My main objective was to do more shooting with my new CZ 457 Varmint MTR (match target rifle). This rifle performed, brilliantly, first time out. Could I get it to shoot like that, again, or was that first trip a fluke?
Here's some nice groups I shot, yesterday, with the MTR, but more than that, these two groups are very informative and educational. The group on the left is my worst group of the day with the MTR and the group on the right my best group. Both shot with the same ammo, same rest and so on.
So what can we learn from the difference between these two groups? The difference demonstrates the subtle differences in technique and skill and effort on my part. The rifle can shoot quarter-inch groups all day long (even smaller groups, actually), but I need to give my very best effort in technique to get there. Even a tiny lapse in concentration, trigger technique, how I rest the gun, shot to shot, or my follow through consistency will open up group size. The fact that this rifle is still shooting under half inch with my less than perfect effort speaks volumes for the accuracy of this rifle.
The lesson, here, for beginners, is that shaving tenths of an inch off of group size is harder than you might think. The notion that a big heavy rifle with a high power scope (18x), when shot from a rest, will pretty much shoot by itself is nonsense. To be sure, shooting from a rest for best group size is different than shooting from other positions, but it is still a skill acquired only with experience and effort.
In the same way, it's wrong to assume that putting your rifle in a sled type rest takes you, the shooter, out of the equation or that what you're getting for accuracy from a sled type rest is the rifle's best. Not so and I have proven it to myself many times. Rifles ARE sensitive, sometimes extremely sensitive, to how they are rested and dropping them in a sled rest ignores this basic fact. Every rifle is different in how it likes to be rested and if you haven't taken the time to learn how your rifle likes to be rested, you are not getting your best from the rifle.
Another lesson here is a bit more subjective, but still useful. This CZ Varmint MTR meets my personal standards for a true and genuine MOA rifle (MOA at 50 yards is basically half inch, c-c group). My "personal standards" are the subjective part. For instance, I shoot 5 shot groups, some shoot 3 shot groups and some even 10 shot groups. Some folks will call their rifle an MOA rifle if the rifle's best ever group is half inch at 50. Not me. My definition of an MOA rifle is a rifle that can shoot half inch on a regular basis, under a variety of conditions, assuming I'm doing my part. Not every time, mind you, but I should have the expectation of the rifle doing it fairly often on any given range trip.
My definition of a true MOA rifle. Match Target Rifle is right.
