Internet Rifle Accuracy

Not too long ago, out of the box, big game hunting rifles were shooting 1.5 to 2 inches at 100 yd. Handloads could reduce that to about an inch. Smaller calibers like the 223 could often manage .75 to 1 inch from the factory. That's changed. With the invention of the Internets, groups have shrunk considerably. I never realized how much influence Bill Gates and his cybergeeks truly had!

Let's start by looking at the basics. Gun companies say that technological improvements have made modern firearms manufacturing more consistent. Ammunition companies claim that cartridge assembly has improved. There's no reason to doubt their assertions, but these are just two of the three things that produce superb accuracy. People are the third part and affect the result more so than anything else. And boy, have humans ever had an impact!

According to the Internets, group size has gone down markedly over the last twenty years. You can find evidence of this by opening your browser and googling rifle performance. You'll find hundreds of testimonials, complete with pictures and witnesses. Good old cyberspace! What would we have done without you!

So, with all that proof, I must accept that humans have become better. They have evolved. After all, change is what life on this rock is about. But I need to explain. I do not think that humans have become better shots. I think that they have become better story tellers. Thank you Guardian of Cyberspace Story telling!

Here's my proof: Despite manufacturing short cuts, poor quality control and the increased use of polymers, groups have continued to shrink. Strange isn't it? Regardless of the complaints from hunters and shooters about crappy, flexible stocks, heavy, lawyer proof triggers and so-so stock/action fit, I keep reading about out of the box accuracy being better than ever before. I read this stuff on hunting and shooting forums...on the Internets.

Some might say that you can't have it both ways. Someone must be telling fibs, 'cause you cannot have poorly made, butt ugly, ill fitting rifles that shoot better groups than competition rifles!

Some might also say that at the rate we're going, we should be bug holing with econo-guns by the end of the decade. It sure looks that way. It also seems that we'll be doing it with 10 lb trigger pulls, using assemblies made from pot metal parts, housed in ugly, limp and shoddily made plastic stocks. All this will be attached to less metallic versions of traditional rifle actions, assembled by numpties, using poorly constructed, off shore parts. Wow!

This is true because the evidence is floating around in cyberspace. It sure is amazing. The worse rifles get, the better they shoot!