At what point do you stop chasing the accuracy fairy?

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brewer12345

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For a lot of my reloading thus far I have been trying to maximize accuracy given the constraints (components, cost, inherent accuracy potential, etc.) on each workup. In most cases, the highest accuracy I cared about was consistent groups of an inch or so at 100 yards - hunting accuracy for deer and elk where the possibility of a 300 yard shot is not uncommon.

I just bought a 556 rifle that I have been told by the seller is a tack driver. Given the way things go and what the seller has told me, I think it was a tack driver with high end Sierra MatchKings. What I will be using this rifle for is mostly target shooting, but I don't compete and the local range is limited to 100 yards. I plan to experiment with using it for jack rabbits next year. We normally flush them and shoot with a shotgun, but I want to try sitting on a hill and having my hunting partner stomp around. If they run out of range of the shotgun, I want to try hitting them from 100+ yards out with the 556. I doubt I could see a jack beyond 200 yards, though, even with the scope.

So at what point do you stop trying to improve accuracy? At what cost? I can cast bullets for this rifle for no more than 3 cents a piece. I picked up some Hornady 62 grain soft points for 8 cents a pop. Looks like the MatchKings go for a quarter a piece on line (yikes) and might not be a good choice for hunting (although a headshot on a jack just means a headless bunny if the bullet fragments, right?). I'd guess an inch at 100 yards would probably do it, although tighter accuracy would be welcome. On the flip side, 25 cents for a bullet, 3 cents for a primer, and a nickel's worth of Varget means that these rounds would be about triple the cost of similar fodder rolled up with a cast bullet.
 
for what i think you will do with the rifle id stick, with jacketed bullets. flat base normally show better accuracy with in 400 yards. 2 moa will be plenty you should get better tho. pick a affordable powder and start in the middle range given for the data available. cheap hp or sp bullets will be fine.
 
If you hadn't posted about already having a gun for that type hunting I would have suggested a 17HMR rifle (savage bolt for less than $200) and ammo available for about $0.16 round, no loading, brass prep, etc.
Also, I'd never shoot in the direction of "my hunting partner stomping around".
jmo,
:scrutiny:
 
.556 seems like a lot of gun for shooting rabbits. I've taken 100's of rabbits with a .22LR. We used to feed them to the chickens back on the farm where I grew up.

.40
 
If it has a scope, somewhere under 1" at 100.
As a side note, please don't do what you are planning. Even if your friend is willing, it is extremely dangerous to shoot in the general direction that a person is in. You can't trust ricochets or thrown pieces of rock.
A 17 HMR or WSM is a better option if you have one.
 
IMHO, you're over thinking this. Decide at what distance most of your shots will be, then decide on what you're trying to hit at that distance. It's that simple, you want to do headshots on rabbits out to 150yds decide how big a rabbits head is and make test targets circles that size or use rabbit silhouette targets.

200yds and in is child's play for any decent ar or bolt gun. Used to shoot tons of the Hornady 55gr sp's and it was nothing to find several powders that would do moa with those bullets. Most shooters don't realize just how accurate a 223/5.56 can be.

A little tread drift but it shows just how easy it is to get moa loads with the 223.
After sandyhook happened everything went nuts. $$$ was good enough that I sold my 223 boltguns, ar's, ammo, reloading equipment, bullets/brass/etc. Things settled down so it was time to start over and I came up with the bright idea or dumb idea (either one will work) of seeing just how accurate the 223 can be with the cheapest components I could make/find. At the time local gunshops had the savage axis hb's with the acru-trigger & a scope on sale for $299 with a $50 mail in rebate. I paid $318 ($299 +tax) for a rifle, sent in the $50 rebate and sold the scope for another $50. I ended up with a $218 rifle to test my cheap reloads in. I used free range brass and sorted it into 2 piles, commercial & nato. I bought 20,000 primers when cabella's had them on sale for $19.99/1000 with free shipping. Picked up a #8 jug of powder for $150 out the door. I swaged my own bullets out of free 22lr cases and free range lead.
tHQqhA5.jpg

Did a quick bbl break-in, bbl break-in ='s checked the torques on the action screws and sighted in the 24x scope @ 100 yds. When the scope was sighted in I did a ladder test using bl-c2. I have yet to find a 223 that wouldn't do moa with 55gr to 62gr bullets and bl-c2. The axis was no different, 5-shot groups @ 100yds (25.5gr load) 3 in 1 hole & 2 out for .8" outside to outside measurement.
P1gfBgs.jpg

Why all this????
Because if I can take a $218 rifle (no mods/didn't even touch the adjustable trigger) use free mixed range brass, $.02 apiece primers, $.06 a round powder and free home made bullets and shoot sub moa groups with $.08 a round ammo. There's no reason you can't do the same thing with your tack driving ar and those hornady bullets.
 
