As a follow up to the ‘Can You Shoot MOA All Day Long?‘ post from a few weeks ago, I asked a few of my fellow TFB writers if they would be willing to participate in an in-house precision challenge. If you remember from our original story, ‘MOA All Day’ is a simple test of a shooter’s rifle skills: five, five shot groups on one piece of paper.  Hopefully some of the other TFB writers schedule’s will allow them to pick a rifle, shoot and post up their targets with comments and observations.

MOA All Day is the rifleman’s equivalent of a time-trial – the only one you are truly competing against is yourself. Every time I shoot those 25 rounds I am reminded of how much practice I need and that in many ways I am still a beginner precision shooter. It’s a good feeling to be humbled every once in a while.

I had to shoot my MOA challenge from the 90 yard line (my 100 yard marker is in a thick growth of poison ivy at the moment). I’ve adjusted my calculations accordingly,

The Rules:

• Rimfire irons/red dot: 25 yards
• Rimfire magnified optic: 50 yards
• Centerfire irons/red dot: 50 yards
• Centerfire magnified optic: 100 yards

One target (piece of paper), five groups of five shots.

The rifle must be unsupported. This is a test for you, not your vise.

Measure groups edge-to-edge and subtract the bullet’s diameter.

Average the five groups and divide by MOA for your distance.

Take pictures of your rifle at the range, your target hanging on the stand, the groupings and a measuring device laid on the best group.

My Setup:

• Noveske Lower
• VLTOR Upper
• MicroMOA 17.3″ Barrel and adjustable gas block 
• Form 1 Suppressor
• Vortex Viper PST 6-24X
• Geissele SD-E Trigger 
• Geissele MK8 15″ Rail
• DSG Arms BCG
• Atlas Bipod

Ammo:

• Federal Gold Medal 69gr BTHP (recorded)
• Hornady TAP 75gr 5.56 BTHP (tested)
• Federal Fusion 62gr SP (tested)

Photo documentation as required:

This is my rifle…

Range view

Target in place.

Target scored

Smallest group with caliper measurement.

Raw data:

.894, 1.26, 1.21, 1.17, 1.16

Subtracting .224 (bullet diameter) to get center-to-center measurements:

0.67, 0.946, 0.936, 0.986, 1.036

Average of five groups:

0.67 + 0.946 + 0.936 + 0.986 + 1.036 = 4.574/5 = .915

MOA at 90 yards:

1.047 x 0.90 = .942

MOA:

0.915 / 0.942 = 0.971

Full MOA All Day calculation:

0.67 + 0.946 + 0.936 + 0.986 + 1.036 = 4.574/5 = .915/0.942 = 0.971 MOA

Observations:

I had “fliers” on the top left and bottom right targets (maybe even the other two corners?) that opened up my groups significantly.

To be honest, I was disappointed in my performance. And I could make all kinds of excuses, but in the end, I just could have shot better. However, I’m pumped up enough to try and get 50 rounds on target two or three times a week for the rest of the summer. I’ll report back in late September (hopefully I will show some improvement).

Note: Before you start shouting at the screen at how easy it is to shoot 1/2 MOA at 90 yards, set up the MOA challenge and give it a go. Are you as good of a shooter as you think you are?

Shout out to Arma Dynamics for the use of their free downloadable targets. Visit them at www.arma-dynamics.com.