What kind of accuracy do you shoot for with hunting ammo?

[T28w]

I only consider 5 -10 shot groups actually groups for data. My requirements are very simple. If they don’t all go in the same hole every time, I scrap the rest of that jug of powder, that lot of bullets, and swap barrels. If two shots are not in the one hole, action and stock also ge trashed. I’m surprised at so many people who are content with .25 and .5 moa.

I have started using soa as a measurement.

 

[timinflorida]

I never realized how much a change in terrain changes how you hunt till I moved south from the Midwest. Ever since I moved to Florida the challenge has not been pinpoint accuracy but hitting them hard enough to drop them before they run into the brush and I have to follow them into that crap. Because the vegetation is so thick here I've never had a shot over 100 yards. I've gone to a 45-70 and I don't "need" a pinpoint accurate group but I get the best I can in case I'm off. With a 45-70 and the ranges I'm shooting at, 3 inch group within 100 yards is fine. I go for more accurate but I don't "need" it. If I'm to be honest with myself I could probably use a slug gun just fine here.

 

[Rifles And More]

Lotta guys on here who could be winning world championships with their hunting rifles...

 

[Rifles And More]

I suppose I'll answer the question also.

I think a 1MOA rifle at 100 is acceptable - and really that is what most rifles hover around (and over) when you start shooting 6 and 10 shot groups. As a hand loader, I'd like to think I can get every rifle at least to that benchmark without monumental effort.

And yes, I do strive for better, but sometimes you just gotta go shoot and learn the important skills.

As a group, we tend to label our best as what the rifle will do 'all day long'. That 1 MOA rifle might be 1.2 one day and maybe next time a .8 rifle. In the end, it's a 1MOA rifle and that's how I'd hunt it.

 

[BFR]

I only consider 5 -10 shot groups actually groups for data. My requirements are very simple. If they don’t all go in the same hole every time, I scrap the rest of that jug of powder, that lot of bullets, and swap barrels. If two shots are not in the one hole, action and stock also ge trashed. I’m surprised at so many people who are content with .25 and .5 moa.

I have started using soa as a measurement.

Me too. At 500 yards with nothing less than a 25 mph cross wind while standing using open sights. And with my eyes closed………..ok, ok, when I’m asleep.

 

[Roksliding]

Shoot a group at 50 yards lay a dime or penny or whatever on it and take a picture so you have something to post.

Then try to get a moa or better load at distance. Don’t waste all your time and components (now days) trying to get a 1 moa rifle to shoot .75 moa off a bench, you’d be better off dry firing the rifle and get better at semi prone positions with impromptu rests.

moa will put your bullet in the vitals for as long as your bullet has the energy for most applications.

 

[Vern400]

Unless you're hunting past 500 yards 1 MOA is more than adequate. It's nice to have the gun have less of the total error in shooting.

Im fortunate to have a 1650 ft range with backstop off my back porch. The number of shooters who can get their rifle from the truck and cold shot an orange clay target at 400 yards is very low. THATs what to get good at. RH, LH, propped up standing, kneeling, prone. Many have tried.

I do have one buddy that requested a clay mini at the farthest stand, and hits it. But when a Veteran strolls up with a Steyr SSG, shuddup and hang the target.

 

[DuckDogDr]

This is an argument I often don't venture into but
I think we as hunters; especially in today's environment should strive for bench rest accuracy from our guns and ourselves, bench rest is shooting paper / targets ..and if one has an off day or isn't prepared...the only thing worse for wear is the shooters ego and he lost a couple of inches in the dick measuring contest.
If we mess up or have an off day then that leads to either a long slow painful death or permanent maiming of our target species..and that should be absolutely minimized as much as humanly possible. I'm not an animal rights activist, but there is such a thing as respecting the animal. If we're injured we have hospitals, pain medications, and warm beds to go too..they have the elements
"Good enough" should not be acceptable when better can be achieved; because as we all know things happen in the field..pulled shots, wind gusts, bumped scopes etc..
I'm not so pompous to admit that unfortunately I haven't made errors or poor shot placement..but as I've gotten older it bothers me more..and more. I don't really fathom how bench rest standards and well it's a hunting gun attitudes never were reversed to begin with.

Like it or not Anti-hunting is becoming more and more prevalent with today's younger generation and politicians and harder and harder to stave off especially with the crooked bastards in office now. Not calling anyone ignorant but those of us in small town USA I don't think quite realize to what extent... I grew up and still live in small town, but commute to the Big City for work..and it's amazing the flak I receive over a hunting magazine , or the comments of "borderline abuse " for having a working dog, gets worse every year.

We need to be governing ourselves in order to minimize negative pushback in the media and stricter gooberment regulations.

Spending an extra few hours st the range tweaking loads and practicing shouldn't be a chore..it should be the standard..plus why complain...any day at the range is better than being at work.

