Rifle accuracy questions

You want free recoil to ride the bags, not locked down. You want a gun to shoot, start with the scope rings lapped, pillar bedded, triger dropped and polished, take the factory barrel and have it turned and then rechambered, new crown cut.
Handload your ammo with a good bullet, Burger, Hornady stay away from nosler. Prep your brass, primer pocket cleaned, flash hole cleaned, take a powder h335 set you bullet on the lands and work from there a thou at a time.
 
It's maddening how many variables can be involved, when 'accuracy' is chased around....sometimes, it can be like chasing your tail, and other times it's merely connecting dots. I've fired 1/2" groups at 100 yards, but I'm generally a 3/4" shooter at 100. I can usually do better than .75 MOA past 100 yards, out to about 400 yards, and then I'll open up a bit. In other works, you give me a rifle that can shoot .25" groups, and I;ll never see one out of it. I might get a 1/2" group on a good day at the bench, for me. Hand the same rifle/load to my gunsmith buddy or my sniper buddy, and they'll wring that .25" group out of that thing, more often than not. It seems like splitting hairs, but some folks are just better at 'groups' than others. They are more consistent, etc. Also, both of them are about 5'8" fireplugs, and I'm a long-armed 6'2"....I'm (technically) physically disadvantaged when it comes to the mechanics of repeatable accuracy. Just some things to chew on. I generally take anything under 1" as being good enough for my varmint shooting, but (like everyone) I love to see less. Give me 1.5" or less from a big game rifle, and I'll be fine. For defense, 2.5" will do....but take all you can get. I prefer to not be too nitpicky/obsessive about reloading, case trimming, decimaled twist rates, ounces of trigger weight, lapping of bolts and bores, free bore, blah blah, anymore. It's over rated and a PITA unless you are competing or something.:)
 
to not be too nitpicky/obsessive about reloading, case trimming, decimaled twist rates, ounces of trigger weight, lapping of bolts and bores, free bore, blah blah, anymore. It's over rated and a PITA unless you are competing or something


You can talk all you want about MOA .75 @ 400 is never going to cut it as a varmint rifle. I don't feel it's over rated what do you guys do when pulling a shot at a Pdog @ 800 yards or a woodchuck. Shooting a rifle is like shotgunning, some guys can shoot a limit of ducks with 6 shots while others can do it with a box. Like duck boats, shotguns, and rifles it's all what you put into them. But for some reason when I go woodchuck shooting with friends they seem to leave there factory rigs home and shoot my customs. Why because there dead balls on. Here's a tackdriver coyote rifle 20tac when I say tack driver I mean it will shoot tacks of a target at easy 300 yards. Also lets give up on the 3 shot groups and talk about 5 and 10's. 3 doesn't mean anything.

20_tactical_1091.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/boxbirder/2009/20_tactical_1091.jpg
 
LOL...I shoulda caveated that with 'or other special need'. I can see the requirement for .5 moa or less, IF you are shooting prairie dogs or stuff smaller than jackrabbits at 400 yards. I don't see any of those around my neck of the woods, nor do I know anyone needing to shoot them. .75 moa is just fine for groundhogs to 300, which is about as far and fine as it gets around here. LOL Like I said, take all you can get....but unless you are very specific in purpose/need, most cannot utilize accuracy much under 1 MOA (in the field), regardless. Were I to live out west and chase critters in the open spaces, I would likely want another 25-06 that was a .25 MOA rifle...whether I could get it to do it or not. LOL
 
[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]"I don't feel it's over rated what do you guys do when pulling a shot at a Pdog @ 800 yards or a woodchuck"

800 yards is a long darn way for a .223 under hunting conditions.........no wind socks....no decent rest most likely.....and wiggley live targets....not that it isn't possible....[/font][font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]even if it is a varmint it deserves a bit of respect and a clean kill...
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I might compromise and stick to live targets at 300-400 yards max with a .223.....to much margin for error at longer ranges...

Now if it is a paper target....who cares..... shoot and shoot and shoot some more.....

Ok I can see the responses to the above...." I have killed field mice at_______zillion yards with super duper pooper rifle and scope, using super pooper hand rolled cartridges with....."

I am sure you did,,,but for me I like to be a bit cautious on live targets...

Matt
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Take a 223 with a fast twist using 80gr bullets and you have a long ranger for chucks and Pdogs. Of course a table, range finder and wind meter helps topped with a spoter. I like the 25-06 but the 257 roberts Ackley is a better round.

At the end of the day the 223 is a good round, but the platform of Howa would not me my choice. Remington 700 would be.
This vid might help some as what is involved in getting a ringer. Go through his clips here and you'll see you can build a tack driver on a 700 action. But I do like my Stolle, Viper actions Bartlien barrels, Burger bullets, lapua brass loaded using Wilson hand dies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U11MtyJLfxQ
 
800 yards and being mad.... ummm drink more beer...take a Valium or two...relax.....and enjoy the clear blue skies....yup mad at them bloody little varmits....and happiness is red fog in the scope...with the resulting carnage....
 
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