For me accuracy is all in the mind. I have never shot benchrest for varmints but do shot 3 position small bore rifle competitions. I use a WWII surplus Remington 513 MatchMaster from the DCM (Department of Civilian Marksmanship)(what the CMP used to be.) I can count the number of perfect targets (100,10X)I have had on one hand. I know that my rifle can out shoot me even on my best days. For every point that I am down on my targets I know that I have done some thing wrong. Held my breath too long, let too much breath out, did not check my natural point of aim on that shot, dragged wood, did not follow through..ect ect ect. But the point is, I affect the accuracy of my rifle as much as the rifle it's self.

DO IT ALL THE TIME their David Crocket!
Back in 73 when I turned 18, my first paycheck from work went towards a Remington 700 BDL from TG&Y in Jacksonville AR, bought my rings and reloading supplies from J.C. Penny and my dies from the BX on Base (Little Rock AFB). After my brother recently ran several boxes factory loaded 45 grain thru it, she’s not shooting 60 grainers no more meaning the barrel is washing out again. I’ll just send it back to Remington for another barrel. Nice thing about a varmint barrel, it doesn’t warm up as fast, but that BDL got to hot to touch a many times jackrabbit busting in New Mexico. Talk about a WAR GAME and the Ranch owners loved it!
Shoots a 3/8’s group with 35 grains of Winchester 748 behind a Hornady 55 grain SPWC with Federal 210 primers works really nice! 36 grains works even better, but the cases crack just above the web on the 3-4 reload. That rifle will stack one bullet on the next it will.
Check you parallax in your scope. Place your rifle on the bench and look thru your scope at 100 yards. Without moving the rifle, move your head up-down and all around while aiming at an object. Chances are, you’ll notice the crosshairs will move a little. I have had some scopes move as much as 4 inches and they are brand name scopes. Also check your bedding and forearm. Perhaps your getting a bet of pressure on the barrel probably around the sling stud.

Here's one to make you heave. Back in 1970 I bought a brand new Browning BAR in '06. Yep a semi-auto made in Belgium, turns out it was built in '68 which I believe was first year of manufacture of this model. Back then it was not uncommon to see a Browning new on the shelf that was a year or two old but just received by the retailer. I never knew why. I put a Leupold Vari-X II 2x-7x on it with Redfield mounts and rings. The rifle would shoot Federal 150 gr. soft points into just under an inch, sometimes less on a good day, each and every time. I discovered this load because it was the cheapest ammo that I could find and never had much money back then. I won several impromptu rifle matches with this piece after being laughed at as I approached the bench. Luck of the draw. By the way I still have the rifle and shot it this past Saturday for the first time in almost 30 years. Gusty wind was a problem but I still got 1.5-2 inch 100 yard groups by waiting until I thought the wind was relatively consistant in velocity. Maybe I will try again this summer on a calm day.

This has nothing to do with the blog subject, but Clay's post instantly brought back memories of TG&Y.

It might have been a department store, but man they all had such nice sporting goods departments. The one in my town was a pretty good sized store and when I was a kid I'd walk down there and just hang out, sniffing the packages of grape-colored Mann's Jelly Worms, eyeing the rifles and staring at the mounts on the walls.
My very first baitcaster was bought there in 1979, a silver Ambassadeur 5000C. I still have the box and receipt, as well as my first pump shotgun, a gawdawful ugly 20 gauge Winchester ranger.

I'd like to say my first MOA rifle was bought there as well, but in 1979 I didn't know what MOA meant...

I should have mentioned that I am 100 percent in agreement with you Dave, that the barrel is the secret to these 1/4" groups. All the varmint rifles I mentioned in the preceding note are factory models.

I have big game rifles that have barrels made by Shilen (1) Lilja (1), Ackley (1) and Douglas (3) and all will shoot inside 1" if I do my part. One time I fired a three-shot group from a Lilja-barreled .338 that had all three holes touching--a genuine 1/4" group firing 250-grain Nosler Partitions ahead of 70 grs. of IMR-4350! I shot this in front of a witness but chose not to make it a five-shot group as I knew I would ruin it!

