What Accuracy Do You Require from Your Deer Hunting Rifle?

[Overlay]

Typo in there, meant to say
‘Not in the centre of the bull.’

Ok I’m hooked what make and ammo you using on your twipple

Historically 36 grn v max for foxing and 50 grn sp v max are very very accurate in mine

 

[Heym SR20]

much more important than a 0.1 MOA rifle (or whatever) are the skills to stalk into deer so that the theoretical accuracy of the rifle matters little.

 

[palo]

My stalking rifles have all been tikka and sako and its not that difficult to work up a load that will,shoot 1/2 moa from a bench or prone with a bipod and rear bag.
In the field my shots are taken prone with a bipod or from my viperflex sticks with 5th leg. Both very stable positions for shooting.
If I'm not steady I don't take the shot.

 

[John Gryphon]

It’s been stated that knowing that one’s rifle is capable of gilt-edge accuracy instills confidence in the shooter, and there may be something to that; and shooting tiny groups off the bench is fun, but it will make next-to-no difference to your performance in the field under rough field conditions.

yes in the field is the place where the good shots shine.

Shooting at a walking deer at 40m range in a 5m gap between trees.

Yes thats been done plenty of times by good field shots.

All these tiny groups mean diddly squat in the field

Exactly,if theres no sense of "field' there`s often no dead deer.

Its great to see everyone is so precise and accurate all the time in the field and in practice

Please come to my range
We have some 0.5 MOA targets that haven’t been hit yet
Some are inside 200m, some are all the way out to 1000m

Yet to attend a range day full of stalkers and come away with firsthand evidence of them all (or any significant proportion of them) shooting 0.5moa….

I phuuckn love this ED (post above) I wrote a long time,4-5 years ago how blokes with all these moa target pics of their own rifles would turn up at my place to hunt. A pre rifle check showed that every one of them "were having a bad day" ha ha ha.

I will offer an ordinary video of a young sambar walking through bush. You good shots off the shoulder would shoot him all day long at the 1.10 minute mark. Or wait for his mate at the 1.29 mark. Shoulder shot, you need to be on him in the scope and as he steps into the small forest window roll him. There is no time to be thinking of MOA on the bench at all, just do it! These conditions are quite normal in a lot of Sambar country and good shots complete the offer all the time.
So many Sambar are shot on the move over hounds every week that is seen as 'normal' to do so.

I will opine that the longer ones crosshairs are on a target the accuracy reduces as the wobble gets worse if there is one.

 

[John Gryphon]

much more important than a 0.1 MOA rifle (or whatever) are the skills to stalk into deer so that the theoretical accuracy of the rifle matters little

Amen.

 

[kenbro]

Do you realise how small a group that is? Did you manage it once during reloading and call it finished? Or consistently repeatable with 10 round groups off bags? According to many one here including @Mungo , could easily be random luck and actual group size for the rifle and load far far bigger. For a hunting rifle, it’s a very small group size indeed - something BR shooters pay thousands to try and replicate once or twice in their lifetimes - attacked is .264

If I can shoot an apple at 100 yards I'm happy I'll be be on target hunting.

I have a buddy who only ever put those tiny yogurt pots out on the backstop at 100 yards and if he could reliably hit those that was him zeroed for hunting.
It seemed to work for him too.
Kb.

 

[kenbro]

Ok I’m hooked what make and ammo you using on your twipple

Historically 36 grn v max for foxing and 50 grn sp v max are very very accurate in mine

Hi,
I bought this rifle off triggertrix and he said it preferred Sako Gameheads, unfortunately I’ve been unable to get any as yet so set about developing loads.
My preferred bullets are Bergers but I’ve managed 3/5 shots into 1” with 40 and 53 grain vmax and also 36 grain Barnes VG.
Bergers by far the best for me using Vhit. N120.
Rifle barrel is not floating so I take my time between each 3 or 5 shots.
The 3 shots on the black card were 60 grain Nosler Partitions shot at 50 yds with Thermal sight. Black card ideal for zeroing thermal in daytime.
Ken.

 

[Dr.Dolittle]

I think the real point here is what level of precision (group size is in essence repeatability, and therefore precision, not accuracy) is required for most of UK deer stalking within sensible distances. And I’m not talking long-distance sniping.

The vast majority of sporting rifles will produce groups around 1 inch at 100m, and many even less. All of my rifles will with factory ammunition for example, achieve this prone off a bipod. This clearly doesn’t translate into the field, but it is comforting to know that the rifle is capable.

Personally, I think the distance that the extra precision (<0.5 inch?) comes into play is by and large probably at the ethical limit for most deer stalkers. Truth be known most deer harvested in the UK are likely at distances of <150m, although everyone likes to boast about that one shot at 300m… At these distances a 1.5inch group will suffice in most cases.

Those stipulating they require less than 0.5 inches raise an interesting point. My brother is a Forestry Manager for one of the UK’s largest forestry management companies, and he certainly doesn’t require his stalkers to shoot that level of precision, and feedback from them is they’re happy with 1 inch groups.

Of greater importance is learning fieldcraft and getting practice in the field - this is stalking after all, not sniping.

Interestingly a book by Peter Senich; ‘The German Sniper’ from WW2, states that at 100m 5 shots within 105mm (4 inches) was acceptable, and a 4 power scope was sufficient up to ~400m, and 6 power up to 1,000m.

I was told by the late Carl Eriksson that within sensible distances, taking neck and chest shots are comparable to egg cups and dinner plates, respectively. I’ve found this to be better than chasing group sizes - you’ll get the same result with a 0.25 inch group as a 1 inch group.

