Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Unusual Accuracy

Have you ever had a rifle that just surprised you with its level of precision? I've got one for you.

My Dad purchased a well used Winchester M-94 carbine in 32 Winchester special, he picked a mid range load out of a reloading manul and cooked up a batch of ammo. Years later I had it & took it to the range, put it on the 100 yard lane with the biggest bullseye target I could find. As I settled in behind it was thinking I'll be lucky to hit the paper with these open buckhorn sights, squeezed of 3 rounds and took a walk downrange.

Low and behold all 3 shots in a perfect triangle right on the target center about 1.5"

You could have knocked me over with a feather.

41

Two incidents I recall, both with Ruger #1s. I had my 1976 model .270 1B at the range. I was shooting at 50 yards, checking out some iron sighted rifles, then figured, what the heck, I'll check zero on the .270. Fired one shot, yes, where I expected. Fired another. no sign of a 2nd hole. "Huh?" fired a 3rd. One hole in the target. Wondering what was going on, as the rifle was always very accurate. Raised the POA an inch, and a new hole appeared 1 inch above the first. With the scope at 10x, at 50 yards, I could not tell there were 3 shots in the first hole.

Another time recently, with a Boddington #1 in .300 H&H. It was brand new to a friend. Mounted a scope, bore sighted it. My friend takes a shot, ~4 inches high at 100 yards. Adjust scope, different friend shoots, two shots about an inch apart. Adjust scope, I sit down and launch one. Absolutely dead center on the target, at 100 yards. You could not have placed the hole any closer to dead center, if you'd walked up and drilled it. I told the owner, let me know when you get tired of the recoil....

There is the "luck" factor...

"Level of precision", is determined by multiple groups shot and recorded on paper. Not just 1 group. A single 3 shot group is not going to prove anything to me, except you got lucky, as someone else said. Do that 10 times, and let us know the results. It is nice when you get a Winchester 94 that shoots well though. Generally the Marlin levers exhibit better/more consistent precision.

Not trying to start any contention here, but frequency of 'luck' goes up dramatically with 3 shot groups. 5 shots, if it's working well, I'm cautiously optimistic.
10 shots, I'm a believer. Back in the NRA days when they actually did real life stuff, the standard was 5 groups of 5 shots. Pretty thorough.
Using my preferred standard of 10 shots, I do not own any sub moa hunting rifles, but, hope springs eternal.

Yes, with two rifles.
The first was with a Remington 722 in 222.
I was working up a load in this rifle right after I purchased it at a hundred yards.
I put five shots in a group that measured .382 and that’s where load development stopped.
This was with R-P brass, CCI 400 primers and Sierra 45 grain spitzers on top of BLC-2.
I have tried a lot of combinations in that rifle and you have to work to get it to shoot over an inch. Extremely accurate rifle. 722’s have a reputation for accuracy so I wasn’t to surprised.
It’s not going anywhere
The other was a real surprise. I bought an old H&R 158 off of a buddy with a 30-30 barrel and twenty gauge barrel.
Somebody, before my friend, had put a set of black synthetic stocks on it and painted both receiver and barrel brown. It looks horrible.
Anyway, I was working up a load for it with 160 grain Hornady FTX’s and Leverevolution powder and it wasn’t shooting half bad.
I believe I was at 34 grains, fired five shots, and then my son and I walked out to see what the results were.
When we got to the target we started laughing. All five shots could be covered with a nickel, and that was with an old 2.5 power Weaver. Not quite what I was expecting. My youngest boy even killed a few rabbits with the shotgun barrel.
It won’t be going anywhere either.

There were a lot of guys here that found out they don't have "sub moa" hunting rifles, a while back when we were shooting the moa all day long challenge. Most of mine are.

We should bring that back.


Okie John

The rifle that surprised me the most was a .458 win mag . I acquired a VZ 24 in .264 win mag that did not shoot well cheap. I bought an Adams and bennet barrel from midway on sale for less than 60 bucks shipped. Once barrel was fitted we glass bedded the full length , barrel action ,everything in the cheapy laminated stock that came with the rifle. Fitted an IOR 4x scope on it and loaded some ammo. 500 gr hornady soft points, cci 250s and about all the ww748 that would fit in the case. At 100 yds the gun would literally shoot under a half inch day in day out . It would have been an excellent varmint for score gun for the individual that can tolerate the recoil. I can not explain the accuracy , or why I traded it away,for a gun I keep less than two hunting seasons.............
other than a .458 has very little practicality in the prairie of Wyoming.

