I look at shooters more as Minute of Angle (MOA) capability. For instance, a +1 MOA shooter would be wasting their money on an expensive weapon. This type of shooter doesn’t shoot any better with an inexpensive firearm than with can a top of the line piece. They buy the best for bragging rights.

A 1 MOA guy, or average shooter, would gain a bit more accuracy and/or range with a better bullet launcher, but usually lack the time, drive, and cash to practice, practice, practice. Even with exceptional ability, without the practice they will always remain 1 MOA shooters.

When you get to ½ MOA, you can tell the difference between a middle of the pack weapon and a top of the line firearm. I would guess this is would be the limit that the vast majority of experienced shooter could hope to reach. And that they would be happy to be able to reach and maintain that level of proficiency. Uncle Sam afforded me the time and opportunity (and lots and lots of bullets) to reach this level.

I’ve only seen a few ¼ MOA guys and they are impressive. Not physically, they were mostly on the other side of the hill and a bit on the scrawny side, but they had mastered all the elements of the shooting world.

I met up with a ¼ MOA shooter on a rifle range once. He was an old Marine (has there ever been an ex-Marine?) and was paired up with him to shoot the match. He also happened to be the groundskeeper of the range. While he never said anything negative about my shooting, I’m sure he was shaking his head in the pits. When this guy started shooting the spindles out of the spotter disks while shooting offhand at 200 meters (100points/9X’s), I got an indication of his skill. This guy shot an old beat up M-1 Garand and had more X’s that the top two winners combined. He ended up shooting 449 out of 500 with five saved rounds. At 400 meters, shooting standing to sitting, he dropped his five rounds in the dirt and didn’t want to dirty his rifle. Tremendous shooter, and when I started talking to him after the match, everyone listened.

So would I want a top of the line firearm that could let me compete with that old Marine? Sure, but like most firearms, the top end of the scale weapons tend to outshoot their handlers. And I’d rather have a reliable rifle that I can beat the crap out of and still get 1 MOA out of than a delicate ¼ MOA rifle that requires babying.

Last edited by Mastiff; 07/10/14 12:50 PM.

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