 

[Heym SR20]

Hi,
I bought this rifle off triggertrix and he said it preferred Sako Gameheads, unfortunately I’ve been unable to get any as yet so set about developing loads.
My preferred bullets are Bergers but I’ve managed 3/5 shots into 1” with 40 and 53 grain vmax and also 36 grain Barnes VG.
Bergers by far the best for me using Vhit. N120.
Rifle barrel is not floating so I take my time between each 3 or 5 shots.
The 3 shots on the black card were 60 grain Nosler Partitions shot at 50 yds with Thermal sight. Black card ideal for zeroing thermal in daytime.
Ken.

And I watched the former owner of this rifle shoot a Roebuck at 200m. It dropped on the spot.

And there was a head stalker on one estate that I used to stalk on.

In the morning he would take you to his range - a bit of open hill. He would drink a can of coke. He would then ask you to shoot the can one he was behind the big rocks. He walked an indeterminate distance - about normal deer sort of range set up the empty can and hide behind the big rocks.

If you hit the can you went to the hill.

 

[Overlay]

Hi,
I bought this rifle off triggertrix and he said it preferred Sako Gameheads, unfortunately I’ve been unable to get any as yet so set about developing loads.
My preferred bullets are Bergers but I’ve managed 3/5 shots into 1” with 40 and 53 grain vmax and also 36 grain Barnes VG.
Bergers by far the best for me using Vhit. N120.
Rifle barrel is not floating so I take my time between each 3 or 5 shots.
The 3 shots on the black card were 60 grain Nosler Partitions shot at 50 yds with Thermal sight. Black card ideal for zeroing thermal in daytime.
Ken.

Hi Ken
Looks spot on, 222 for grouping they do like to cluster nicely, I've got a 204 22 hornet as well, to be honest I would be hard pushed to pick out which one shoots best, I just got some packs of ammo tested for the best zero and knockdown they’ve never altered on performance
Don’t think you can beat the smaller calibres for foxing and for longer range rabbiting the deuce I use for Canada geese reductions as well, I’ll always have these in my cabinet

Happy hunting
Phil

 

[John Gryphon]

and 6 power up to 1,000m.

I imagine a lot would depend on whether the human target was standing vertical or laying down.

As a wee kid i stood a pencil up in the dirt and shot it with my air rifle,I rushed to tell my old man and he said " come back when you can hit it when it is laying down"

 

[kenbro]

Hi Ken
Looks spot on, 222 for grouping they do like to cluster nicely, I've got a 204 22 hornet as well, to be honest I would be hard pushed to pick out which one shoots best, I just got some packs of ammo tested for the best zero and knockdown they’ve never altered on performance
Don’t think you can beat the smaller calibres for foxing and for longer range rabbiting the deuce I use for Canada geese reductions as well, I’ll always have these in my cabinet

Happy hunting
Phil

Hi,
I had been using all the same bullets in my 221 Fireball but found the heavier (52 Bergers) ones though most accurate were going straight through on some foxes with tiny exit holes.
I’m hoping the little (Not much really) extra ooomph from the Twipple will see the 52 Bergers perform better on fox.
If not I’ll revert to 40 vmax or 40 Berger.
Thanks. Ken.

 

[kenbro]

I imagine a lot would depend on whether the human target was standing vertical or laying down.

As a wee kid i stood a pencil up in the dirt and shot it with my air rifle,I rushed to tell my old man and he said " come back when you can hit it when it is laying down"

Easier in the wind when it’s laying down
Kb.

 

[rem284]

If I want a group that big l'll use a shotgun. Better to have the ability to shoot a small group and not need it,rather need it but don't have it.

Lol

 

[rem284]

I have a shot out rifle. Does anybody want to buy it because it doesn't matter if a rifle is accurate or not. Lol

 

[kieran]

Keyhole at 100 yards for me

 

[VSS]

If the level of accuracy stated by many on here can be repeated consistently and with confidence then I would have expected head shots to be the norm, rather than the exception.
What exactly is the point of achieving these miniscule groups if it's not giving you the confidence to shoot a grapefruit off a fencepost at 100yds?
Or is it, as I suspect, that the tiny groups aren't so consistently achievable as folk would like us to believe?

 

[Overlay]

When it comes down to it the first two or at best 3 shots out of a rifle are cold shots if they hit the spot jobs a good en Zero and shoot
These are the killing shots no further warm up shots or 10 shots required ( you don’t or can’t warm up your barrel when your out stalking barrel probably the coldest bit of your kit

It either shoots cold to where you want it to be if it don’t time to change. It ain’t rocket science

Zero and shoot cold Nothing else needed apart from steady eye and sticks

 

[Anser anser]

With PPU 90 grain in my CZ550 in .243 win, I expect a 50mm group from 150 metres.
Thats with a bipod. There is obviously some degree of wobblyness involved in my participation so the rifle/ammo combo is capable of better than that.

going to be trying these .243 PPU rounds soon on some paper to see what they be like . i only have a few remmy accutips left. Heres hoping they do the job.

 

[ASl sniper.177]

Do whatever makes you happy. What makes me happy is getting the smallest group possible,and that gives me confidence on all shots,hard,or easy. If you're just boiler bashing deer at relatively short range,then a rifle that shoots 1.5 moa will do the job. As I do keepering,my rifle needs to be accurate enough to shoot foxes at 300 yards and beyond. That's when the small groups come into their own. Every thing I do is to give me the best chance of making a clean kill on whatever I'm shooting. I won't change anything I do because it works for me. Other people will do what works for them.
Happy shooting!