Accuracy in the field?

A bit condescending given the wealth of talent and experience of the posters in this thread ... or did you just find this on t'internet and it helped you ?


You know I did think after a short break from posting, and time to reflect, I might choose to simply post an informative but neutral post in order to both clarify and help those who may not be "experts"or have the longstanding respect and admiration of that of Laurie and others of that ilk, however as usual poised in the wings like the little weaklings in a school playground shouting from the back are those that offer nothing to the subject but making a noise, and again as usual inane criticism.

I therefore realise it was a mistake to think this place could be any different and simply refer you and others like you to,, "Arkell v Pressdram.
 
One M.O.A is one degree divided by 60 .This is 1.047 inches at 100 yards so as a rule of thumb rounded to 1" @ 100 yards.

Every good rifle man knows this.

Therefore one MOA @ 500 yards is approximately 5".

So a rifle that shoots to within 1moa of the poa at 500 yds may result in a group size of around 10 inches at that distance, going by your figures.
 
Is it time for the return of the 'Black Dot of Doom' but extend the ranges from 100 through to 400?

This is, I think, the key. If you are so inclined captdavid then search the forum for the "Black Dot of Doom." It was a bit of fun we had where you printed a 1 inch black dot on a bit of white paper, put it up at 100 yards, and without any testing or trials or rejecting the first attempt because you weren't as good as you told the internet you were you simply fired three shots at the black dot with the aim of hitting it. It was all done for a laugh as most realistic stalkers had realistic expectations.

Another key point was that the first time we ran it, despite tens of thousands of reads of the thread, only 53 shots were fired at the target (I think someone fired a strange number hence why the number isn't a multiple of 3) and 7 actually hit the black dot! This is from a forum where the experts shoot 2 inch groups at 500 yards and similar.

Stalking fun shoot - anyone game?

Again this isn't science but a bit of fun but it also demonstrates all you need to know about accuracy, and about internet claims for accuracy, and about how important it is to understand that the real world is different from claims on the internet. In general the stalker shoots reliable 3 inch groups at 100 yards and if he is being honest with himself he understands and appreciates this, he can't reliably hit a 1 inch circle, he can hit it but he can't reliably say with complete certainty whether his next shot will hit it or not. Statistics, or luck as you might call it, mean that if you shoot a goodly number of 3 shot groups (or any number of shots) you must get a very tiny one. As I related recently I had the rifle laid up for a few months while the season was closed and had taken it apart and cleaned it and so on. On the first day out I fired three shots, off sticks, at a target and believed I'd missed with two of them but on close examination of the target I found that all three were basically in the same hole. Now, I could have posted a photo of this target and claimed to be an internet shooting expert who could shoot 0.1 inch groups off sticks all day every day however I'm not a great shot, but basic statistics and physical reality apply to me just the same as the next person and on the day I was simply a victim of those stats.

Sometimes it is worth looking at shotgun patterns, that is what we are doing with rifles but with a much smaller "pattern area" than the nominal 30 inches often used with shotguns, the normal stalker has a central pattern of about 3 inches. It is also worth considering the basic underlying maths - "ye cannae defy the laws of physics Captain"

 
the black dot of death proved one thing

all these tiny groups posted are seldom replicated under field conditions

The BDS stalker's shooting competitions are a very good practice for anyone looking to test themselves
 
Doom !!!!

6.5 x 55 at 100m
Following wind of 15 mph
Off sticks
139 grain PPU

Doom 1.webp

As ego got the better of me I tried again as first effort failed to identify me as marksman of the year that I clearly am in my dreams

Doom 2.webp

clearly practice makes you better - but you NEVER get practice in the field

PS - just shot as of 15 min ago

PPS - 1" square
 
Bugger! No wonder I'm no good at this kind of thing

You need to buy one of those new 7.2mm Suckergrabbers in a custom build, then you'll be shooting 1/4inch groups at 600 yards like everyone else on the internet. They have nearly 1/8 of an inch less drop at 1,000 yards and it makes all the difference when shooting deer.
 
