MOA All Day Long Challenge

[BarryinIN]

Can you take a hunting-type rifle to the range, pull it out of it’s case, lay it across a sandbag, and shoot a ten-round group under 1 MOA?

That’s the question asked by YouTubers “Bloke on the Range” and “Polenar Tactical”.  They are calling out all the Fudds who stand around the range and scoff at everyone else’s rifles and say things like:

“Shewwwwt.  I’ve got me a Merlin thutty thutty that’ll do that, and it only cost me 80 bucks when I was a kid.  
It’ll shoot a minnit of angle all day long!”.  

Bloke and Polenar simply say: 

“Show us.”

The challenge is as simple as I described in my opening: Throw a rifle on the bench and bang out ten rounds at 50 yards minimum. Video it, tell us a little about it, measure the group with your choice of group measuring app, post the video to YouTube, and notify them.

Everyone is pretty certain that a $9,000 Accuracy International with a $4,000 scope should do it without much effort, but that’s not the idea.  They want to see if a Fudd’s pride and joy will do as so many claim.  

Use a hunting-type rifle.  Weight limit 10.5 pounds ready to shoot.  The cheaper the rifle and scope, the better.    If you try it and don’t make 1 MOA, send it in anyway for the data.   

Interested?  Sounds easy?  
Give it a try.  Rules and instructions are here:

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/12K7e1G2tEi9_Q9YDo0CyuTtW3ufhOf1NjhI0HInDQeM/mobilebasic
 

My regular shooting buddy has been playing around at this for a month or so this summer, and that’s what got me interested.  He followed the spirit of the challenge and got out his late father’s old Remington 722 in .222 Rem caliber, with the Weaver K6 that’s been on it for decades.  He even loaded some ammo on his dad’s old Lee Loader, and replicated pop’s window sill groundhog shooting position when he shot his group for the challenge.  He didn’t crack 1 MOA with it, but I sure thought the attempt was pretty neat.  
 

And with that, he drew me in.  
I’ve made one entry using a rifle I was pretty confident could meet the challenge*.  I made it, and now that I’m in, I want to do it again using something more challenging; something more in the spirit of things.  
 

My next two possibilities are a Steyr Scout and a CZ527 carbine.  The Scout Scout .308 is one light rifle to be shooting ten-round groups with.  It weighs 7lbs, 13 oz scoped and slung, with a variety of survival and cleaning items stored in the storage compartments, plus a spare loaded five round magazine stored in the stock.  

I’m doing a lot of thinking about whether to stay with the 2.5X Scout scope or giving myself some help by using something more conventional.  And bigger. So far, I’m leaning toward keeping the Scout a Scout.  

Using the CZ527 would be making things harder than they need to be.  It is pretty tiny, so it has to be lighter than the Scout.  It’s also chambered for 7.62x39, which isn’t known for precision.   It’s usual scope is a Leupold 2.5X fixed power.  I am going to give myself some help by swapping on something a little bigger.
The trigger on it is excellent, though. 
 

Ammo for the CZ?  I have 19 rounds of brass I’ve scrounged up along the way.  I loaded them with a load chosen because I had the powder, so I now have enough to zero after the scope swap and make a run at it.  
Or, I have some Wolf, Brown Bear and Silver Bear FMJ, SP, and HP varieties that I bought for $2.99/20 rd box.
 

We'll see if I get a day this week when it isn’t crazy hot and humid to give them a try.   I’m sure this will be miserable, so there’s no sense in making it hot and miserable.  


———————————————

*What did I use?  My buddy said he hadn’t seen a video of anyone using a magnum caliber rifle and suggested I use my .300 Win Mag.  I have what’s sort of a sleeper: a Steyr SafeBolt .300 WinMag I bought off Gunbroker last year.  I took a gamble when I bought it because there was next to no info in the listing.  It also looked like it would sell for a price too good to be true.  That alone made me nervous.  “What am I missing here” was all I could think.  
 

I got it for $540.  As it turns out, it makes tidy little five-shot groups, and most importantly, the whole situation made my buddy jealous.

Since I felt bad for using a fancy brand of Steyr, I tried to level things out by using a scope I bought used for $230, mounted in Weaver rings.  And I shot at 200 yards… because it’s a magnum.

 

[BarryinIN]

Second entry made today.  
 

I hit the goal with the first rifle, so now I’m playing.  My buddy who got me doing this is no fan of Jeff Cooper or the Scout Rifle concept, so I used my Scout rifle, complete with 2.5X Scout Scope.  

I wanted to use a hunting load to stay in the spirit of the competition. That was a problem because I only had enough of one bullet to use.  So it was settled; the 180 soft point Sierra was my choice!

I didn’t make 1 MOA, but feel ok about it considering the ammo and 2.5X scope.  I shot a 1.642 MOA ten-shot group.  I had my buddy nervous for a bit, so it’s a win.  

[BarryinIN]

Oh yeah, I got all three entries submitted for this year.  My final entry was with a mild-mannered paper-puncher, a 7.5 pound .375 H&H Magnum.

Ten rounds from the bench, pretty fun! 

I only have the factory iron sights on it now, so I shot at 50 yards.  

 

Again, I didn't make the 1 MOA cut, but didn't much care after getting one on the board.  I had fun using a rifle that was way off the norm yet solidly within the letter and spirit of the rules. 

 

EDIT:

I got curious about recoil and ran some numbers.  

Recoil impulse 4.87 lbs-sec

Recoil velocity 20.9 fps

Recoil impulse energy 50.94 ft-lb

 

For comparison, I had considered using my Marlin .45-70.  The numbers for it would be:

3.53

15.14

26.73

That's taking the easy way!

 

 

[BarryinIN]

My plans are shaping up for next year's entries.  First up is a .30-30 lever action.  

 

Nope, they aren't known for making little groups on paper, and that's exactly why I'm going to give it a go.   

Why?

Why not?

I plan to do some testing with single-loaded match BTHP bullets and see where that takes me.  The 1-10" twist should handle any .30 bullet I have.  

 

Just goofing around, I have seen that empty case weight of the .30-30 varies quite a bit.  Ten grains variance, even among the same manufacturer, is common.  Its even more when checked across the selection of range pickup brass I have.  That's a lot of difference in that smallish case.

If a guy were to use brass that was even somewhat uniformed...

 

I use L.E. Wilson chamber-type seating dies in a couple of cartridges to get the best accuracy.  Used with an arbor press instead of the typical reloading press, they seat bullets with reduced runout.  They aren't made in anywhere near every caliber, so I was surprised to see they made them for the .30-30.  I was amused.   Then I saw Midway USA had them in stock.  I don't know why.  Oh look, they are on sale for $38.62.

Mine will be here in a day or so.