Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Three shot groups.

All were centered, 1 1/2" high at a hundred. I never overlapped them. but POI looked about the same. Groups didn't shift enough to be evident.

Years ago, I bought a 40XB in .244. It came from Remington with an aggregate .38" target of three (3) shot groups, 60 gr. Sierra over 3031. That's the way they tested it. So, my thinking, if it's good enough for Remington, it'll do for me.

Now, if I had shot a 10 shot string, would it still be less than 1/2". I don't know, but think it would be pretty close. If I took the largest group, .64", as the standard, it would still be pretty good. And, my 4 wheeler shooting bench wasn't the best, just very handy.

DF

Nice rig.

Not a damn thing wrong with a 3 shot group at the bench to determine how much the rifle likes the load. These guys that think you need 5 or 10 shot groups to feel comfortable are just going overboard.....

The fact that you didn't shoot a 10 shot string consecutively would occupy about .00001% of my thoughts on the matter if it were me. I've done it the way you outlined for over 3 decades, whacked over 300 head of big game, and never looked back. Love the rig DF......awesome.

When working up loads or just plain whiling away time at the shooting bench, I use 5 or 10 shot groups for a better statistical average. Sighting /practicing with a hunting rifle, 3 shot groups are my pleasure, especially with a recently acquired Ruger #1 which prints bughole 3-shotters and then starts walking the 4th and 5th shots upwards an inch.

And as oft quoted by our resident guru from the far North, "it's the boolit, not the headstamp".

Now, if I had shot a 10 shot string, would it still be less than 1/2". I don't know, but think it would be pretty close. If I took the largest group, .64", as the standard, it would still be pretty good. And, my 4 wheeler shooting bench wasn't the best, just very handy.

DF

No, it definitely wouldn't be less than 1/2". You said your largest group was .64", so it would be at least that big, and probably larger if the three shot "groups" were in slightly different places. It's just as easy to stack all three groups in the same target as it is to shoot them on separate targets, and putting them on the same target tells you more about where your true zero is.

JMHO:

3-shot groups are fine to see if your hunting rifle/load is good enough for hunting.

For seeing just how accurate your rifle is, which necessarily includes comparing your rifle to other rifles of know accuracy, 5-shots is the universally accepted number of shots for a group. Of course, regardless of number of shots in a group, the more groups you shoot, the better.

Because there is some "bell-curve randomness" in the printing of groups, a 3-shot group size is not as repeatable as a 5-shot group size. Thus, a single 3-shot group is less likely to show a rifle's true accuracy potential than a 5-shot group. A good rule of thumb is that for a particular rifle and load, the 5-shot group will be *about* twice as big as the corresponding 3-shot group. In other words, a 3-shot one-inch group is *about* equivalent to a 5-shot two inch group. (Notice the word "about" is emphasized)

7- or 10-shot groups are even more reliable, but it is a case of diminishing returns, and the accuracy-minded shooting community has gravitated to the 5-shot group as the acceptable accuracy standard without going overboard on the number of shots required.

Regardless, if you are happy with your rifle's 3-shot groups, and you don't care about its 5-shots groups, then continue to be happy and go hunting, since the whole point of all this is to have fun (unless your a professional sniper where accuracy is serious business and you'll get laughed at if you start bragging about your gun's single 3-shot group).

Again, JMHO.

I don't carry targets in my wallet, but the .27" cloverleaf would be a good one to be flashing around...

DF

I check my rifle like this:

AR500 by Sharps Man, on [bleep]

I shoot one shot from 200 yards holding on the center of the plate and a black spot appears where the reticule was when rifle fired.

I go back next day and shoot another shot which hits atop the first shot fired.

The third day....that shot hits atop the previous two shots!

.308 M700 Nosler 150 grain AccuBond 46.5 grs. Varget!