Single shot rifle accuracy

Tactical .20

Tactical .20

New member
Jack I was wondering on the subject of single shots vs the clip bolt actions on accuracy. If a person shot a single shot compared to a multi shot rifle at say 400-500 yds how much difference could a person see in group size? On a good quality rifle. Would it be very small, or an inch or two? Just curious.T.20
 
You are really pinning me down here.
The best I can do is give my educated guess.
A single shot will probably give at least a 20% smaller group.
In my personal experience, my single shots are more than 20% better.

Jack
 
You can access the H&R/Handirifle boys over at graybeard forums for some interesting info. They may not be of the ruger #1 or TC quality but they are of the same action and concept. Good groups with a little work.
 
I think the "improvement" of a single shot action can only be seen when everything else is done first.

If you are building a Bench rifle, or a 1,000 yard rifle, and have a top quailty barrel, best of reamers, and top of the line gunsmithing, then you will probably see 20%-ish improvement.

But on guns that are less than state of the art, that 20% gets lost very fast.

When you are talking about factory, or "semi" custom varmint rifles with mid-range priced barrels, you can have repeaters that are more accurate than single shots, because there are too many variables that enter the picture.

And... if you are going to use the rifle in the field (not benchrest) then that 20% is lost, and you should shoot what fits your target and circumstances and not worry about it.
 
Mag fed bolt guns are just as accurate as non mag fed. Mags do not affect accuracy. What affects accuracy sometimes is when you load a round from the mag you damage the tip just a little and then it opens that group up a little or it turns into the "flyer". Thats why when your doing load development you should always single feed your gun (AR,bolt,semi,..). This is even more likely to happen when using ballistic tip bullets. If your question is about single shot rifles like T/C, Ruger #1,NEF, then i would have to say that I see people having a harder time getting those to shoot good for some reason. I love the Ruger #1 but its accuracy is found after doing alot of work to them. Now I know there are 1 o 2 guys that have been blessed with good shooting #1's out of the box but that is not the norm. The bolt guns I shoot and my friends shoot all will shoot under .30 at 100y. Most of those shoot under .22. Those are all mag fed. My 6.5 Grendel AR15 shot under 1/2 MOA at 300y. And as far as the furter distance goes they will do more than hold there own. Its all about quality parts. Now I dont know about the semi auto guns like the Woodsmaster or the brownings. I dont see many guys doing alot of reloading and accuracy test on those. I dont know what they can do. Good luck and for the money Savage is hard to beat.
 
Quote:
You are really pinning me down here.
The best I can do is give my educated guess.
A single shot will probably give at least a 20% smaller group.
In my personal experience, my single shots are more than 20% better.

Jack



(Regarding the replies that followed this)

I do not claim to be able to read his mind. I think he was talking about single shot bolt gun. Single shot break over design rifles, will have a hard time holding up with a good bolt gun, repeater or not.

Single shot bolt guns are generally custom actions and they are more rigid. Compared with the mass produced, mag fed bolt guns, they have a better oppurtunity to be more accurate. In my experience, the three single shot bolt guns I own are more inherrently accurate than any mag fed bolt gun I own at this point in time. I am hoping to change that ratio when my 6.5x284 gets here from GAPrecision /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Quote:
Quote:
You are really pinning me down here.
The best I can do is give my educated guess.
A single shot will probably give at least a 20% smaller group.
In my personal experience, my single shots are more than 20% better.

Jack



(Regarding the replies that followed this)

I do not claim to be able to read his mind. I think he was talking about single shot bolt gun. Single shot break over design rifles, will have a hard time holding up with a good bolt gun, repeater or not.

Single shot bolt guns are generally custom actions and they are more rigid. Compared with the mass produced, mag fed bolt guns, they have a better oppurtunity to be more accurate. In my experience, the three single shot bolt guns I own are more inherrently accurate than any mag fed bolt gun I own at this point in time. I am hoping to change that ratio when my 6.5x284 gets here from GAPrecision /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif


One of the guns I was talking about is a GAP Crusader with a Surgeon action. I dont think if its a mag fed GAP it will shoot any less than a single shot GAP of the same caliber/quality.
 
