Can Shotguns be called "accurate"

T

Tatsumi67

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Slug related answers not withstanding Can shotguns ever be compared in terms of accuracy? I ask this because someone queried this on one of my photos.

I dont think "accurate" is the word to be used, as in my mind it comes down to choke, distance and the patterning of the shot.

Yes?

As in, I dont think you can say "Benellis are more accurate than remingtons because blah blah blah" in the same manner that one says "the ar15 beats the mini 14 because of blah blah blah"

right?
 
I'd tend to agree with you. The only place I could see someone calling out accuracy on a shotgun is if the gun patterns to different points of aim with every shot or the point of impact (for the pattern) wanders. Although technically this is a precision problem, it should fall under the broad generalization of accuracy in the shooting vernacular. Even so, it would have to be a pretty clear distinction for me to agree, like aiming at the same point and one pattern is a foot left and the next is a foot right, obviously beyond random pellet distribution. For a shotgun to perform poorly enough at typical shooting distances to be able to tell, I'd think something would have to be pretty wrong.
 
Playing shooting games like drawing baseball size circles on an old appliance and numbering them. Shoot 1-10 and then backwards or have your shootin' buddy call out the number for next shot etc... Using buck or slug for further distance and light loads in closer... Man these guns can be accurate as heck...

Accuracy to me equates to repeatable results. with center of pattern being POA/POI. Fun and big way to learn your gun and skills.
Brent
 
As I needed to memorize for a field surveying course taught by a crotchety professor many, many moons ago:

Accuracy is closeness to the truth (in this case a bullseye.)

Precision is repeatability (in this case the ability to do the same over and over.)

Given these definititons I may suggest that shooting a shotgun can be precise not accurate. (if for no other reason than it would be extremely tedious and difficult to measure "accuracy" of a group of shot.)
 
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I guess W.E. is more "accurate" (pun intended) in his use of the terminology than myself:o I concede he outdid me there and agree 100% with his descriptions.
Brent
 
Well, measuring the accuracy of a shot load would not be too hard, depending on the number of pellets. Simply measure the vector distance from the POA (bullseye) of each pellet and then sum them. Zero would be a perfectly accurate shot. Would be very simple for a 00 load, a lot less fun (but still possible) with a 7.5 birdshot load. Shooting at a giant piece of graph paper with 1" squares and using an excel spreadsheet to sum the data could speed it up considerably. Precision could also be determined by the standard deviation/error/whatever.

This actually sounds like fun... I may just have to take my 870 out to the range and try it :)
 
Tatsumi76

Watch an experienced shot-gunner smoke up some clays with a .410 and I think you'll have your answer.

As in, I dont think you can say "Benellis are more accurate than remingtons because blah blah blah" in the same manner that one says "the ar15 beats the mini 14 because of blah blah blah"

right?
Click to expand...
Not quite. Quite frequently you'll hear something like: "Briley chokes give me more uniform patterns than the OEMs," or, "My K-80's barrels pattern much closer to POA than my Citori's." I'm not sure if waterengineer's old prof would call that accuracy or precision.
 
With pellets you measure the average coverage between shots...

Accuracy applies to sights and a single projectile and consistency--being able to place the same projectile into the same hole time after time and a shotshell will never repeat itself...

A fully rifled barrel with proper sights or an optical device can be extremely accurate, check out Tar Hunt Shotguns and firing their Lightfield slugs--clover leaves at 50 yards!

The problem arises that it isn't a single pellet hitting the target but a long string of them hitting at different times...

You point a shotgun at the area you want your pellets to collide with the moving object...

The example that I always use is a garden hose...try spraying you younger sibling with it and watch the arc formed when you have to lead them when they're running...

A smoothbore has always been inaccurate...during the times of the Revolutionary or Napoleonic Wars it was said that only the unluckiest men got hit at 100 yds and this was with soldiers standing side by side yet...The British waited till the enemy was about 40 to 50 paces from them--to assure a greater number of hits and even then they'd be at maybe a 30% to 35% hit rate...

First, they had no sights, just an offset bayonet stub much like a shotgun and secondly, they of course had to rifling in their barrels to impart spin to their projectiles which is what causes accuracy--it was known since ancient times, look at the fletching on arrows...

The soldiers would try to improve the odds of hitting someone by firing buck and ball loads--their .75 or .58 cal rounds ball and from two to four, mostly three, smaller buck shot around .30 in the barrel...
 
I think that as far as guns are concerned, the definition of accuracy changes depending on the type of gun.

By dictionary definition:
"Deviating only slightly or within acceptable limits from a standard."

The key part here is "from a standard". We all know that the pellets from a shotgun shell aren't going to line up and draw you an .5 MOA grouping. But that's not what you expect from a shotgun, it's not the standard that's been set.

If you can hit your target with the expected outcome, then it's accurate. If you can hit the bullseye with a single projectile, then it's accurate. If you can hit a flying clay with a shotgun, then it's accurate.
 
Shotguns can certainly be called inaccurate sometimes. The following is about SxS and O/U, but I've seen examples of single-barreled guns that won't shoot straight. John

www.shotgunreport.com/Reload/ReloadJul98/ReloadJul98.html

"Barrel convergence in a SxS or O/U is the ability of the gun to throw
the charge from each barrel to the same place at a certain distance.
Shotgun barrels don't shoot straight ahead. They are meant to converge
at a certain distance. Look closely at your SxS or O/U. The barrels
are closer together at the muzzles than they are at the chambers. Go
ahead. Pull out your mike and measure it. Most barrels are a lot
closer together at the muzzle."

"Except that sometimes you don't get it. The Technoid has been cursed
with O/Us which obstinately pitched that top barrel high, sometimes by
only 6", sometimes by a full 30" pattern. The offenders ran the gamut
from Perazzi to Belgian Browning to Beretta. Price didn't matter.
Krieghoffs were also offenders, but they have replaceable barrel hangers
so you can adjust the convergence by substituting a different hanger.
Clever Krieghoff.

When a standard soldered rib O/U has bad convergence, you must pull the
barrels apart and reregulate it. This can be a mess and there is no
certainty that it will be done correctly the second time. You can
regrind a solid choke on a bias, but you lose choke. You can insert an
eccentric screw choke, but you will forever be worried about indexing it
correctly and angled chokes can never work as well as perfectly true
ones.

So, when buying a used gun, make sure to check for barrel convergence."
 
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