What makes a rifle a shooter?

[DalesCarpentry]

I was wondering what makes a rifle a real shooter? I do understand that bolt action rifles are generally more accurate than break action rifles. Still some bolt action rifles will shoot one hole groups at 100 yards and others will shoot 2 inch groups at 100 yards. You could also have two idenicle rifles one will be a shooter and the other not. Why would this be? So what makes a rifle a shooter? Dale

[The Gamemaster]

And your point is?

An opinion is like butt holes, everybody has one and they usually stink.

My opinion is that a rifle that is a shooter is one that you can throw on the back seat of a pick up truck, point barrel down on the floor of a pickup truck, drop more than once, fall several times in the course of a hunting season and it is still on ZERO.

You could have the best rifle in the world on the shooting bags and if it cannot take the abuse, then it isn't worth the scrap money at the salvage yard come opening day of deer season.

I have seen hunters with a old $150 -  30 / 30 Winchester or Marlin,  that they had received as a Christmas present when they were 12, that repeatedly shot deer at the same spot in the woods at the same time of day on opening day,  with the same shells they got when they were kids and with open sights.  Out hunt men with $1000 + Weatherby rifles and $600 + Leupold scopes.

Performance is in the same category as looks.  It can have the fastest bullet in the world, and if you have the bullets blow up every time you hit a small twig in the woods,  What good is it?

We all can't have perfect broadside shots like you see on tv.

[Graybeard]

I my opinion that opinion is one of those that stinks and mostly cuz it totally failed to address the question asked but rather went off on a tangent immediately about some personal campaign of yours on what a HUNTING rifle should do. The question was what set of characteristics do you think make a rifle shoot accurately. You totally failed to address the question asked. Most thread here end up taking a 90 degree turn at some point but most of the time it's not with the very first response. 

There is no hard and fast answer Dale but some of the things that need to be right for a rifle to be a really good shooter are:

Bedding must be pretty close to right for the action and barrel needs to be either properly beded or free floated. The barrel should be one with minimal stress that has not been correctly relieved. Most barrels get stressed as they are made and need some stress relief. The action needs to be pretty close to properly tolerances and locking lugs need to mate fairly evenly. The barrel must have pretty good tolerances and no major flaws inside it and must be chambered well. Those are some of the things that go into making a rifle accurate and things that if not done correctly will make one inaccurate.

[SuperstitionCoues]

I agree 100% with Greybeard, but with fewer requirements.  A SHOOTER, IMHO, puts a tight group at a designated range (100 or 200 yds or meters, depending on my needs), has a useable, functional non-lawyer trigger, fits and holds well.  Gotta be in a realistic caliber too - please don't "supersize" my gun.  That's it.

[Brithunter]

Hmmmm for accuracy in any rifle everything must line up. The action face must be true and square, the barrel chamber must be true to the bore and square to the action. The breech lock be it a bolt, falling block etc must be square to the chamber and support the cartridge head in proper alignment and chambering to hold the cartridge in line with the bore so minimum clearance of the case.

    It's funny but at one time the falling block action was   THE choice for long range match rifles. Actions like the Field, Farhquerson, Webly, Winchester Hi & low wall and Soper to mention a few that spring to mind. There are obviously more American one which slip my mind right now  .

    A major consideration is a properly cured stock, wood not drastic plastic  , and not this kiln dried rubbish they foist on us now  inletted to provide a stable closely fitted platform for the action and shaped to fit the operator, the shooter  .

[beemanbeme]

There are a lot of factors but I think fit is one of the most important.  True, as Brit sez, you've got to have a stable rifle that doesn't change from day to day but if the rifle really fits you, comes up easy and when you get it up, its there.  On target.  No hunching around trying to find the sights or align the scope. Its there.  Its balanced. It holds steady.  And so, its the rifle you more often reach for; its the rifle you use more.  And so you get good with it. 