Accuracy is relative and not everything we desire concerning rifles but it certainly accounts for a high percentage why we retain and use one rifle or another. My p-dawg rifles typically yield rather small groups but then so do the .338 and the .375. I am always amazed when I get a 7/8 inch 3 shot group at 100 from the .375 but never blink when my .22-.250 performs identically on a routine basis. Both are old Pre-Garcia Sakos. I don't know why the barrel in the .22-.250 still works as the throat is gone but it certainly will get me by another year.

My favorite bolt gun is a Parker-Hale in .270 Win. Right off the shelf it would print three rounds 1 1/2" above the bull in a clover leaf with handloads.
I was sitting at a shooting bench at a public range one day when a gent asked me what I was doing. I showed him a target.
He scoffed and said, "You ain't gotta be that accurate. A 2 or 3 inch group is sufficient to kill deer."
"Yep," I agreed, "but if I can shoot a group that tight, if I miss a deer, I know it will be ME and NOT the rifle!"

Bubba

Bubba,

I too, have never understood people that are satisfied with "minute of pie plate".

If I have any chance at all of lining up the shot I want to KNOW that the bullet will strike where the gun is aimed. You can make cleaner kills and save meat!

I bought a Ruger #1 .22-250 Standard on a whim from a gun shop owner buddy back in 1973. It came to him unsolicited from his supplier and he was not happy about it. "Hey Breen, wanna buy a rifle real cheap?" It shoots just under half inch at 100yards if I let it cool between shots. I have probably killed a thousand groundhogs with this rifle. 55gr spitzer boattails in front of 32 gr. of BLc2 with a BR2 primer was its fodder of choice for years, could cover 5 of'em with a dime, then it slowly opened its group. Switched to 35.5 of IMR 4895 ond she's back in business. Best 250 bucks I ever spent! Only problem with a standing hog at 500 yards on a still day is that he can hide behind 12x crosshairs.
OK. Out of the box... Remington 700 .222 Varmint Special. 1988 or so. Never tasted a factory round. 24.5 compressed grains of IMR 4895 with a BR4 behind the same bullet shot one ragged hole for three straight 3 shot targets. Used an Outer's adjustable rest off of the dog box in the truck bed. The second target wasn't even a cloverleaf, just one big hole. Needless to say, I was impressed. Used it for shots to 200yds and the #1 for longer range. Makes less noise.
One more point... That #1 made more soybeans than any other single input in 20 years of farming!

Clay, Right on with the parrallax thing.. All scopes can have a parrallex situation, some are more noticabl than othere.. One shooting bench rest or varmitts really need to look at a good scope with an adj. objective lense, knowing the range, you can adj. the parrallax to work for you..
If that big barrel got that hot, think what it would have done with a rattail barrel.

I've read a lot of rifle test articles in which the tested rifle produces abysmal accuracy, but the writer will still say, "It shoots within 'minute-of-deer,' and that's good enough." Well, no, it is not. If a rifle won't shooter better than 2 MOA, it has a problem. My Remington Model 700 Mountain Rifle will shoot three shots into a half-inch group at 100 yards, and that tells me the rifle was made the way it should have been. I had a post-1964 Model 70 in .270 and it wouldn't do better than 2-inch groups at 100 yards with that free-floated barrel. My Weatherby Mark V in .300 Weatherby will shoot barely inside an inch. You can never tell when accuracy is going to play a major part in a shot--even at relatively short range. Just as importantly, you must have confidence in your rifle. If you lack confidence in your rifle, you won't be confident about making a shot, and you'll likely miss. There are too many alternatives to carrying around a lousy-shooting rifle!

Since when are 1 1/2 inch groups not acceptable for hunting rifles? If that .300 Weatherby mag will shoot under an inch, it's a keeper. My .35 Whelen will shoot under a half inch year to year with no adjustments required. My Weatherby will also shoot under an inch with certain loads, el cheapo Remington Express 180 grain's included. Drives tacks with Barnes 165 Triple shocks. I certainly am not a benchrest grade shooter!

PbHead,
I would rather hope it would be the other way around. That way we do not have to hear Her cry on Television about loosing in NH today or any other of the United States which didn't vote her in.