You need to buy one of those new 7.2mm Suckergrabbers in a custom build, then you'll be shooting 1/4inch groups at 600 yards like everyone else on the internet. They have nearly 1/8 of an inch less drop at 1,000 yards and it makes all the difference when shooting deer.

I've got one!!

That's what I was shooting with :rofl:
 
when i miss i miss, when i hit i kill.
or blow a leg off

Unlike deer stalkers/shooters who have plenty of margin to injure and in your words blow off legs, i dont, when i miss that means the bullet has missed, when i hit crows, pigeons, maggies or rabbits with a bullet from HV Centrefire round, they are dead, simple as that.

Ian.
 
and what about the ones in between? Some of those “misses” could be lost limbs,guts, etc. Shoot targets at those ranges by all means but 50% on live quarry is simply not right. Sorry.

There are no in betweens, since when has a miss resulted in lost limbs or guts?? Oh i forgot a miss in the deer shooting world is a miss of the vitals resulting in injury and not death, a miss for me is exactly what it means, the bullet did not hit the quarry at all which in the case of pigeons, crows and maggies is about the same size of of the vital zone on a deer. As for not being right thats your opinion mate, the same as poorly shoot deer (100yds or less????) and pricked pheasants is not right in my book but i dont condemn those that do it, you choose to stalk and shoot deer, i dont i choose to shoot vermin at range, we are both quarry shooters just in different ways.

Ian.
 
That sums it up.
Why do it? It shows zero respect for quarry. It's all about self gratification. Practice on inanimate targets at that range by all means, but for live targets you at least ought to be within a distance where a rapid follow up is possible.

I do it because thats the style of shooting i want to participate in. I parctice all the time at inaminate targets to hone my skills for long shots on live quarry, something i cant say about the majority of deer stalkers many of whom fail to hit the vital area an animal the size of a barn door compared to a crow, so look no further then deer stalking my friend for more poorly placed shots and more injured animals then us varmint shooters will ever realise, more practice needed i think.

Ian.
 
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I agree with the census of opinion above. If I had a "success" rate of 50/50 hit/miss I would not be calling it a success. My main aim is to achieve humane kills. If I was shooting at 500 yards and only hitting 50% of the time I would reduce the distance and/or improve what I am doing until it was very near 100% of the time and call it "respectfully shooting at animals with intent to humanely kill them." As said above the wounded ones is unacceptable and the missed ones get educated. If I was putting only 50% of the deer into the larder for the amount of bullets I shoot my employer calling me up and asking questions and probably looking to issue a P45.

Like i said in my first post i seldom shoot deerso im not worried about putting venison in the larder, i shoot for enjoyment and that enjoyment for me is long range varminting, if i could hit a magpie at 500yds with every shot sent i would be a world class shooter travelling the competition circuit in the USA winning thousands of dollars, not reading comments on a forum from blinkered people who have no clue about long range varminting.

Ian.
 
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How about we all put next year's Autumn Chamois Shoot at Bisley in our diaries and lets see the reality of simulated in the field conditions. After all its only 200 yards so there should be some cracking scores posted.

Just a thought.

K
 
I sight my rifles at spot on at 112 mtrs and thats because my home rifle range is 112 mtrs. The .22 and the double rifle are sighted at 50mtrs.
I was back in the UK stalking last weekend and i sat in several different high seats all with different characteristics. As i sat in each high seat i work out the distance i would be comfortable shooting a deer at. I've shot enough deer over the years to know what ranges I'm comfortable at taking deer. I didn't sit in any seat where i would have shot anything over 200mtrs.
Shooting of the bench is OK for sighting in and getting used to your trigger and all the other quirks a rifle has. There's nothing like plenty of practice, standing,off sticks or any other position that you are likely to encounter. I sometimes think that there those who think they are natural born rural snipers who have no need to practice. I can't think of any other sport requiring skill where people don't have to practice to become proficient at it.

:thumb:

Kjf
 
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