Is The Stated MOA Of Your Rifle Like A Good Fish Story?

So true, I have always sought after the elusive 1/4 MoA at 400 yds for no other reason than confidence. If I am positive the rifle I carry does not miss, then it leaves just me to mess it up, which I do. I find I am a much better shot if I am confident in everything involved, the rifle, the ammo, my skill, my judgement, the wind, the angle, the distance.... all of it. If I don't have that confidence, my ability to be precise or accurate declines fast.

Everyone should be practicing shooting offhand all year if possible if we are attempting shots beyond our ability to guarantee a clean kill at game. I totally blew a shot this year at a moose from 38 yards, clean miss, I knew better than to try to decapitate him from the position I was in, and the condition I was in at that moment. My next two rounds were where I should have shot for to begin with. I have also made one shot heart kills from well over 300 while standing freehand. It's not just about our ability to make a shot, but also our judgement at that specific moment in time. In the last 5 years I have misjudged twice, neither time did the shot cause any problems, but I should have known better at the time.

As for paper punching, from the rest it is all about tuning the rifle/ammo, etc... I for one, like to practice from every position I can think of I might encounter while hunting, it helps, a lot.
 
tylerjwitty said:
a 10 shot group fired in rather quick fashion is a truthful way of telling what a barrel is capable of
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I think all this does is tell the shooter just how doggone hot a barrel can get. I wouldn't dare try it with any of my magnums, my F-class gun no problem but thats a different rifle for a different purpose....
 
cdn1canhunt said:
The 10 shot thing dosent make any sense to me either if your a hunter and honestly a shooter! Isn't it the first shot that matters the most????
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The first shot in a gopher field loses much of its importance, compared to the hundreds that follow. A target rifle that strings its shots as it warms up isn't good for much. A hunting rifle that doesn't put the cold shot in the following group may still be useful if you know about it, but not all hunting is limited to a single shot or single target.

The main thing is that a rifle be tested the way it will be used, at the ranges that it will used at.
 
I took my stevens 200 in 7mm rem mag to the range a couple weeks ago to try it out for the first time.

I had thrown together some reloads with hornady sst's, increasing from min charge to max charge of H-1000 in about five increments. The groups averaged around about 1.5" at 100 yds.

The only work I did to the gun was devcon bedded it and lightened the factory trigger.

If I fiddled with loads and tried match bullets and prepped brass I could likely achieve 1 moa or close to it at 100 yards.

I figure this is pretty typical performance for these savages, I am certainly happy with it for a $350 hunting gun.
 
Dogleg said:
The first shot in a gopher field loses much of its importance, compared to the hundreds that follow. A target rifle that strings its shots as it warms up isn't good for much. A hunting rifle that doesn't put the cold shot in the following group may still be useful if you know about it, but not all hunting is limited to a single shot or single target.

The main thing is that a rifle be tested the way it will be used, at the ranges that it will used at.
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I agree with last part of your statement but It is my opinion (and will likey start another discussion) that a gopher field isn't true deffinition of a hunting situation rather just a glorified shooting range full of little brown Fuzzy targets. I have nothing against it and would like to try it sometime but i just can't define it as MY true deffinition of a hunting situation, more to being a shooting situation.
 
cdn1canhunt said:
I agree with last part of your statement but It is my opinion (and will likey start another discussion) that a gopher field isn't true deffinition of a hunting situation rather just a glorified shooting range full of little brown Fuzzy targets. I have nothing against it and would like to try it sometime but i just can't define it as MY true deffinition of a hunting situation, more to being a shooting situation.
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I think you missed the point. The point is that the last shot from a varmint rifle is as critical as the first (thus small groups of long strings matter) but the first shot from the big game rifle is more important than any subsequent shots that might be fired. Whereas a good test for a varmint rifle might be 10 rapid fire rounds at long range, the group size being the measure of success. A good test for a big game rifle might be firing a single shot at a 200 yard target once a day for a month, that is a group size that can be exploited by the hunter, once he has zeroed his rifle to that cold bore shot.
 
I think it is useful to do a variety of shooting. I shoot off my shooting bag to see how accurate my rifle is with a particular load. Once I have decided upon a load, I then start shooting free-standing, offhand. In the weeks leading up to hunting season, all my shooting is free standing, offhand at 100 yards mostly, but an occasional 50 yard group thrown in. I might do some 200 yard shooting from my shooting bag just to practice the sight picture and squeeze at that range (I shoot with iron sights and old guns, so those with scopes probably don't need to do this). When I shoot offhand, the first shot is the most important. I will take one shot at 100 yards offhand, then walk down to see where it went. It needs to be within 3" of dead centre. Then I go back and practice shooting offhand, usually in groups of 5 and I shoot a total of 10 to 20 rounds, then go home. For free standing, offhand shooting at 100 yards, I like to get all shots within a 6" circle. Sometimes I get to shoot a friend's rifle that has a scope and I know that is easy with a scope, but keep in mind that I'm using iron sights, so 5 out of 5 shots in the black, 6" diameter circle is what I aim for. In reality, I usually only put about 8 out of 10 shots into that circle offhand at 100 yards, but if the other shots are still what would be in the vital zone of a deer, I'm still happy. Right now, I'm about to start practicing offhand with a 'new' gun (it is 108 years old, but it is the first time I'm practicing with it offhand). I doubt I'll be putting 8 out of 10 shots into the 6" black circle to start off with, but with practice we shall see what happens. Once again, remember that I'm shooting with iron sights, so I can't produce as nice offhand groups as a fellow can with a scope. Also, I'm 58 years old and that open rear sight notch is ridiculously blurry, so I simply cannot shoot as well as I can with a scope. Nevertheless, it is the kind of shooting and hunting I like and I hunt within my limitations.
 
tylerjwitty said:
My point is how annoying it is too hear people bragging about moa rifles when in truth they have to baby their rifle to make it moa .
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I've babied all of my firearms. I don't utilze them as a tool from a tool box to just throw around. A firearm should be respected in many ways, therefore in return they will take care of you at the range and in the field. The same applies with the rest of my positions (ie: family, home, truck). MOA is a goal, interest and hobby for people who enjoy reloading and shooting to test the loads, firearm and oneself.
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