I am still working with my 6.5 Grendel and developing it. But I shot my first group with 123gr Hornady A-Max. I ran out of time at the range and only shot one 5 shot group. It measured 1.5" at 100 YRD. I would like it to be closer to .75 so i will try again. But it it will really only do 1.5 MOA how would you feel about that accuracy for deer and hogs?

Very Good.

Weatherby was famous for their extreme accuracy guarantee of 1.5" group.

If the guns shoots that well, then the shooter is the limiting factor, especially shooting in the field and not off a sand bagged shooting bench.

BIGGER_HAMMER

4 moa guns like Winchester model 94.      30-30 have killed lots of deer. It will be fine.

Plenty accurate.  Would I like more?  Sure.   But that puts the bullet +/- point of aim by no more than 3 inches out to 400 yards, which is a heck of a lot farther than I would be trying to knock over deer with a 6.5 Grendel.  Not saying it couldn't be done, just saying I'd like more horsepower than you are gonna get from a 6.5 g at that range.

That’s adequate for reasonable hunting range, imo.

I would feel confident hunting with a 1.5 MOA rifle.

This is the time of year when the local yokels show up at the gun club to prepare for deer season. Most of them have trouble hitting a paper plate at fifty yards. I wish I was exaggerating.

Yep. Perfectly fine.

As a guide. I see this every weekend and keep hunters in stands that have short pokes until I feel they have skills and experience for longer shots.

First of all I don't let just one group count for much of anything .

When looking at a hunting rifle and the way it groups you should only be doing it with a cold barrel.

And the final thing is pure accuracy of the gun and selected ammo doesn't mean much as the hunters skill and experience and his ability to get bullets where he intends
it the whole thing. Yes accuracy of the gun is part of the whole thing but just a part.


I have long felt the main part tight accuracy has is giving the hunter confidence.

The OP asked about deer/hogs , it is going to differ from area to area but in my area deer hunting is usually a close in short range type of thing with 80 % of the shots being 50 yards or under.

It is the time of the year at my club where the guys show up for the first time in a year or better to "sight in" their deer rifle and these guys for the most part are pretty poor in skill/equipment.


Short answer , if the OP can rush to the range and against fadeing light bang out a 1.5 moa group his equipment is good to go .

It doesn’t even need to group well. As long as the crosshairs and impact line up for the first cold barrel shot.

These guns do1.5-2”.

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It's true.  Back when there were WAY more deer and WAY more hunters where I generally rifle hunt, it was very common and very unfortunate to see several deer that had been maimed by people who just cant shoot and shouldn't be in the woods.  Opening morning sounde like Vietnam for the first two hours.  Legs flopping, bottom jaws gone, hams blown apart while the poor thing is dragging a rear leg...... I remember one that my brother "put down".  I was a yearling that had all the hide  blown off of its entire rib cage on one side.  It was like a zombie deer stumbling through the woods.  Sad stuff.

Assuming 1.5" if what your gun is capable of (hard to say after one 5 shot group), that is fine for what should be the ethical range of that caliber.  I know guys like to brag about their .0000001" groups, but realistically, a 1MOA gun/shooter combo is less common than you think.

Completely adequate for the cartridge and it’s range limitations.

Thanks guys for the advice. I will keep working with it and get it really dialed in. I have been working with it through out the summer but just got the Leupold VX5HD 2-10x42 mounted on it a few months ago. I have about 100 rounds Wolf through it and some PPC. Both have been about 2-3MOA or so, some times worse. I have 4-5 boxes of Hornady 123gr A Max that i plan on hunting with. But since ammo is hard to find i was waiting to try this ammo out until i had things well sorted with the rifle. This was my first group with the Hornady ammo.

When i mention hunting deer and hogs this is where i am coming from. I travel full time for work and live wherever i take contracts. This will be my one rifle traveling with me and an all round hunting rifle as i travel. It is really built up as a light wight hunter but since it is my only long gun other than 22lr it will also be a defensive carbine if needed. This winter i will be in the southeast mountains i agree most shots will be 50 yards or so. But as time goes on could easily see ending up someplace with distances opening up to longer ranges. That is why i am concerned with accuracy of the rifle. I would like to be able to use it out to 300 yards or so if needed. But i am new to hunting and dont trust myself at longer range yet. Also i feel like Grendel runs out of steam around those distances.

I in the summers i live out in Wyoming and Montana. I will probably spend a winter out there and maybe hunting. I dont think i would hunt elk with this rifle but maybe Mule deer or smaller stuff. But distances open up like crazy out there. We were shooting ground hogs this summer with 22lr. We tried to get close but there were plenty of shots that ran out to 150yds. That is not too easy at a little gopher head. But it is fun as hell.

Yep ...

... And I know guys who hunt deer and hogs with their 3-to-4 MOA M1 Garands.  They fill their tags at deer camp every year, and eat well on the post-hunt piggy ribs too.

Fretting over MOAs where basic 'hunting accuracy' is the goal is wasted energy, unless you've got a really fuglied-up rifle.

Just get your rifle sighted-in and shoot the frickin' deer, or hog, and call it good.

I would spend your time/ammo working on shooting from different positions to make sure YOU can shoot 1.5moa before I'd bother trying for more accuracy.

If I shoot 1.5moa bench group with a rifle it's definitely good to go for me. If I'm using an improvised rest I doubt I can do much/any better cold, wet, and excited when hunting.

There are a hell of a lot of 1moa guns in 5moa hands.

I'd suggest giving your barrel a good cleaning with Butch's Bore Shine or other copper remover, just because it's fairly new and you've been shooting wolf through it.  So you reloading your ammo, as I though Hornady stopped making the A-max a couple of years ago which was a disappointment as one of my 6.5g loved that round.