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

[Smithb9841]

I would venture to say that the number of missed shots or wounded game caused By ammo
Not being accurate is a very small number. It’s usually the shooter not the ammo just saying..

 

[Dustin the wind]

Wind flags, you can’t know your rifle and your load unless you are shooting over flags.

You can and people do but it takes a lot of trigger time. I don’t have that yet but in a real world situation you won’t have flags so you need exp reading foliage or something else blowing around close to the target.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Once I fine tune my zero is this good enough? 5 shots at 100 yards, 300 Norma, 230 Berger Hybrids, single digit ES .

 

[RCB]

I might be the only hunter on the internet who doesn’t consistently shoot sub MOA.

Here’s a question: You go to the range and get to shoot exactly one 3-shot group at 100 yards. No second chances. How confident are you that it will be an inch or less? How about a 5-shot group? How about with no sled?

I’m sure there are many people who can honestly say they can do that with high confidence. I am not one of them, and I bet I’m not the only one.

 

[Smithb9841]

I might be the only hunter on the internet who doesn’t consistently shoot sub MOA.

Here’s a question: You go to the range and get to shoot exactly one 3-shot group. No second chances. How confident are you that it will be an inch or less? How about a 5-shot group? How about with no sled?

I’m sure there are many people who can honestly say they can do that with high confidence. I am not one of them, and I bet I’m not the only one.

There’s a lot more MOA and sub MOA shooters online than there are at the range. Just saying haha

 

[Dustin the wind]

I might be the only hunter on the internet who doesn’t consistently shoot sub MOA.

Here’s a question: You go to the range and get to shoot exactly one 3-shot group. No second chances. How confident are you that it will be an inch or less? How about a 5-shot group? How about with no sled?

I’m sure there are many people who can honestly say they can do that with high confidence. I am not one of them, and I bet I’m not the only one.

It’s not a cut and dry answer. If i’m only shooting every 6mo or so my accuracy with a first group can be absolute garbage. If I am shooting often with a dependable rifle and load sub moa groups are not a problem at all. Practice practice practice.

 

[Terrapin]

I don’t really dick around much shooting groups anymore. Spindly barrel hunting rigs, I’ll look for 3/4”-1”. Heavy barrel target/ varmint rifles I look for 1/2”-3/4”. Hopefully I find a load in a trip or two to the range that prints those kind of groups with a low ES. From then on all of my shooting is at steel or rocks at varying distances out to as far as I can get and still spot impacts. I also like to figure out what my cold bore groups look like, and where they impact. Half hour between shots, rebuilding my position for each shot. Also like to know what a 3 or 5 shot group looks like if I rattle them out as fast as I can.

I’ve burnt out many barrels and wasted thousands of bullets trying to get small groups in unrealistic range conditions. Anymore I prefer to shoot targets the same way I shoot animals, out in the mountains laying in the dirt. I suppose it would be different if I lived back east and all I had was a 100 yard range with benches.


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[hodgeman]

If I have a rifle and ammo combination that will shoot 1.5MOA on demand from field positions, that'll do for 99% of it.

Lots of folks go on and on about 500 yard shots, many more shots come your way at 200 or so.

 

[FLS]

Lots of cherry picked groups get shown on the internet. I’ve got a couple of match rifles that will shoot in the .2 and .3s., but I’d be lying if I said I can produce those results every time I’m at the bench. Some days I’m better than others.
If a hunting rifle will consistently shoot MOA, it’s good to go.

 

[Rob5589]

A factory rifle and ammo I would want around 1-1.25 moa. Factory gun and reloads 1 moa or under is great. A custom gun with reloads I am wanting .5 moa or better. That's not to say I can shoot that well every day but knowing the gun can do it with consistency definitely boosts confidence.

For a big game hunting rifle I want a cold bore shot that is dead nutz because I am probably only getting one.

 

[ckleeves]

.5 at 200 is one of those that you're gonna get called out on in my group and asked to put it out there.

Really, a moa gun in the hands of a shooter who can read the wind and do the math is flat deadly into the 4 digits.

X2. .5 at 200 consistently isn’t happening. Sure it happens on occasion when the stars all align but it isn’t usually repeatable.

10 shot group under about 1” at 100 with tight Es and I’m happy. 3/4” and I’m thrilled. I used to chase the tiny tiny groups then realized it was pointless.


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[270quest]

Sub MOA accuracy is great - but what about first shot accuracy. Its been discussed before, but take a separate target out and shoot it first shot - cold bore - each time you go out. Do this for 5-10 trips and after its done, you will have a 5-10 shot cold bore group. In a true hunting scenario, IMHO, this is just as important if not more important than 3-5-10 shot groups. If i miss the first cold bore shot on a 180" buck in the backcountry at say 400-500 yards, the odds I even get that 2nd shot - not that good.

