Splitting Hairs Instead Of Logs
Kim du Toit
March 11, 2008
11:32 AM CDT
For some time, now, I’ve been watching my good Blogfriend Hogster beat himself up about his self-perceived inadequate marksmanship with his sundry rifles, and it’s been driving me crazy.
In fact, given the limitations of both the rifles he’s been shooting and the distances, he’s been doing fine—but you’d never think that, to hear him moaning about it.
It’s time to clear the air about accuracy, and I’m going to hear some whining about this, but I don’t care.
You can try too hard to be an accurate shooter.
Let me start this ball rolling by quoting myself, in Basic Principles of Gun Ownership:
The minimum levels of accuracy for any shooter should be as follows (using 5-shot strings for each, untimed):- defensive handgun: 5” group center-mass at seven yards, offhand (unsupported);
- rimfire rifle: 3” group at 25 yards, offhand;
- centerfire rifle (unscoped): 4” group at 50 yards;
- centerfire rifle (scoped) 3” group at 100 yards.
Practice time should be sufficient to enable such accuracy to be achieved consistently.
Note the key word “minimum” in the above, because it’s important. In truth, that “minimum” can also be defined as “adequate”—because if you can shoot at that level, consistently, you’ll be fine.
Here’s what Chuck Hawks has to say on the topic of accuracy in hunting, in his likewise-exasperated essay Enough is Enough!:
For the hunter using a 100-150 yard hunting rifle, such as rifles chambered for what are fundamentally pistol cartridges (.357 Magnum, .44-40, .44 Magnum, etc.) or low pressure cartridges like the .38-55 and .45-70, a 4 MOA group will suffice. 4” groups at 100 yards don’t look very impressive at the range, but 4 MOA groups mean all bullets within a 6” circle at 150 yards, about the maximum useful range of this class of cartridges. A .44 Magnum rifle that will put all of its bullets into a 4” circle at 100 yards is a deadly deer rifle, as accurate as it needs to be.
A 200 yard hunting rifle, such as a .30-30, .35 Remington, or .444 Marlin needs to print 3 MOA (3") groups at 100 yards. This means that all of the bullets will be landing inside of a 6” circle at 200 yards. A North American hunter can take any deer, sheep, pronghorn, or goat with such a rifle. In Townsend Whelen’s day, few hunting rifles would shoot better than that. Many will today, but practically speaking it doesn’t matter. 3 MOA is good enough for 100% kills out to at least 200 yards. A 200 yard rifle that shoots 1 MOA groups is not one whit deadlier than one that shoots 3 MOA groups.
The hunter with a long range rifle capable of taking medium game at 300 yards (such as a 6mm Remington, .25-06, .270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum or .300 Winchester Magnum), needs a rifle that averages 2 MOA groups. Those 2” groups at 100 yards will open to 6” at 300 yards. Very few hunters can take advantage of more accuracy than that in the field, so 2 MOA represents the practical limit of accuracy for most hunters. I am sure that Col. Whelen would have classified such a rifle as very “interesting.” Of course, it is nice if Old Betsy will shoot even smaller groups at the rifle range, but it is simply not necessary from a practical standpoint.
For the master shot with a trajectory table developed for his specific rifle and load, a high quality rangefinder, a solid rest, and shooting an ultra-long range cartridge like the .240 to .300 Weatherby Magnums, .264 Winchester Magnum, 7mm Remington Ultra Mag, or .30-378 Magnum, a 400 yard shot might be justified. If so, that hunter needs a rifle that will reliably shoot into 1.5 MOA. 1.5 MOA means a rifle that groups within 3” at 200 yards and 6” at 400 yards. This is a very interesting rifle indeed, particularly considering the muzzle blast and recoil of most ultra-long range cartridges. Such rifles are quite scarce in the real world. At 400 yards the merest twitch by the hunter, or a puff of wind 200 yards away, will throw the bullet clear out of the kill area. The inherent accuracy of the rifle has become a secondary consideration of relatively minor importance compared to other variables.
It’s even more true when it comes to shooting people.
I can count on one hand the people of my acquaintance whom I could trust to put a bullet into a 2” target at 100 yards, offhand (the conditions under which most hunting, whether of people or animals, takes place). Open that up to an 8” target at the same distance, and just about anyone with familiarity with the rifle and basic shooting skills can do it.
