The title pretty much explains my question. What do you guys consider as an acceptable size group at 100 yds for say a 243 rifle shooting the Hornady 58 gr. V-Max factory load? Thanks for any input.

I got around to sighting in my new coyote gun today. The new 22-250 (your recommendation) after the routine of the set up, I shot a clover leaf at 100 yrds. It is an X-Bolt varmint with 26" barrel. Black barrel and stock. My old Handy rifle (New England Arms) shot 1" group 3 shots. Its a 223 cal. I had a 243 and it would stay around an 1 1/2 or less at a hundred. That is acceptable to me.

It would have to depend on what I was going to hunt with it and how far I was going to shoot. With the 58g v-max I'm guessing coyotes so that leaves how far out you want to shoot. 1 1/2 " @ 100 would have about a 6" group @ 400. Thats still good enough to get a good hit on a coyote. My .223 AR will shoot 1/2 @ 100, 1 1/2 @ 300 with factory Hornady 55g v-maxes I'm pleased with that. If I were gonna shoot groundhog or crows @ 300+ I would be picky. 1 1/2" groups would probably drive me nuts thinkin about a 400 yard shot. When you think about the probability of a 400 yard shot at a coyote I would look at my averages. Personally of my last 10, 4 were with a shotgun under 50yds, 4 less than 100yds and 2 at 200-250 yds.

So to answer your question, for coyote sized game and factory ammo you could get by with 1 1/2 " groups but I like a lot less. Depends on how obsessed you get while pokin holes in paper.lol

Yes, this gun would be strickly for coyotes. I figured 1 1/2" would be max of a group size at 100 yds. Right now I think I am going to just shoot it the way it is but come next summer I think I let Tres put the "whammy" on it and make a tack driver of it.

My stock 700 .270 with factory core lokt rounds will clover leaf @ 100yds. I'm a hole addict. I'm a firm believer that if a company makes two guns on the same line on the same day, that one might shoot moa while the other has 1.5" 50yd groups. Finding a great shooter right out of the box is the luck of the draw. Either it will or it won't. I've had guns that just won't group smaller than 2.5" and my buddy with the same model/caliber (different gun) is shooting 3/4" groups @100. But that is what gunning is all about. We're like amateur chemists, trying to figure out which combos work and which ones don't. I shoot about a 3/4 group with my 243. It's a single shot Rossi with an el cheapo Bushnell 3x9 but it does good for what it is. I would expect more out of a "brand name" bolt gun.

I'm kinda debate'n on try'n to learn to reload, I've got a set of dies for my .243 and my friend has a loader I'm sure he would let me use but I have no idea wher to start.
I figured it would give a chance to see what the gun was actually capable of, every body sez hand loads are a lot more accurate than box loads, and besides I NEED another way to sqander hard earned money.

Reloading will give you plenty of reasons to shoot more. It's a rush when you find the recipe that your rifle loves. . .



Now, if I can only find a coyote wearing that target!

Are those groups shot from a bolt gun or a Auto ???

Very nice by the way.

Are those groups shot from a bolt gun or a Auto ???

Very nice by the way.

Appalachian wrote:

Are those groups shot from a bolt gun or a Auto ??? Very nice by the way.

They are from a Ruger M77 Mark II varmint 223 bolt action that I bought used. Here's the GunBroker photo:



Shooting factory ammo, the groups were nowhere close to that.

Here's a recent example, Remington factory in the box, handloads in the bulls eye, shot at 200 yards:

37L1 wrote:

Reloading will give you plenty of reasons to shoot more. It's a rush when you find the recipe that your rifle loves. . . now, if I can only find a coyote wearing that target!

Not only that, I can't seem to get my rest and rear bag set up before they run off.

Now that is some FINE shooting in my book.

in high school i did a science project on rifle accuracy. I used my remington 788 chambered for .243 completely stock. used a basic federal load think it was 100gr soft tip bullet and shot between 5 and 6 inch 5 shot group at 100yd. compared them to nosler 95 gr ballistic tip. loaded them in 3 or 4 velocities i think i did slow medium and as fast as i could. got down to between 1 and 1.25 inch 5 round grops at 100yd.

If I have a coyote standing in front of me my groups are usually about 12-16" (no matter what distance) and if they are moving my groups turn into 2-3 ft. groups. LOL. See ya in the woods.