Steve,

I don't claim to be an expert and I am not trying to start a word war, but if your statement is true that "Mag fed bolt guns are just as accurate as non mag fed. Mags do not affect accuracy." Why don't bench rest shooters use mag fed rifles?

I guess that I tend to be on the side of the fence that single shot actions (solid bottom, not cut out for a mag) are stiffer and have less give than mag cut actions. I agree with you that there are many things that affect accuracy and that there are some very accurate rifles with mags, but if there are two identical rifles, one with a magazine and one without, I am placing my money that the single shot (solid bottom) will shoot better than the identical rifle with the bottom cut out for a magazine.

Just my 2 cents,

Jerry
 
Jack, 20% is a decent amount, I guess it would even out on hunting fox and yotes because if I miss the first shot, the ability to quickly follow up with a bolt gun w/clip, should even it out. I hate to admit it but once in a while I take them with the second, or third, fourth or fifth shot. Sometimes I just don't shoot again, depending on situation and track them down.T.20
 
I have a cheap rossi or braztech single shot .243 that i shoot alot tighter groups than my semi auto ruger. I love single shots. Time loss between shots if done correctly isnt much more than bolt action anyways. The cost of my rossi with 2 barrels $159.00 cost of my ruger $795.00 on sale. I have almost identical scopes on the two guns. The Difference in groups is minimal but i do shoot the .243 better. Some of that maybe the rossi fits me a little better than the ruger but off a bench rest i end up with the same results.Anyone else here use a rossi? I was wondering if they had extra barrels ready yet. You are suppose to be interchangable like t/c but a heack of alot cheaper.
 
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Steve,

I don't claim to be an expert and I am not trying to start a word war, but if your statement is true that "Mag fed bolt guns are just as accurate as non mag fed. Mags do not affect accuracy." Why don't bench rest shooters use mag fed rifles?

I guess that I tend to be on the side of the fence that single shot actions (solid bottom, not cut out for a mag) are stiffer and have less give than mag cut actions. I agree with you that there are many things that affect accuracy and that there are some very accurate rifles with mags, but if there are two identical rifles, one with a magazine and one without, I am placing my money that the single shot (solid bottom) will shoot better than the identical rifle with the bottom cut out for a magazine.

Just my 2 cents,

Jerry


Most single shot actions (bolt) are done to tighter tolerances BECAUSE they are not designed to be in dirty environments. They are not field guns. Could this be done with a mag fed gun, yes. Most people that shoot mag fed guns are in tactical competitions and those are dirty/dusty environments. Terry Cross shoots a mag fed gun,a detachable mag fed gun. Here is a group from a mag fed gun at 100. Here is a group at 800 from the same gun. The gun that shot that has a 20" barrel. It is not some gun that could not be used for hunting. I am not a expert either but I do shoot a few matches and at those matches we shoot out to 1100 yards. Long range accuracy is very important to me. The matches we shoot are not off benches either. We shoot 1000 yards off a bipod. I think Tactical .20 needs to confirm if he is asking about a bolt gun vs a breakover or a bolt single shot vs a bolt mag fed.
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I have a cheap rossi or braztech single shot .243 that i shoot alot tighter groups than my semi auto ruger. I love single shots. Time loss between shots if done correctly isnt much more than bolt action anyways. The cost of my rossi with 2 barrels $159.00 cost of my ruger $795.00 on sale. I have almost identical scopes on the two guns. The Difference in groups is minimal but i do shoot the .243 better. Some of that maybe the rossi fits me a little better than the ruger but off a bench rest i end up with the same results.Anyone else here use a rossi? I was wondering if they had extra barrels ready yet. You are suppose to be interchangable like t/c but a heack of alot cheaper.


Rugers have never been know for accuracy. Here is a 18" AR15 in .223 at 640 shooting at a paint can.This is done with a 8x scope. This is the only video that turned out which sucks because I have video of him shooting the paint can lid at the same distance but it didnt work out.He hit the can 3 times but I didnt get zoomed in soon enough to se it the first time. I am going back out this week and I will get more video.
SPR @640 yards
 
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