AGW - lots of good points there. I keep coming back to us wanting to achieve "target group accuracy" when our goal is "first-shot hunting accuracy", where all of those variables will have an effect on that one shot as well when compared to where it hit when the load was developed. I think that "good enough" is about all we can ask for.
Good enough is all you can ever ask for from a hunting rifle - especially when you consider that most shooters are using off the shelf rifles, used rifles, abused rifles, etc.
Good enough for some may not be good enough for others. Where you draw your line, may be in a totally different spot than where I draw mine... I was at the range yesterday shooting with one of my buddies. I've been hunting with him since i was 10 years old. He's never been a top notch shooter, but he's starting to catch the accuracy bug lately. Even though he's dang near 50 years old now. He's been shooting since he was a little kid too. Mainly a hunter, not a bench rest shooter by any means. He's sat in the rocks with me when I made a 648 yard shot on a buck down in the Deschutes canyons a few years ago, so he knows what a good accurate rifle and load is capable of. Yesterday as we drove to the range, he told me he likes going shooting with me because he always learns something and he was excited to shoot his new predator 6.5 creedmoor with some handloads I had worked up for him. This may sound stupid, but I had to go over how to adjust the eye focus and parallax on his scope. I didn't know, he had no idea on how to adjust those to his eyesight. The reason I found out was because I was shooting irons and I asked if he could see where I was hitting through his scope. He said, "no the picture is a little blurry". I said, do you have it adjusted to your eyesight? He said, "no". I asked if he knew how to do that. and he said "no".... We got it adjusted to his eyes and then he could see the bullet holes in the target. I said my spotting scope has rain all over the lens, but it looks like they are all clustered in there, he confirmed what I was seeing. The highlight of the day was after my buddy had his scope properly set for his eyesight and he actually shot some bug hole groups!! He laid 5 shots in there, right on the orange dot of the target and it was just a ragged hole. It measured about 5/8" from center to center. He did the same thing with his 22-250 (with my handloads) and that 5 shot group measured 3/8"... He normally doesn't do this, but he even took his targets home...
