Acceptable Accuracy for Hunting Rifle?

[Dsnow9]

What is the whole desire for long range hunting anyways? Why not get a little bit closer and take a good ethical shot. all this long range hunting stuff these days is just a joke. People clim to be tough and mountain warriors. It then can’t get within 300 yards of an animal. That’s hilarious.

 

[General RE LEE]

What is the whole desire for long range hunting anyways? Why not get a little bit closer and take a good ethical shot. all this long range hunting stuff these days is just a joke. People clim to be tough and mountain warriors. It then can’t get within 300 yards of an animal. That’s hilarious.

Somebody wants attention.

 

[eric1115]

What is the whole desire for long range hunting anyways? Why not get a little bit closer and take a good ethical shot. all this long range hunting stuff these days is just a joke. People clim to be tough and mountain warriors. It then can’t get within 300 yards of an animal. That’s hilarious.

There's a sticky post for you at the top of this forum.

 

[Dsnow9]

Somebody wants attention.

Honest question, I love shooting steel out to 1000. I think it’s a blast. Just don’t agree with the long distance hunting thing going on these days.

 

[Dsnow9]

There's a sticky post for you at the top of this forum.

What is that supposed to mean?

 

[G37some]

one thing that I did with my hunting rifle is that I over the course of 5 separate trips to my backyard 200-yard range is I would fire one cold bore shot per day into the same target. ended up with a .75 inch group at 200 yards. I didn't care what my rifle would do for 5 shots in a row, I wanted to see what my rifle would do for 5 cold bore shots in a row. obviously not everyone has access to a range in their back yard, but it is something to consider.

 

[eric1115]

What is that supposed to mean?

Ryan (admin/Rokslide admin/head honcho) has a post pinned at the top of the Long Range Hunting section (which we are in). That's sometimes referred to as a "sticky".

It reads:
If you have a problem with long range hunting, don't post here. There are lots of other forums for you.

 

[Dsnow9]

Ryan (admin/Rokslide admin/head honcho) has a post pinned at the top of the Long Range Hunting section (which we are in). That's sometimes referred to as a "sticky".

It reads:
If you have a problem with long range hunting, don't post here. There are lots of other forums for you.

Cool, I’ll abstain then. I’m new around here and just use the what’s new tab. Carry on…

 

[jjjjeremy]

Why not practice from field positions in field conditions? If you don't know whether you go go from a 1 moa shooter at the bench to a 2 moa shooter off a pack, or a 5 moa shooter off a tree branch, that blanket rule doesn't work. If I know I'm 1.5 moa seated with a tripod for a 5 shot group because I do it regularly, that's way better than assuming I'm double.

I think the two main issues with this approach are:
1) group size is going to be additive, not a multiplier. Mechanical accuracy plus shooter error. lets look at an extreme example to make the point clearly. If you have a legit benchrest gun that shoots in the .1's from bags/rest, you would be silly to expect .2-.3 moa precision standing and resting your rifle on a tree branch. You probably have a 0.1 moa gun plus a 3 moa wobble zone, for a 3.1 moa capability from that position. Conversely, if you have an old rifle whose mechanical precision is 3 moa, on good bags/rest that let you hold .5 moa (3.5 moa total group size), going to a good field position might increase your wobble zone to 1 moa for a total group size of 4 (not 7).

2) This method is just a guess if you don't go practice. Do you know your precision from prone off a pack? Seated off a tripod? Standing off hand? I get what you're saying, and it's WAY better than the "I shoot .5 moa groups off the bench sometimes, so my rifle is a .5 gun and I can shoot deer out to 800 yards." crowd. But there's (IMO) a better way to look at it.