 

[robtattoo]

Depends on the gun and situation.
Iron sighted 16" .44 levergun? I'm happy with a 5" group at 100. BECAUSE IT'S NOT A 100YD GUN! If there's a chance in hell of a >50yd shot, I'm not even carrying it. Longest kill I've had with it was 35 paces.

.30-06 that I dial out to 800yds, MOA out to 800 is what I've strived for & what I expect. I don't expect it could ever do better but I don't care. Everything I've ever shot with it died. Very efficiently.

Local, in state, deer rifles (.257, 6.5x55, .308, .358 etc. 2" is realistic & good enough for that one 200yd shot I might take every 3rd year or so.

0.25 MOA guy...... I've got some AMAZING Tennessee beachfront property I'd let go cheap!

 

[Flyjunky]

This is an argument I often don't venture into but
I think we as hunters; especially in today's environment should strive for bench rest accuracy from our guns and ourselves, bench rest is shooting paper / targets ..and if one has an off day or isn't prepared...the only thing worse for wear is the shooters ego and he lost a couple of inches in the dick measuring contest.
If we mess up or have an off day then that leads to either a long slow painful death or permanent maiming of our target species..and that should be absolutely minimized as much as humanly possible. I'm not an animal rights activist, but there is such a thing as respecting the animal. If we're injured we have hospitals, pain medications, and warm beds to go too..they have the elements
"Good enough" should not be acceptable when better can be achieved; because as we all know things happen in the field..pulled shots, wind gusts, bumped scopes etc..
I'm not so pompous to admit that unfortunately I haven't made errors or poor shot placement..but as I've gotten older it bothers me more..and more. I don't really fathom how bench rest standards and well it's a hunting gun attitudes never were reversed to begin with.

Like it or not Anti-hunting is becoming more and more prevalent with today's younger generation and politicians and harder and harder to stave off especially with the crooked bastards in office now. Not calling anyone ignorant but those of us in small town USA I don't think quite realize to what extent... I grew up and still live in small town, but commute to the Big City for work..and it's amazing the flak I receive over a hunting magazine , or the comments of "borderline abuse " for having a working dog, gets worse every year.

We need to be governing ourselves in order to minimize negative pushback in the media and stricter gooberment regulations.

Spending an extra few hours st the range tweaking loads and practicing shouldn't be a chore..it should be the standard..plus why complain...any day at the range is better than being at work.

Great post, I've never understood the "good enough" argument. Besides, doing load development never stops. What load you shoot at 100 rounds down the barrel isn't going to be the same load at 200, 300, etc. You'll always be tuning a load to a certain extent.

Going to the range is just plain fun!

 

[Rrush]

Groups aren’t the whole story on a hunting rifle. The cold bore shot is what matters. Does it put that one in the same spot every time? A lot of times when my hunting rifle goes to the range, it only makes the one shot. Sometimes it is on paper, often it is on 1 moa steel at 3-600.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes! Took a while to get to this. Remember when you’re out there practicing that bullet will behave differently out of a cold barrel.

In defense of the folks saying they are looking for sub-MOA accuracy in development. That’s fine. That’s not a claim that they expect a sub MOA performance from themselves and the rifle in field conditions. But it’s working another variable away.

I don’t get those distances here. 1-MOA accuracy is plenty fine. I’m shooting 200 max. So for me within the range that the bullet flight is 3 inches up 3 inches down. That’s point and click range.

 

[Flyjunky]

On another forum that I spend a lot of time on this subject came up during a load development thread. A very well known rifle builder stated it this way and I couldn't agree more. This guy's clients have 23 world records in long range comps....he knows a bit about gun building, load development, and accuracy:

"I know some times people don't seem to think groups matter. Its all about cold bore. Thats true to a point but If your rifle shoots 10 inches at 1000 yards for example for a group. Then you have to assume the bullet will land 5" from your aim point IF you have a perfect zero. Lets say you can always call the wind to 1/2 moa or better. That would be very impressive at 1000yds. So now we have to assume your bullet can land 10 inches from the aim point. This assumes you can break a perfect shot. Add in bullet BC variation, velocity variation, lighting changes which effect vertical impact, ext. All of these variables add up to an seemingly almost impossible shot. One thing we can control is the accuracy of our rifles. I want all the help I can get to beat out the other variables I cant see or control. At least thats my way of thinking."

For those that say they don't shoot 1000 yards so this doesn't apply to me. Well, even on a 300 yard shot with a 10mph full value wind even a high BC bullet will move 3-4". Do that same calculation with a typical hunting bullet that many use (accubond) and at 300 yards that turns into almost 5" of drift! A combination of bad wind call or any other factor and the "moa is good enough" rifle is almost out of a 8" vital zone! So with everything said above about a perfect hold, perfect break of the trigger, perfect call on the wind, etc....I'm not in the group that thinks MOA is "good enough" and I'm sure the animals we chase would rather us strive for better for a good, quick kill.

