Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Minimum Accuracy requirement for a long range big game rifle.m

Guys,

While we all would like to have one hole , quarter minute accurate rifles, in a hunting weight, portable gun thats not easy to come by.:)

I am curious what is the minmum acceptable accuracy you require on demand from a long range big game rifle ( deer to elk sized targets)?

To keep the responses relatable and unconfusing- answer using these parameters-


Accuracy requirement from the rifle is in MOA from a solid field rest under good conditions at whatever is the LONGEST distance you are comfortable shooting...

My personal requirement is 1 MOA for three quick shots prone off my pack.

My rifle is 7lbs ALL UP.

And,on deer size game, I feel that limits me to 600yards max in my mind. Elk as well because even though the target is bigger, the power is lacking to go further.

What say you?

3 shot, 1" @ 100 yards works for me if the group does not string and is there week to week. I like Warren Page's 1 shot group idea. Once a month fire one round at the same target for 12 months and see what you get. I am not sure a benchrench rifle would give you 1 moa. Hunting season can vary from 95 degrees to -30 here . Leftys idea is a sound one, imo

At one time I had a 2MOA rifle that I used to take my first elk. It was ranged at 400 yards. I knew it would hit within 4" of my aiming point since there was zero wind. 400 was my my absolute maximum range for elk with that rifle and about 200 yards for deer. Now I much prefer less than 1MOA.

I just develop the best loads possible without preconceived goals, as a simple change in bullet or powder batch can change everything.
That is why we try combinations in the first place, to allow the rifle to tell you what it prefers.

Had a .338 Mark V that shot 2-6 inch groups at 50 yards no matter what was loaded. After trying a dozen or more bullets and loads I pulled the damn thing apart and rechecked everything, including the mounts, bases and scope, to find a very slight contact point on the forend of the stock. Opening it up and floating the barrel dropped the loads under and inch at 50 yards so now I can take it out to longer ranges and fine tune the seating depth for best results.

So far the best 2 bullets are 225gn Hornady and 250gn Partition which isn't a bad combination for the .338 caliber anyway.

Nuts. 8 inch group, when the extremes of both ends are added in, won't hit within 4 inches. Then that assumes you have a perfect hold and have doped the wind and range perfectly also. Both of which we know are impossible.

Thats where most folks go wrong IMHO.

Half the size of the intended target is a good start for my requirements. And that doesn't mean overall animal size.

excepting that testing at 100 yards means NOTHING at long range.... it may or may not be relative at all.

Half the size of the target at the max distance under field conditions will quickly give you realistic info for your actual max range. Its generally not nearly as far as most think.

Mine are five shots at near MOA at 400 Yards on a light to no wind day with a quality controlled expanding bullet.

I guess you didn't get the part about no wind. And yes I did have a perfect hold. I was laying over a berm and was as steady as if I was on a bench with sandbags. And I didn't guess at the range I ranged it. So I guess you should have written "Both of which I don't know."

This!

I rarely shoot 100 yards other than to confirm my zero. During load development, after shooting two ladders to establish and refine nodes, all groups are shot at 500 yards. The chamberings I hunt with run out of steam for reliable bullet expansion between 500-600 yards so that's the limit for shooting at large critters for me. The rifle needs to hold better than MOA at those ranges and .75 to .5 is preferred. All groups are 4 shot in my hunting rifles, because that's what fits in the magazine. I prefer 5 shot groups, but with a sporter weight barrel especially in a magnum chambering, things can start walking around a bit after too many.

So you actually think you can hold perfectly still? Thats part of the reason you are nuts. And no wind? What about mirage then. Knowing full well how often we get no wind, total true no wind... And range... even with a rangefinder you will be off some very often. Sometimes enough to matter.

Bottom line you commenting in this thread with your history is funny as heck to me. But then YMMV. If that makes you feel better.

Wind low enough, yes, mirage acceptable or accounted for yes, range close enough, yes, wobble small enough yes. To get the job done. But to still think that every last round you fire will impact within 4 inches in any direction of the aiming point, truly shows what little you actually know. Reminds me of me as a kid in the 70s....

Milk jugs.

10 for 10.

That's my accuracy requirement for all things hunting.




Dave

That will work

I don't use a group size requirement but rather a distance limitation. That distance is the longest range I can count on getting a 1st round hit on on my 8" steel plates. My current rig will routinely put 5 shots in .3 to .5" at 100. I have put 3 shots in 2" at 500 yards several times with the same rig. But for whatever reason, getting that 1st round on an 8" plate past 600 is really hard. Once I get on that plate, I can stay on it, but I'm not a fan of spotting shots on any animal I have any respect for. Coyotes and pigs always have a round launched at them no matter what the odds of a clean kill shot are.

John

I have a 7x57 ruger tanger that shoots better groups one round a day then it does 3 or 5 shot groups in a sitting. It likes the barrel about nasty fouled and dead cold and it's first shot is Money. Get it warm and it is a 1.5" gun no matter what..........

rost495,

Perfectly still is not necessary for precision shooting. Besides, I didn't say that. That is a strawman you created. It was early in the morning. There was no mirage. In fact there was the slightest drizzle coming straight down. We in the Rogue Valley have lots of mornings with not even a breeze. It sure appears your experience and mine are a lot different.

I am glad I can entertain you. That was not the objective, though. It was to cooperate with the original poster.

I don't remember him asking us to comment on others' posts.

You get the last word on this one.

I like to start with groups under.5 at a hundred and make sure the velocity is where I want it. Then get all my data at 500, 800, 1000 and depending on the rifle beyond. I really like to get 5" groups at 1000 but not all guns are equal and at this moment I only have 6 rifles that I can be sure will do just that. Have several others that will do 3/4 MOA to 1000. But it's more the nut behind the trigger than the trigger most the time. 👍🏼

Dang fred, I feel for ya. You can borrow some of mine if you want, all my rifles are sub 0.5 MOA to 1000.

Looks like somebodys been shootin' with Trystan lately.....

I'd like to see some 5" groups at a thousand.

Maybe even a video.

Tomorrow.

In 2008 I built 270 a pre 64 M70 with Bordan stock, Pac Nor barrel, Harris bi pod, and a VX1 2x7 scope.
I went to the 100 yard range here in the suburbs and shot a 1.5" group.

Then I proceeded to kill my first deer at 400 yards. I missed a lot of deer with hold over, but I got 5 deer that year.

Then on Thanksgiving day 2008, I had 76 elk walking toward me and I opened fire at 620 yards. I shot up all 13 rounds I had and went back to the truck for more ammo.

At the truck, my hunting buddy who had been shooting big game for 40 years, told me off.

Since then I have built dozens of rifles, but I always practice at long range. I don't shoot at an animal unless I know I can keep 5 holes in a 10" circle at that range.

Today I am building a Sav 12 250 Savage. It will be given long range trials 900 miles from here 2 weeks before hunting in October.
That rifle may have adequate accuracy at 400 yards or 600 yards.

I no longer pay much personal attention to 100 yard groups made at some suburban range, but they are a good yardstick for internet discussion.