Yes. A 6.5x55 Swede that was to be a truck gun. About 1906 vintage with a chopped original barrel. It will cloverleaf everything. I loaded up a ladder run to help find a sweet spot and every round was inside of an inch. It now resides in the safe.

Remington 7600 synthetic in 270 Win.

The stock on that thing beat the hell out of my face, though. 10 shots through it and it looked like someone had punched me in the eye. Traded it off quite a few years ago since it was just no fun whatsoever to shoot.

Such things occur now and then.

50 yards

Yup, s hit happens.

In a hunting rifle, accuracy is what really counts. Precision means nothing without accuracy, the ability to hit what’s aimed at, precisely where it needs to be hit, with the first shot or two. That being the goal, this TCR 83 Aristocrat in .30-06 proved meaningfully accurate in a somewhat surprising, meat promising way, with only two shots fired from a cold bore to check its zero:


No more shots were fired from that rifle that day, as those two certainly seemed sufficient. The 18 rounds remaining in that box were saved for potentially more important targets.

I bought an early 70's vintage Steyr Mannlicher Left Hand Model M in 30 06 with a Zeiss 6x32 Diatal scope that an elderly man bought new in Austria, but could no longer hunt due to health. When I bought it, he said it was accurate as hell. I asked him when the last time he shot it and he said 20 years or so. It shot a 3 round clover leaf less than 1/2" at 100 yards with my pet handload exactly in the bulls eye. I have spent thousands on custom rifles and barrels to get them to shoot like that. The first rifle I have bought that I am 100% satisfied with in every way including the stock fitment except I am getting rid of the cheesy plastic bottom and replacing it with an aluminum one. The plastic mags don't bother me and I have had zero issue with them.

Mine is a TC COMPASS in 6.5 Creed that cost me NEW $260.00 and would be $30.00 cheaper if my computer would handle the rebait. It easily shoots 3/4" and smaller 3 shot groups. Easily the cheapest NEW rifle that I have ever bought. They stopped making them, if they hadn't I would gladly buy a FEW more!

Hip

I bought a Model 700, 30/06 Mountain rifle, stainless with a laminated stock about 20 years ago. I loaded some middle range loads with Ballistic Tips with a buddy’s dies while I waited for mine to be delivered. I mounted a scope and I think it was the first time I lapped the rings in mounting the scope.

I took it out to my hunting club just to get it on paper, set up at the bench and pulled the bolt so I could bore sight it. I don’t normally do my initial shooting at 100 yards but there was a new backer on the target so I figured I would catch any shots.

I set the rifle on the bags and backed up a couple of feet so I could use the bore as a tiny peep sight. The scope looked really close but it looked very slightly high and that I needed about an inch and a half right windage. I put in 6 clicks right and left the elevation alone.

I fired two shots and they were touching,………. an inch and a half right and two inches high. 😳 Well, chit! 6 clicks back to where I started and I was ready to hunt. I thought, well maybe there IS something to lapping the rings. 😁

I always appreciate the folks who differentiate between precision and accuracy--bu the two major references on the English language, The Oxford English Dictionary for British English, and the various editions of Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary for the American dialect, list “accuracy” and “precision” as synonyms, meaning exactly the same thing.

The differentiation between precision and accuracy is a form of jargon--which the OED defines as "special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group."

yes I have one of them little compass in a 204 Ruger. but do not like the thick stock. not sure I really like how the thing looks at all but it does shoot extremely well. I namely bought it because it was at 10 twist and a 204 instead of a 12 and what will help stabilize the 40 grain bullets and maybe even try some 50s.. a good trigger job on it and it works really well.. and I actually think I caught it on a special sale at 200 bucks

I was once asked if I knew the difference between ignorance and apathy. I replied, I don’t know and I don’t care.

Irregardless, it seems that in refining definitions of words, previously trusted and respected dictionaries have, in more recent times, placed much emphasis on word usage by undereducated people who simply don’t know any better, thereby legitimizing the imprecise use of otherwise precise words, as well as fostering the use of non-words, such as irregardless. I’m afraid this is yet another example of the “go along to get along” mentality, so prevalent now. The lowest common denominator rules.

I must occasionally deal with people who completely lack the ability to communicate the precise nature of their issues with the correspondingly necessary “precision,” who then become frustrated, uncontrollably irritated and obnoxious when things don’t go quite the way they expect. Lately, in order to accommodate the special needs of such people, I’m able to refer them to an outstanding younger member of my staff who, in addition to other highly valuable skills, apparently understands and speaks modern moron fluently. Ours is a full service organization, you see.