[Mac11700]

2 of the most over looked things that will also destroy accuracy is a damaged crown...either but banging it into to something...or by improper cleaning habits..and having the rifle set up to fit the shooter..A rifle that actually fits the shooter is easier to shoot...and is easier on the shoulder & face..

As too the rest...like Graybeard said...a stable barrel..solid bedding..mated lugs to the receiver..a square junction of the receiver bridge & barrel..a good trigger..and ammunition that matches the chamber...You can have a rifle that doesn't have everything there...and still be a good shooter...fully capable of hunting accuracy...but...not capable of BR accuracy..I will accept 1" groups at 100 yards with my hunting rifles...I won't with my bench guns..and having a good shooter can mean different thing to different people...

A good shooter to me means you can hit your target where your aiming consistently...This means being able to consistently hit the bulls eye...or put it in the kill zone

Mac

[skb2706]

 In the order they come to me

1 -the nut behind the butt

2- an excellent barrel

3- well made ammo that matches the bullet weight to the twist rate

4- great optics

5- luck

[DalesCarpentry]

Thanks for the information guy's. I still wonder why you can have two identical rifles and one will shoot and one won't. They both went through the same machines at the factory. Would that not make them identical in every aspect then? Also in this day and age why would they even leave the factory without everything being squared and true. I have no experience at all in machining things so maybe I am naive to think that things should be made to better tolerances so they all would be shooters. Dale

[Mac11700]

Thanks for the information guy's. I still wonder why you can have two identical rifles and one will shoot and one won't. They both went through the same machines at the factory. Would that not make them identical in every aspect then? Also in this day and age why would they even leave the factory without everything being squared and true. I have no experience at all in machining things so maybe I am naive to think that things should be made to better tolerances so they all would be shooters. Dale

Simple...machine tolerances for one...as long as they fit good and can be chambered to go bang...they don't have to be perfectly square...nor does it have to be bedded perfectly...nor have full contact on the bolt lugs...nor have a creep free trigger...Unless your paying for it up front...or paying for it by the custom shop..or a custom builder...As too why the differences in the barrels...well...there are variances in the steel when it is made...thus the differences in the barrels...You will have to look at the process to understand it Dale...steel isn't exactly the same from piece to piece but within a set of tolerances...and the variances of it's composition will determine how stable the barrel is after it is bored & rifled...different boring rifling methods imparts different stresses on the barrel...and they effect accuracy...

Mac

[glockman55]

Good Optics
Matched ammo
Light Trigger...2 lbs for me.
Practice

[Coyote Hunter]

Thanks for the information guy's. I still wonder why you can have two identical rifles and one will shoot and one won't. They both went through the same machines at the factory. Would that not make them identical in every aspect then? Also in this day and age why would they even leave the factory without everything being squared and true. I have no experience at all in machining things so maybe I am naive to think that things should be made to better tolerances so they all would be shooters. Dale

Dale -

Have you ever marked a piece correctly and cut it wrong?  I know I have, wrong side of the line or whatever, sometimes even the wrong line.  Machines only do what they are instructed to do, whether manual or CNC.  Chuck a piece up incorrectly and see what happens - a bad part in a hurry.  CNC equipment eliminates a lot of errors but is not infallible.  If tooling wears, for example, a whole batch of scrap can be made very quickly.   

[jvs]

So what makes a rifle a shooter? Dale

There can be 101 things that can go wrong from the time a rifle gets to the shop floor at the factory, until it reaches the gun cabinet.  And all of them are important, whether it is fit and finish, or harmonics, or optics, or ammo, or anything else.

But there is one very important thing that must always be consistent, when it come to shooting...

And that is the person setting it up.  The person maintaining it.  And the person understanding what is really going on from the time the shell goes in the magazine, until the bullet hits the backstop.

All of these should be the person using it.

If there is one MOST important thing, it is human.   If you raise your standards and your knowledge, there won't be very many firearms you can't shoot consistently.

 

[PartsMan]

The barrel.

If you have a well made barrel and you, your stock, and action can point it the same spot every time.
It will be a shooter.