, but it was only a 35 yd. shot. Once through the heart and it was down, using the Norinco soft point. WELL!!! Yesterday at the range I tried my latest load, I used 123 gr. Hornday Interlock on top of 25.5 gr. Reloader 7. That gave me a 4 shot 1-1/8" group at 50 yd. which opened up to 2-1/2" at 100 yd. Happy camper? You betcha!
Where we hunt, there are only 2 places where we have up to about 140 yd. line of sight. Most game engagements take place within 70 yds. For me, it's nice to know that whichever rifle I take out on a given day, I will nail my game cleanly if I do my part. To my fellow hunters, I wish you luck in the upcoming season.
