Three Shot Groups for me Going Forward…

[Luis Leon]

Yes, on occasion this mediocre shooter sends some sweet 1 MOA, five shot groups out to 50 yards and beyond. But mostly I’ll send 3 or 4 great shots and flub the fifth. Or, send 3 great shots and flub shots four and five. I can hold consistent 1 MOA, 3 shot groups on a good day, but am not a target shooter or competitor. I am a plinker and pester in no particular order. Once zeroed? Am off to the races. At practical ranges? 1/16th off in the “the vitals”? Matters not to the pests… DRT! While I may be mistaken, I believe that three, shot groups better reflect what I can do with my PCPs. Of course understanding that my PCPs group better than I can hold.., Thoughts?

 

[FL22]

I’ve read a lot of articles that say a five shot group is the minimum standard. So you can gauge the accuracy of your rifle and yourself, and that you should practice often. However some just do 3, so it’s not unheard of.

I practice 5 and 10 shot groups. I feel it is important to make sure that I can deliver an ethical shot every single time.

Know yourself know your gun and repetitively perform the same action, so if something is off, you know it immediately.

 

[Pumacarl]

My personal interest is only on my first cold bore shot of the day. Usually, that's the only one that matters so I pay attention to it the most. Everyone has got their thing.

 

[pan60]

we set up and shoot regular but i a, not consistant sometimes i can empty the magazine and just make a larger hole but it seems i allways have one or two that trash my group.
a couple days ago i set up and shot almost a tim of lead and it was like that on every group.
when i meet up with one of our fried we do five shot groups and i allways have one that will spoil my wants.

 

[Mike Brown]

Yes, on occasion this mediocre shooter sends some sweet 1 MOA, five shot groups out to 50 yards and beyond. But mostly I’ll send 3 or 4 great shots and flub the fifth. Or, send 3 great shots and flub shots four and five. I can hold consistent 1 MOA, 3 shot groups on a good day, but am not a target shooter or competitor. I am a plinker and pester in no particular order. Once zeroed? Am off to the races. At practical ranges? 1/16th off in the “the vitals”? Matters not to the pests… DRT! While I may be mistaken, I believe that three, shot groups better reflect what I can do with my PCPs. Of course understanding that my PCPs group better than I can hold.., Thoughts?

Sounds like me....know the guns and pellets are more consistent and accurate than I am. Just confirm that the poi is consistent and hope for a good hold, sight picture and trigger release.

 

[Dogowski]

I do 5 to 10 shot groups as well and that's my test of how the gun and myself are shooting on a particular day.

 

[Soren Drost]

When testing for H&N and Zan a 10 shot group is required to see the consistency

 

[Danman]

Sounds like me....know the guns and pellets are more consistent and accurate than I am. Just confirm that the poi is consistent and hope for a good hold, sight picture and trigger release.

For me it depends on what gun and range I'm shooting? TX200 - 10 shot groups. S510...usually 1, 2, 3 max is needed to tell me what I need to know. Ghost aka the 'untamed beast', I like 6 shot groups. The odd time I get no mrd flier and it's this beautiful little group, other times 3 or 4 good, one strays off and I'll toss a 6th in to verify the flier was just that... a flier. Sight in on a new scope I take 2 shots usually and then click as required. If I'm going long range (we'll past zero) I like a few more shots for a group.

 

[Hateful McNasty]

Well if I'm satisfied with 3 then good . Especially if it's the first 3 stacking .. if not I really can't expect 5 or 10 or a 100 to be , right? The more shots the more chances of a error that spoils the fun so to say ..

 

[ctshooter]

My thoughts - 3 shot groups show consistency of the gun. 5+ shot groups show consistency of the shooter.

My standard, for what it's worth, is to shoot magazine groups. If it's an 8 shot magazine - then 8 shot group - you get the idea.

 

[Florida_Man]

I’ve been know to go up the ladder often. 1 shot, 2 shot…. All the way up to a complete magazine.

 

[Sydney Monk]

I’ve read a lot of articles that say a five shot group is the minimum standard. So you can gauge the accuracy of your rifle and yourself, and that you should practice often. However some just do 3, so it’s not unheard of.

I practice 5 and 10 shot groups. I feel it is important to make sure that I can deliver an ethical shot every single time.

Know yourself know your gun and repetitively perform the same action, so if something is off, you know it immediately.

I do 5 shot groups mostly but am not beyond admiring a nice 3 shot group.

 

[Mike Brown]

The 3 shot group became my standard back in my early powder burner days. Primarily because the only PB I had was a 7mm Remington Magnum with a light weight barrel profile. 3 rounds heated up the barrel so quickly that rounds 4 and 5 would start walking out of the group. Old habits die hard...

 

[Ezana4CE]

My personal interest is only on my first cold bore shot of the day. Usually, that's the only one that matters so I pay attention to it the most. Everyone has got their thing.

I hunt and my primary concern is hunting so I can relate to this. The first and second shots are the most important to me in that order. Sure shooting good groups feels good and on rare occasions I have a target I can proudly show of, but I have more dead animals to show than great looking groups on targets. If I can't kill a game animal in two shots, I'm usually feeling bad about it.

 

[Grunt64]

Yes, on occasion this mediocre shooter sends some sweet 1 MOA, five shot groups out to 50 yards and beyond. But mostly I’ll send 3 or 4 great shots and flub the fifth. Or, send 3 great shots and flub shots four and five. I can hold consistent 1 MOA, 3 shot groups on a good day, but am not a target shooter or competitor. I am a plinker and pester in no particular order. Once zeroed? Am off to the races. At practical ranges? 1/16th off in the “the vitals”? Matters not to the pests… DRT! While I may be mistaken, I believe that three, shot groups better reflect what I can do with my PCPs. Of course understanding that my PCPs group better than I can hold.., Thoughts?

It's commonly thought that the three-shot group is linked to big bore rifles, while the five-shot group is to small bore rifles. However, for pest control, a single well-placed shot suffices. I shoot with support from a tripod or a fixed bipod. First, ensure comfort in your firing position. Second, consistently place your cheek in the same spot. Third, breathe normally and pull the trigger slowly as you exhale. Consistency is key with every shot. Also, check if your PCP air rifle is canted. I am a hunter and shoot targets out to 200 plus yards to stay sharp.

 

[Farmplinker2]

Single shot, 3 isn't technically enough, but practically, it is. Full mag on mag gun, depending on shooting conditions. How often hunting do you empty the mag, in say, under 2 minutes? And what distance are you shooting? If you're testing at 25 yards, but take a fair number of longer shots, a larger amount of shots may be a good idea.

 

[Shortcut]

I can consistently shoot accurate 1 shot groups!!

 

[Scriv]

Depends on what I am trying to learn. Testing ammo? Verifying zero? Practicing a position? Making sight corrections. I take as many as I need to find out what I want to know.

 

[JasonEdward]

It doesn't matter how many shots in a group - but a tight group with more shots is always better than a tight group with just 3 shots.

 

[Luis Leon]

It doesn't matter how many shots in a group - but a tight group with more shots is always better than a tight group with just 3 shots.

I would definitely agree with your statement…