online forum bullet group sizing; giving me a complex.

[Boom]

come on!!

"i once caught a fish <...T  H  I  S...> big!"

i went full immersion into archery.  i literally cleaned and lubed my rifles in 2007 and put them away.  i never touched them again, until last year.

i vaguely remember my rifle group sizes back then.  my 30.06 was sent somewhere for accurazing, and with handloads. i got clover groups.

well, shooting is a perishable skill.  those days are apparently gone.  i am back to shooting some.  a rifle hunt is FUN!! and i refuse to be a archery elitist anymore...(too much tag soup )

i am stoked if a big game gun shoots sub 1" at 100..my .22.  0.5" at 50 yards and i am mentally high-fiving myself.

i had a guy online tell me he can shoot single holes at 75 yards with his .22..that is deflating..is that possible?

i know one thing..i need to dust my bow off and start shooting ASAP!  at this point a turkey at 20 yards is tiny looking..oh-o.  i wish i didnt need sleep. 

 

[Boom]

are you a great shooter?

i'm very vanilla in my skills..nothing to get excited about.

 

[cohunter14]

All about that trigger pull Cliff! I find when I take some time off from shooting the rifles that I get the 'quick pull' going on my trigger finger instead of that squeeeeeeeze where the gun going off actually surprises you. My shooting can definitely go downhill quick.


Same thing for me with archery. If I'm not squeezing my shoulders through the shot and instead am pulling the release, my groups open up quite a bit.


I'm like you...I definitely need to dust off the bow pretty soon in preparation of turkey season! 

 

[backcountry_hunter]

self proclaimed mediocre shooter here.... I've been a reloader, shooter, NRA lifer, etc.. my whole life and still have a lot of improvement I could do.


2 things I see going on with modern rifle shooting.


1) people embellish and don't know they're doing it. I'm not sure when but somewhere along the way recently MOA became the standard for all rifles and any gun that doesn't shoot 1" @ 100 is simply garbage (or so the thinking goes). Therefore everyone that has a decent gun shoots 1". The problem I've found is that alot of peoples 1" groups are really closer to 2" or maybe more. Kinda like how every whiteatail buck is 140".... I've literally been at the range with a buddy "shooting 1" groups" that were no where near 1"


2) Recent guns have been made so well that 1" groups are possible with virtually every rifle at every price point if the shooter does his/her job, which is likely why 1" has become the standard. It's easily possible to spend less than $1000 on a rifle all set up with optics, rings and ammo... and go out to the range, ringing steel at 600+ yds with very little practice. There's guys online shooting $350 ruger americans over 1000 yds accurately. It's incredible what modern firearms are capable of.


what I've found is that with routine practice, I shoot well... not great or exceptional, just well. Well enough to trust myself to make certain shots I otherwise wouldn't be able to make without practice. If I don't spend some time on the range, my abilities go back to zero pretty quickly. I typically stay off forums or discussions anymore revolving around shooting abilities or will this gun shoot MOA or not. I enjoy some of the reloading discussion and if I have a quesiton about a certain firearm I'm careful how I ask it or who I listen to. Behind a keyboard, everyone has Navy SEAL sniper abilities and can shoot 1/4 minute groups with the right gun. In reality 70% (or more) of internet shooters have a tough time getting 1" groups with a typical hunting rifle even though they might tell you different.


Like you there was a time in my life where it was archery or nothing. I picked rifle hunting back up (after a several year hiatus) some years ago and.... dare I say it.... it's a fricken blast. I don't compare my groups to anyone elses or broadcast what I can do. At the end of the day, all that matters is if you're proficient and confident enough in your abilities to do what your objective calls for.

 

[cohunter14]

Great post backcountry_hunter. Agree 100% with everything you said.

 

[DTP]

I'm a horrible rifle shot, Cliff.
I've got either target panic or I anticipate recoil too much. Either way it's a mental game and I know that. I have to practice extra hard to be a decent shot.

With that being said, I bought and put together my "all in one rifle". With that I am able to keep me 100 yard groups around .5" 200 under 1.5" and 300 under 3" and 400 yards under 5".
Beyond that I am not shooting.

So while someone can probably load develop and shoot way better than that, I don't really care. I can still shoot vitals within my effective range and kill something.


In my personal opinion, don't over complicate it....
Know your effective range and stay true to it!

 

[cohunter14]

I wouldn't call that 'horrible' Dan! Truth be told, that's better than 99% of rifle shooters out there.  :upthumb:

 

[DTP]

I wouldn't call that 'horrible' Dan! Truth be told, that's better than 99% of rifle shooters out there.  :upthumb:

It took me a while to get there. I was VERY flinchy......

 

[Bowhunter1]

At the end of the day, all that matters is if you're proficient and confident enough in your abilities to do what your objective calls for.

These words should be etched in stone somewhere. :upthumb:

I am not out to impress anyone. Basically I strive to meet my standards and always trying to improve.

 

[cnelk]

Back about 1980, I joined a NRA competitive shooting team.


We shot .22 match rifles and used a four position technique - sitting, kneeling, prone and standing.


Some days we would practice lighting farmer matches at 50'


After some practice, I figured out how to coordinate my breathing and trigger pull.

About a year later and shooting qualifying events, I had my 'Sharpshooter' Award and had up to my ninth bar toward my 'Expert' patch.

But I had enough and moved on

I did learn to shoot quite well, and the training has killed many many animals over the following years

Now a days, instead of MOA, I use 'MOE' [Minute of Elk]

If someone tells me they can 'do this or that' I tend to believe them, because I dont know their history

 

[F M]

I'll be totally honest. I suck with a rifle. Both my daughters make me look like I've never shot before. I just don't shoot that much in fact I don't own a hunting rifle. Do have a muzzle loader. Definitely do enjoy going out shooting with my girls and shooting their rifles. Especially since I bought the ammo. :haha:

There are even some archery forums I've quite because of some of the people on them basically telling you that their gear is the best and how if your not splitting nocks  every shot your not good enough. Been a while since I've done that but I still get the job done once in awhile out hunting.  ;-)

 

[Bowfreak]

What is this rifle thing you all speak of?