 

[Megalodon]

X2. .5 at 200 consistently isn’t happening. Sure it happens on occasion when the stars all align but it isn’t usually repeatable.

10 shot group under about 1” at 100 with tight Es and I’m happy. 3/4” and I’m thrilled. I used to chase the tiny tiny groups then realized it was pointless.


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Y’all are being nice about it, but I’ll be the ass here. @Dustin the wind post up a few of your .25 moa groups out of a R700.

 

[Dustin the wind]

Y’all are being nice about it, but I’ll be the ass here. @Dustin the wind post up a few of your .25 moa groups out of a R700.

Only one I have around right now. Yes like others said, this does not happen all that often

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Very content with 1/2-3/4" groups.
> 1 inch I don't feel all that confident.

 

[Wrench]

Very content with 1/2-3/4" groups.
> 1 inch I don't feel all that confident.

How far do you shoot?

Here's the deal, I am fortunate enough to have endless opportunities to shoot as far as I want and I have a full on Smith shop 20 feet from my house. I shoot a bunch and with guns that can perform....but with all of those rounds downrange my biggest problem isn't the rifle or the bullet.....its the operator.

I'll screw something up be it environmental, form, bad read on the rangefinder....error on data, etc.

Its a rare day that .5MOA on the part of the rig will take me out of the game under a couple THOUSAND yards.

Now if I scrub a wind call or douche a data entry.....I can punt a 600 yard shot, but it ain't the gun.

The problem with internet information is it's often cherry picked, limited application and or utter bullshit.

Guys who don't know are asking and now being told they need a .2moa rig to hunt at 300 yards.

I would go buy a can of underground marking paint and go add some dots to your favorite hillside. Drive away and pound the shit out of it. The paint is very obvious when hit and sun destroys it in a couple of weeks.

 

[Dustin the wind]

I feel dumb posting this crap, but for me it doesn’t get much better that a Rem700. I traded a hippie kid off craigslist for that gun for a shitty AK I had years ago. My father has 2 or 3 Rem700s in 25-06 that are extremely accurate. It looked to have been fired just a couple times, have purchased a few off gunboker like that as well. Some aren’t that great but a few are real winners. No big mods, just glass bedded.

 

[Mule3006Elk]

How far do you shoot?

Here's the deal, I am fortunate enough to have endless opportunities to shoot as far as I want and I have a full on Smith shop 20 feet from my house. I shoot a bunch and with guns that can perform....but with all of those rounds downrange my biggest problem isn't the rifle or the bullet.....its the operator.

I'll screw something up be it environmental, form, bad read on the rangefinder....error on data, etc.

Its a rare day that .5MOA on the part of the rig will take me out of the game under a couple THOUSAND yards.

Now if I scrub a wind call or douche a data entry.....I can punt a 600 yard shot, but it ain't the gun.

The problem with internet information is it's often cherry picked, limited application and or utter bullshit.

Guys who don't know are asking and now being told they need a .2moa rig to hunt at 300 yards.

I would go buy a can of underground marking paint and go add some dots to your favorite hillside. Drive away and pound the shit out of it. The paint is very obvious when hit and sun destroys it in a couple of weeks.

Thanks for your reply. I agree a lot of misinformation. Between 0.5-3/4" is what most of my big game rifles shoot on a very consistent basis. I don't have custom rigs. On a good day I've had groups in the 0.3". Is this the norm NOPE. I didn't even mention that because it's not the norm. Do I have days where my groups are between 3/4-1". Absolutely but not very often anymore. I spent years fine tuning my loads after I dived into reloading. Went a little OCD I started in the 3/4 to 1.25" range. Between reloading and refining my shooting technique groups improved which is expected.

This is a bench rest situation with near perfect conditions shooting off bags. If I can't shoot the above groups from a bench then I sure as hell can't shoot a good group from random field positions while hunting big game in the mountains. I'll continue to try and improve not for the purpose of paper bragging, because I could care less what anyone thinks about my groups, simply I want a clean humane harvest. That has been my motivating factor from the beginning.

I too agree, there's a lot of bad or better stated 'selective information' on the internet and forms. It also goes to say it's not all BS.


I don't shoot past 400 yards. Never have never will. This is my personal limit for big game. I'm sure there is benefit in practicing long range I just don't have the time nor interest. Not yet anyway.

 

[wyosam]

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.


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[MTNTOPARCHERY]

I work hard on reloads! My 300Win and 210g Berger vld hunters. 400 yards.
2.18”

Bergara 300 win 210g Sierra

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