How accurately can you shoot your rifle at the range?
I was out at the public range last Saturday and there were a lot of people shooting their rifles and I was amazed how poorly some people shot their rifles. One guy with a beautiful Winchester rifle and a big $$$$ scope was shooting 5-6" groups at 100 yards and was happy with it. Another guy was shooting a Winchester 30-30 at 50 yards and getting 5-6" groups. Later he moved his target to 25 yards and got 2-3" groups. Walking down the shooting line couple times (letting my barrels cool off) it seemed that 4-5" groups at 100 yards was the norm... except most guys with AR and AK rifles couldn't keep all their shots on the paper.
Hard to believe people go hunting with rifles that they can't even shoot strait.
with my .25-06 i usually shoot 2" groups at 100 yards. i have taken extremely longer shots(300+yards) with it on deer and hit the mark. i don't get out to the range near enough, but with little range time i am happy with 2-3 inches at 100 yards. i know that weapon is well capable of touching holes, i just dont get out as much as i would like. my ruger likes the 117gr federals and hornadys. there are plenty of people out there though, that with really great equipment just plain lack the ability to put shots on target.
I enjoy going to the public range a couple times a year, just to see who's shooting what, how poorly, have a laugh and maybe show off a bit. we all have good/bad days and a lot depends on the gun/scope/ rest and range. imo if shooting a scoped gun from a bench at 100 yds you should be able to hit a tennis ball every time and at 200 yds a grapefruit. and MOST people should never shoot beyond 300. If you can't meet those parameters you shouldn't be hunting with anything but rocks or a spear. whatever the distance is you can keep a 4" group from a bench, cut in in 1/2 for hunting and 1/4 if you want to take head/neck shots. jmo
As a new wannabe hunter I have a lot to learn and experiences to gain but I have been shooting for long time and marksmanship is one aspect which is in good standing.
I have been doing some kind of shooting for past 30+ years. At some periods I shot more rifles than handguns and then years alter I got back to shooting mostly handguns. Now I shoot more with my rifles than handguns again.
I go out to shoot my centerfire rifles one or twice a month at 100 yard public range. I also shoot my rimfire rifles once or twice a month at my 50 yards range. I shoot my handguns once or twice a month. Two or three times a year I go up north to shoot out to 600 yards with my rifle. Finally, I try to get out to my friends place in New Mexico once a year to shoot out to 1,000 yards. Basically I do some kind of shooting practice one a week. While I don’t consider myself to be a great shooter, I think I’m pretty good.
First time I shot at a live animal I was about 1” off the point of aim at about 120 yards. I was excited but I remained cool and it went off just as I had practiced hundreds of times at the range or in my head.
Going to a gun range is comparable to going to a boat ramp
What I don't get is why some folks will shoot 2-3 boxes of shells at the range and not get a gun zeroed in. If you aren't shooting a group within 3 shots, then something is wrong, be it the gun, scope, or the shooter..