 

[Rrush]

On another forum that I spend a lot of time on this subject came up during a load development thread. A very well known rifle builder stated it this way and I couldn't agree more. This guy's clients have 23 world records in long range comps....he knows a bit about gun building, load development, and accuracy:

"I know some times people don't seem to think groups matter. Its all about cold bore. Thats true to a point but If your rifle shoots 10 inches at 1000 yards for example for a group. Then you have to assume the bullet will land 5" from your aim point IF you have a perfect zero. Lets say you can always call the wind to 1/2 moa or better. That would be very impressive at 1000yds. So now we have to assume your bullet can land 10 inches from the aim point. This assumes you can break a perfect shot. Add in bullet BC variation, velocity variation, lighting changes which effect vertical impact, ext. All of these variables add up to an seemingly almost impossible shot. One thing we can control is the accuracy of our rifles. I want all the help I can get to beat out the other variables I cant see or control. At least thats my way of thinking."

For those that say they don't shoot 1000 yards so this doesn't apply to me. Well, even on a 300 yard shot with a 10mph full value wind even a high BC bullet will move 3-4". Do that same calculation with a typical hunting bullet that many use (accubond) and at 300 yards that turns into almost 5" of drift! A combination of bad wind call or any other factor and the "moa is good enough" rifle is almost out of a 8" vital zone! So with everything said above about a perfect hold, perfect break of the trigger, perfect call on the wind, etc....I'm not in the group that thinks MOA is "good enough" and I'm sure the animals we chase would rather us strive for better for a good, quick kill.

I don’t disagree entirely with this. Like I said definitely want to decrease effects of variables you can control.

BUT!!- if you’re good enough to harness sub-MOA systems you damn well be good enough to account for even some of that 10MPH wind. And if you’re not then I hope you know your limits and don’t take the shot.
Hunting and precision long range shooting at targets diverge in that there’s an animal you should be aiming to take ethically in the former.
I’m sure there are plenty of fine shooters out there but things start to get wonky past a certain range. Are you carrying enough velocity to maintain stability are you carrying enough energy to deliver a good kill. To me part of this whole calculation absolutely must include an honest analysis of your capabilities. Because if you have a custom rifle with a custom load that can shoot .25MOA all day—and you don’t have the capabilities to adjust for 10MPH wind—that is a 5MOA system. And if you’re a 5MOA shooter you best stick to shots inside 100. Or take a little more time with paper take a shooting class or two but increase your capabilities. Then worry about your system to enhance your hunting range.

 

[Flyjunky]

I don’t disagree entirely with this. Like I said definitely want to decrease effects of variables you can control.

BUT!!- if you’re good enough to harness sub-MOA systems you damn well be good enough to account for even some of that 10MPH wind. And if you’re not then I hope you know your limits and don’t take the shot.
Hunting and precision long range shooting at targets diverge in that there’s an animal you should be aiming to take ethically in the former.
I’m sure there are plenty of fine shooters out there but things start to get wonky past a certain range. Are you carrying enough velocity to maintain stability are you carrying enough energy to deliver a good kill. To me part of this whole calculation absolutely must include an honest analysis of your capabilities. Because if you have a custom rifle with a custom load that can shoot .25MOA all day—and you don’t have the capabilities to adjust for 10MPH wind—that is a 5MOA system. And if you’re a 5MOA shooter you best stick to shots inside 100. Or take a little more time with paper take a shooting class or two but increase your capabilities. Then worry about your system to enhance your hunting range.

I agree. All I was trying to say is that just because your gun is "good enough" if it shoots MOA, from a bench, you have to remember there are a multitude of other factors in the mix once you get into the field so why not go for that .5 or .75 moa through more practice, shooting fundamentals, load development, etc. How can striving for more accuracy hurt? I will give a hunter more margin for error with wind calls, tough shooting positions, etc.

I would say those that are able to shoot sub moa consistently, they do know how to call the wind....that's one reason why they can shoot sub moa. They are also the shooters who fine tune load development through the life of the rifle, are consistently out at the range practicing, and understand that barrels are a consumable product.

 

[Blackdog317]

MOA or better in my opinion. .5 - .99 moa loads are the best I have been able to develop for my big game rifles (300 WM, 270 Win and 22-250). I am confident to 500 yds if the conditions line up and that is what the situation demands.... but I hope to get closer if at all possible.

These are basically higher end production rifles with some accuracy enhancements. I hope to shrink those groups when(if) reloading supplies are more readily available.

 

[Unclecroc]

1/2 inch for varmints and 1 inch for hunting big game. I generally don’t hunt past 450 yards so that is more accurate than I’ll be in most field situations. Bug holes are great for bragging, 1inch is good for dragging. I usually shoot 4-5 shot groups for varmint rifles and 3 shot groups for big game rifles.