100 Yards: What's your most accurate rifle, the ammo and group size?

[Art Eatman]

EIB, a tip: Fill a plastic zippered bank bag with sand. Interpose it between the buttpad and your shoulder when at the bench. It adds mass against recoil and spreads the area of impact on your shoulder.

[EIB0879]

Art-thanks. I need to get a beefier recoil pad but I have been loath to replace the original Sako pad.

[Don Fischer]

Originally Posted by TXAZ

Ray asked:

Thanks Ray. I'd like a rifle that I can shoot 100 and 200 yards and get better at small groups (like your dime group.) I have a Barrett .50 I love, but 1 MOA in a bench is pushing it. With a more precise rifle that's capable of shooting tighter groups, I expect I can improve my overall accuracy and precision.
I'm also not going to reload, so would like a rifle that is happy with factory match ammo.
Budget ~$3K with optics.

Does that help?

Your not gonna find it. To get an off the shelf 1" rifle with factory ammo is more like a dream but, it has been done. Most rifle's shooting the way you ask are super tuned rifle's using handloads.

[Don Fischer]

Originally Posted by NHSHOOTER

TXAZ There are many rifle scope combo's you can get for under a grand that will do what you want...I have a few such combo's myself..

Many that will shoot group's under a dime or a quarter at 100yds without being tuned?

[lefteye]

I'll try to make this short. I'm 70, hunted for 35+ years with center-fire rifles: .243, .270, and .300 Win Mag. I've never shot a factory-made center-fire cartridge while hunting (and almost never at paper targets.) I shot some 5-shot groups while developing loads. When I had chosen my load I shot only 3-shot groups at 100, 200 and 300 yards for practice and scope adjustment. My primary reason for 3-shot groups with my hunting loads was simple - I did not expect to shoot 3 or more shots at the same animal unless it was wounded and escaping (which never happened.) In addition, I expected increasing barrel heat to enlarge the group, and thereby, distort the accuracy of the load shown in the group of the first 3 shots. Had I continually shot 5-shot groups at paper targets it would have taken much more time at the range and could have raised doubts about the accuracy of the load despite consistent 3-shot groups ranging from 1/2" to 1 1/4". I've been very satisfied with the results including several trophies on the walls: 5x5 Elk from the Bob Marshall, 10 pt. Whitetail, 10 pt. (5x5) Mule Deer, a Pronghorn, and a Black Bear. Oops - I failed to make this short. Edited to add: I've taken many more animals than those listed - mostly whitetails (taken with a rifle, shotgun or bow), a few coyotes, a few Pronghorns and another 5x5 Elk.

[J.G. Terry]

My all time most consistent for accuracy is an elderly Remington 40XBR in 222 Magnum. Not too long ago this rifle was able to do a string of less than 1" groups using antique Remington ammo in the green box @ 100 yards.. Many years ago shooting match quality rounds this rifle was significantly more accurate. Recent shooting was the first in thirty years for this old classic. I really don't care about something that will shoot all day. My concern is for some late afternoon shooting in the fall when the weather is mild.

[emcon5]

Mid 1960's vintage Sako Forester varmint, .243 Win, 5 rounds, 100 yards, 90gr Berger BTHP, 36g IMR4064, Fed GM primer, Lapua brass, and the best factory trigger on any rifle I have ever used.



Here is 5 rounds in each quarter:



That Sako makes me look like a rock star. It is just a ridiculously accurate rifle. I had 8 bullets left in a box of 71 grain Bergers, and just for the hell of it threw them with the same charge I was using for the 90s. No load development, I eyeballed the seating depth, just wanted to use them up. Put them in just under 1/2" at 100 yards.

This is with a wooden stocked, non-floated Bofurs barrel made during the Kennedy Administration.

[Pond, James Pond]

I have a 155gr Amax N135 load out of my CZ550 that manages about 0.8MOA at 100m.

So, in other words, it's probably half that in the hands of a competent shooter!!

[agtman]

Summary for the late-comers: 5-shots is a group; 3-shots tend to show a POA "on paper." 3-shots aren't a reliable indicator over the long term.

True marksmen use 10-shot groups, repeatedly.

All that said, ... anyone can shoot impressive looking "coin-size" groups at 100-yds using a rested position off a bench. That takes the shooter out of the equation and gives you some idea of that rifle's inherent accuracy with that specific factory ammunition or handload. Goodie for you.

But that's only Part-1, ... which again merely vets that particular rifle and load combination.

Part-2 is getting your keister off the bench and vetting your marksmanship skill in the field with the same rifle & load from the various well-known field positions (e.g., prone, kneeling, sitting, "rice-padding prone," etc), the exception being if you have some physical disability which relegates you to bench-rest only shooting.

For the able-bodied, once you're zero-ed, get off the bench, put the donut box back in the car, and start practicing some real-world shooting out to 300 and 400 yards.

[emcon5]

All that said, ... anyone can shoot impressive looking "coin-size" groups at 100-yds using a rested position off a bench.

Based on observations at every range I have ever been to, I wouldn't say that is the case at all.