I stop chasing the accuracy fairy when the load does what I want it to do. If it performs better, so much gravy. or fairy dust
If I change my mind about how I want the load to perform, I'll start tweaking again.
 
Getting sub inch groups out of a 556 AR at 100 yards shouldn't be hard, my personal favorite is a Hornady 55 SPSX with H322 powder. The SPSX was designed for the slower velocity .22's like a 222 or 223, this bullet and H322 used to be a benchrest shooters dream for competitions.
 
For most stuff I just set a goal before I start, then stop when it’s reached.

Keeps things simple.
 
So at what point do you stop trying to improve accuracy?

When you are no longer enjoying the process!

Some people enjoy the process of trying to get best possible accuracy out of a particular firearm. (I have a couple target rifles that I enjoy experimenting with and tweaking the loads to see what I can of accuracy I can get out of the rifles). If you don't enjoy the process of trying to get the best accuracy out of a rifle I do not see any practical reason to try to tweak a rifle to less than one moa.
 
My goal remains maintaining MOD (Minute of Dead) accuracy. Namely hit a paper plate at any distance I can still clearly see it - lol

To the OP's question -"At what point do you stop chasing the accuracy fairy?" For me that point was about mid 1978. That was when I firmly decided that nobody was going to pay me to shoot any better.
 
As a person that reloads the answer could be Never, always adjusting something or whenever I get tired of trying.
Then the guy that got me started is also an avid varmint shooter. He's got 2 heavy barrel varmint guns, a 25/06 and a 22/250 both with very large scopes on them.
For me I shoot pistol. No I don't chrono loads because I don't have one and the indoor ranges I shot are not conducive to setting one up. I also do not shoot from a Ransom Rest or from sand bags. I do all my shooting unsupported, standing with a two hand grip. All targets are from 7 to 15 yards. Which is realistically a self defense distance. If I can get all shots to group into a fist sized area repeatedly then I'm good. Now if I was loading to shoot Bullseye I'm sure I would proceed differently.
 
I primarily shoot at steel....so as long as I can hit the plates at the desired ranges, I'm happy. That might be a 2" target at 300 yds, or a 4" at 100 yds....whatever - as long as I hit it reliably, I'm OK. WHERE I strike it or how the strikes pattern on it - I really don't care. I "hit what I was aiming at" and that's good enough.
 
forrest r has some great recommendations that I agree with.
If you're aiming for center of mass, just about anything around 1.5 - 2 MOA should be good to 200 yards on a sitting jack rabbit. Your only task would be to be able to adjust for drop at ranges from (closest shot) out to 200 yards which could be anywhere from a couple inches of hold under to maybe 5" hold over at 200 yards plus you should check your bullet drift out to 200 yards in wind which could also be upwards of 5" with a 90 degree 10 mph wind.
 
When I can consistently put 60 rounds inside a 1 MOA circle at 600 yards. So far the best I've managed to do is 53
 
I guess you can only shoot as accurately as your body and rifle will allow, establish the best you can wring out of the gun with a quality factory load and try to match it. In the process you will find what you're looking for.
 
I'd never shoot in the direction of "my hunting partner stomping around".
jmo,
:scrutiny:

Me either....and depending where and when you are hunting Jacks, there is also the chance of a ricochet. Not only is your parner in danger, but so is anything else within several miles with a bullet that holds together. One does not need a hunting type bullet for Jacks, odds are you ain't gonna be eatin' 'em. better to have a bullet that explodes on im[pact than one that passes thru with minimal expansion and continues downrange in the scenario posted. I too would recommend a .17HMR. Seeing jacks beyond 80 yards means to me....wide open and flat country. Not idea for just throwing bullets. Worrying about cost per round tells me you plan on throwing quite a few of them.
 
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