It's not you, its me. No, that is not something I recently heard from a girlfriend (I am happily married), but it is what I try to say when I look at a rifle. In the vast majority of cases, the rifle is capable of shooting much better than I am. The problem is between the trigger and the seat. That being said, there are rifles made for different purposes which therefore have different characteristics, and some rifles are more precise than others even though they are both accurate. Here is an example; clearly the rifle can shoot with precision, I rushed my first shot (top) then put together 3 great shots, then got too excited about the group (bottom).
To understand what I mean, it is important to understand the difference between precision and accuracy. Precision refers to the repeatability of the event; in terms of shooting this means how tight the groups will tend to be. Accuracy refers to the placement of that grouping. With modern optics we can control how the crosshairs line up with the POI, but there will still be some deviation.
When we think about which rifle we want to take with us, we need to ask, "what job is this going to do today?" My lever gun is the least precise of my guns, but it is accurate, fun to shoot and lightweight so its job is usually "to hunt." To shoot for groups at 200, I would choose a different option.
Again, precision is tightness of group, accuracy is being on target. Check out the following diagram.
So my trusty old 30-30 shoots like the far left; high accuracy but (in my book) low precision with groups around 1.5"-2". Not bad groups, but not precise. I used to make the mistake of fiddling with this gun trying to get it to shoot precision groups and all I did was frustrate myself and blow through a bunch of (expensive) ammo. Once I realized that the 30-30 is a particular tool for a particular job, my relationship with it got much better.
My Mossberg Precision MVP is the third target, the trade off is that with the chassis and heavy barrel this gun pushes 10 pounds plus glass, so its "job" will never (rarely) be hunting. If you are shooting groups as shown in the second target, scope adjustments should fix that and if they don't you might want a new scope. If you're shooting resembles the fourth group you might need to take a class or get some pointers from a pal or...get a new gun.
So what do you do with a gun that should shoot like the third target, but is shooting like the first? Every gun has a personality and as such can be particular about ammo. I am getting to know the Benelli Lupo and have found that with both the Federal Fusion 140 and the Sellier and Bellot I am getting 1.5" groups. I think the gun is capable of more (I have shot a couple of .5" groups) and, while much of the problem is probably me, the next step is to run some different ammo through it. I picked up some Precision Hunter, ELD Match, and Sig Venari 129s to see how it goes. Nothing replaces trigger time, and while ammo is not cheap, finding the right ammo for the gun is important and you only have to do it once.
Remember to have fun, after all, isn't that why we do this? One of the best things I learned is that it is helpful to remember what each gun is for and to expect accuracy/precision in-line with what the tool was designed to do. I mean, you wouldn't use a screwdriver like a hammer...though I have used a hammer as a screwdriver!
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