So we’re all clear on the concept: putting two bullets into an 8” circle at 100 yards = one dead enemy, or two dead enemies, if one has put one bullet each into two targets, within the 8” kill zone which covers a human’s vital organs in the chest cavity.
Now: add combat-inspired adrenaline, a target which is shooting back at you, and all the other components of a typical combat situation, and that group of people is going to shrink back to less than a handful again.
Which, in a nutshell, is why we practice, and practice, and practice: so that if things start going horribly wrong, the mechanics are automatic, and we can concentrate on all the other stuff like controlling our breathing, finding cover/concealment/a decent rest, ignoring what else is going on next to us, and so on.
This is why I enjoy shooting IDPA, by the way, especially in informal settings like among friends. I’ve seen people who are apparently skilled pistoleros in a normal range setting simply come apart under even the slightest stress imposed by a.) a timed course of fire and b.) a competitor standing next to them.
Likewise, I’ve seen hunters, who can shoot the “o” out of a Coke can at 100 yards from a bench, miss a deer completely at 50 yards because of “deer fever”—the adrenaline rush caused by the fact that you are going to cause the death of another being.
We place too much importance on accuracy. For those, like my Son&Heir in his 10-meter air pistol competitions, who are shooting at targets as an end in itself, accuracy is all-important. That’s a different game, and has its own rules.
Those of us who arm ourselves to defend our selves, families and property, there are different rules—and to hold ourselves to the clinical standards of target shooting under those circumstances is about as foolish, and self-defeating, as we can get.
Here are my rules of thumb when it comes to “self-defense” accuracy—and should all be achieved offhand, and only with your self-defense piece(s), not with any tricked-up race guns or whatever.
1.) Handgun.
- Stick two 8” paper plates vertically onto a larger paper target. That 16” high by 8” wide area represents your “vitals” killing zone on a human.
- Set the target at three yards (or ten feet).
- Draw and fire (or start from “low ready”—gun in hand, arm at your side) three shots in four seconds. If you can get three shots into those two plates every time, you’re in good shape. If you can’t, keep practicing until you can, every time.
- Then, when that starts to get boring, then move the target back out a yard, and shoot until that becomes boring.
- Stop when you get to ten yards, and you’re getting 100% “accuracy” (three shots, four seconds, into a target 16” tall and 8” wide), 100% of the time.
If you get to that level, and you get really bored, then cut the time short by a second, and start from the beginning. (Three shots in three seconds, from a holster or from “low ready” position, 100% accuracy 100% of the time, from five yards out to ten yards, and I
guarantee you’ll win every gun fight unless you’re up against ol’ Jerry Miculek or someone like him, in which case you should have surrendered already anyway.)
Outside the professionals, the only shooters I know who can do this consistently (because I’ve seen them do it) are the Layabout Sailor, Combat Controller and Doc Russia—and even they slip up occasionally.
2.) Rifle. Using the same two paper plates (16” high, 8” wide), set the target at 10 yards, and fire two shots inside four seconds if using a bolt-action or lever-action rifle, or three shots in four seconds if you’re using a semi-auto rifle. You can stand, sit, kneel or lie prone (see below the fold for pics), but you may not use a rest of any kind, or shoot off a bench, for this exercise.
When you can do that 100% of the time at ten yards, and you start to get bored, move the target back to fifteen yards, and then to twenty-five yards, and then to fifty yards. Remember, the goal is 100% accuracy, 100% of the time, at each distance. DO not increase the distance until you’ve achieved that level of competence. (If you can’t get 100% accuracy all the time at ten yards, you’ll be wasting your ammo at 100 yards.)
Beyond 50 yards (and at which point, arguably, you’re not really in a “self-defense” situation anymore), you’ll need a rest of some kind, or to shoot from prone. Trust me on this one. I’ve seen people get 50-yard (or even 100-yard) accuracy from kneeling or sitting position, but only without any serious time pressure.
Remember, in a self-defense situation, time is not your friend. That’s why all self-defense practice should be timed, even if in your own head. (If you can’t do that, get a buddy to stand close behind you and shout out the seconds, loudly. That alone will add stress to the situation.)
Most of all, however, remember that the criterion for accuracy is not “one-hole groups”, it’s “minute of goblin”. One-hole groups are great ego-builders, and they’re fine when you’re still learning about your gun, or the basics of marksmanship. But once you’re ready to move on from there, you need to get real—and nothing is more real than self-defense.
