When I first wrote this post my hot spot allowance for the month had just ran out so if the post seems disjointed I am try to catch up with a couple of days more post.
I judge a firearm on two different levels of accuracy, and precision.
1) Mechanical accuracy of the rifle, scope, and load.
2) Shooting accuracy of the dumb monkey jerking the trigger of the firearm in question
My current Model 700 in .308 Win is a pleasure to work with simply because it is easy to develop loads for, the scope is good, and when on the bench bagged up will do MOA all day with only a little effort on my part.
I had a Bushmaster Varminter that also was mechanically very accurate, except for 60 grain V-Max's, it just did not like them for some reason.
When I am not testing loads, or making sure the scope is zeroed, I try to keep my shooting to realistic scenarios. The 700 will mostly be shot prone with a bipod, and no bag. I have shot some very nice groups like this, but not MOA.
My S&W Sport with open sights at two hundred yards prone I am happy to keep everything in the 6 ring, definitely not MOA.
When I am load testing I do consider flyers, but also understand that I am human and will jerk, flench, and breath at the wrong time. With this being taken in consideration I wait until I can produce three, or four 3 shot groups at a consistent size befor I declare it a xx size load.
The biggest reason I get all twisted up about the accuracy, and precision of a rig is I am not able to spend a lot of time on the range, so my time there should not be spent fighting the equipment that I have.
I do enjoy the development part of the game, but I want to be able to pick up my bag, leave the house, and then set up at the range, or in the field and be able to crack off one or a hundred rounds and be confident the outliers, and misses are because of my failure to follow the fundamentals, not because the scope is shifting from the recoil, or the bolt to barrel lockup is sloppier than an old ..........er...... I mean my belt line.
The target is a very good example of the 700 when I am on. This is at two hundred yards prone, bipod.
With all that ranting said, do people shot consistently MOA? A relatively small number will always be at that level. Will others cherry pick the best group they have? Yes they will, and if they are honest about it so what. Will some people just out and out lie? Yes, and I think it is this third group that has created the seed of this fun, and hopefully continuing conversation.