It’s a rough guide, not a hard fast rule. Based on my personal hoard, accuracy loss in the field actually is multiplicative, not additive. That old gun that shoots 2MOA on the bench isn’t ergonomic, isn’t free floated, is awkwardly balanced, and won’t have the best optics, if any. On the other hand, a rifle that you’d use in the NRL hunter series is also going into the field with a tripod and premium glass.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

It’s a rough guide, not a hard fast rule. Based on my personal hoard, accuracy loss in the field actually is multiplicative, not additive. That old gun that shoots 2MOA on the bench isn’t ergonomic, isn’t free floated, is awkwardly balanced, and won’t have the best optics, if any. On the other hand, a rifle that you’d use in the NRL hunter series is also going into the field with a tripod and premium glass.

If there is a framework, in any fashion, that helps a hunter from taking shots grossly exceeding his/her capabilities or comfort zone, then all is good.

If some water-walking WKR cannot grasp the benefits of that, even if he/she disagrees with the basis for it, they can go stroke their rifle barrel.

 

[roymunson]

I'm killing game all day with that group.

I wouldn't over think it.

 

[S.Clancy]

For me, I'd say the max distance is the distance when double your five shot range groups meets half the size of the vitals. 2 MOA gun shouldn't be flinging them past 200y on a deer. .75 MOA gun can take an elk at 600.

2 MOA @ 200 yds is 4 inches....that's barely bigger than a deer heart. 2 MOA is a 10" circle @ 500, that is antelope vitals approximately....

 

[jjjjeremy]

2 MOA @ 200 yds is 4 inches....that's barely bigger than a deer heart. 2 MOA is a 10" circle @ 500, that is antelope vitals approximately....

So double the MOA for field conditions like I said in my original post. Now you're at 8" at 200y.

And think about what guns shoot 2MOA on a range. Probably a lever action or cheap bolt action with an equally cheap scope. Not the type of rifle you want to lob bullets past 200y.

 

[Frank Dux]

Your rifles fine, only practice will tell you when you’re ready. Shooting out of that blind will be different than shooting off a bench. Never been in a blind that had a great rest. Always some janky scrapped together piece of junk that makes a ton of noise as soon as you need to make a shot. The colder it is the more noise it makes. Like hunting out of a bass drum.

 

[Formidilosus]

And think about what guns shoot 2MOA on a range. Probably a lever action or cheap bolt action with an equally cheap scope. Not the type of rifle you want to lob bullets past 200y.

Once you get into statistical relevant shot groups sizes (95% probability), very few hunting rifles are under 2 MOA.

 

[General RE LEE]

Your rifles fine, only practice will tell you when you’re ready. Shooting out of that blind will be different than shooting off a bench. Never been in a blind that had a great rest. Always some janky scrapped together piece of junk that makes a ton of noise as soon as you need to make a shot. The colder it is the more noise it makes. Like hunting out of a bass drum.

We fabricate our box blinds and then bring them out to the lease on a trailer and assemble them. They have insulated walls, carpet, windows, foam to fill any cracks, etc. It can be 20 degrees and with a Buddy Heater it will get to 72 degrees in about 10 minutes. They are nice.

 

[General RE LEE]

Your rifles fine, only practice will tell you when you’re ready. Shooting out of that blind will be different than shooting off a bench. Never been in a blind that had a great rest. Always some janky scrapped together piece of junk that makes a ton of noise as soon as you need to make a shot. The colder it is the more noise it makes. Like hunting out of a bass drum.

 

[General RE LEE]

I’ve found a pair of shooting sticks supporting the butt stock while having the fore arm supported by the window frame is like shooting off a bench.

 

[flyboy214]

If you guys want a statistically significant zero & group size that you can make realistic hunting decisions with go watch the hornady video "EP. 50 your groups are too small". This gives a well documented discussion on group size vs confidence which is the heart of what you are getting at.

Also start, using mean radius as a measure of accuracy rather than extreme spread.

You can use the app range buddy to calculate mean radius.

I promise a little reading and watching the hornady video will simplify all the accuracy myths floating around.

 

[Formidilosus]

Also start, using mean radius as a measure of accuracy rather than extreme spread.

How does MR tell you what size target you can hit?