Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Can you shoot…?

….when shooting in the field, from various shooting positions, significantly better with <1 MOA rifles and loads versus 2 MOA rifles and loads?

(Would an observer watching you shoot from ordinary field positions be able to tell which rifle/load combination was better based on your performance?)

No. Can you?

I'm pleased that most of my hunting rifles are sub MOA. Work on that. Also work on my field position shooting and think I'm pretty good, better than most.

But honestly, in the field, no... I don't think it would matter often if I was using a 1 MOA rifle or a 2 MOA rifle, not out to 300 yards anyway.

Regards, Guy

Nope.

The gun fit and sights seem to rule, else we'd all be toting huge glass and a 20 pound BR 6 PPC....

No, but it seems pretty common to hear people advocating sometimes marginal bullets for applications where better terminal results but less precision would be preferable. Missing by 2 is never more difficult with a 1/2 MOA combo that with a 2 MOA combo.

I've shot the south end of a deer to take out a heart with a 3-4MOA wheelgun where I wouldn't send a tackdriving 22-250 with the "best" of hunting bullets for its std. twist.

I agree....unless we are talking the same arms at 150 yards and a "window" through the trees and a broadside heart shot.

It gets laughed at a lot sometimes, but Elmer's "worst case scenario" for bullets and at times cartridges always seemed to fit the way I've had to hunt most of my life.

Klik the answer is a qualified"no" and bottom line is all the accuracy differences we discuss on here depends on our ability to hold perfectly from a solid rest. The less steady the position the more we become the overriding factor.

If you're a 3 MOA shooter from a given field position, then a 1 MOA rifle/load is not going to make you any better. Many folks might not realize this because they never leave the bags and shoot from less sturdy positions.

Off topic, but its amazing to see some really good shooters at matches that are totally worthless at shooting offhand. if I cant shoot a 3-6MOA (depending on the range) size target offhand i'm pretty pissed about it , the goal being the size of deer vitals. match guys think its magic if you can do it.

after seeing it done,some see the value in a "hybrid" rifle..I'm a hunter first, gong shooter second. you can have your cake and eat it too.

The question in the OP is a moot point to me tho..I want sub-MOA if i bag up with it. I need that to build trust in it for all scenarios.

Platform does matter tho, I dont expect my Krag or 99 to turn in sub moa at 500 yards, but thats a different animal.

No. It would just limit the range at which I would attempt a shot. With a sub MOA rifle I feel confident out past 300 yards. With a 2 MOA set up my shots would be limited to 150. With a 4 MOA set up my shot would be limited to 75.

Occasionally I'll be in a field position with a rest that I think I could shoot as well from as I do when working up loads. One stands out in my mind where a thick fallen tree with my pack on top was the rest and I was able to sit on a limb...was perfection. For the last year I've done all my under 200 yard load work from prone...so it could be that my load work rest isn't that solid. If shooting a group in one of those rare cases with a solid rest someone might be able to tell the difference....with one shot on game, resting on my knee or the side of a tree, I doubt it.

I have to think that an accurate gun will work better most of the time, otherwise why even sight them in? miles

Probably not the casual observer. Most are amazed folks hit anything really.

But while 2 moa will suffice for a lot, some prefer to tweak it down so that the wobble area gets the most benefit of the doubt.

I have a couple of rifles I"m not totally thrilled with, but you saw the results of one on Alces Alces last fall. So it works. And it put the bullet right where I was holding.

Still the group size limits the gun, IMHO, to a 400 yard max gun for most purposes. Luckily thats probably all the power its good for too...

I confess I'd be much happier if it was a tack driver. Suffice it to say its an easy moose gun to 300.

And then in hunting, when the distance gets much past 200, we should be looking for a good rest of some type, IMHO. That means the accuracy could be useful again... prone over a pack gets yer wobble down to almost nothing again fairly quickly.

Greetings Klik,

My input would be, "I'm not sure."

Off a pack I'm about the same as off a bench but leaning against a tree or just standing my groups expand a lot. I would think that a more accurate rifle would give better results but I do not think it would be obvious to an observer.

I do practice off a pack, a stump, and standing and there is quite a difference from that to a bench rest - for me. At 100 yards standing I'm good for MOSP (moment of sandwich plate - or about 6-8 inches), that may seem like a lot but it is harder than it sounds.

I should add WHY the gun limits my distance. Its 2moa or less and sometimes scares 1 moa. But take the worst, 2 inches, at 400 yards, is 8 inches. Add a field wobble from a rest into that and you can likely double that. 16 inches, thats a large group. IMHO.

If shooting prairie dogs at long range, the answer is a definite YES.

The choice of weapon and my confidence would limit range, and in the field I can shoot. We do big sky country mostly, so I can pick my approaches and typically secure solid rests to shoot from. The last snap shot I took at big game was in about 1981. Off hand, and I missed.

Yes.....confidence=success.

I shoot "good enough" away from the bench, always have.

For the first 35 years of my big game hunting life, I couldn't tell you the first thing about MOA in my hunting rifle. All I knew is I was able to hammer the crap out of about 150 head of big game.

Nope. That is why I use shooting sticks.

Yes. I agree with a gun shooting nice tiny bug holes helps with confidence. Will 2 MOA get it done in the field though. Yes again. So a 2 MOA rifle in the hands of someone who can shoot and more importantly someone who knows their limitations and can hunt will put meat in the freezer every time. It isn't hard to get a modern rifle of any decent quality to shoot sub MOA from the bench with hand loading though. Will I lug a 15 pound rifle into the field because it shoots 1/2 MOA and flings a 250 gr bullet over 3000 fps? F to the no! I'll take a 7 pounder that shoots 2MOA over that any day. Just my 10 cents, the 2 cents is free.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "field positions."

To me, prone over a pack with a rear bag is still a field position. As is shooting with sticks.