Sure it has a 0.25 MOA at 250 yards, but can it run Crysis?

Here's a long, interesting article about Accuracy International, the sniper rifle outfit that is supplying many western nations with cutting-edge man-killers. I want to highlight one passage though:

Sniping, and the design, engineering and manufacture of sniper rifles, revolves around one characteristic: precision. There are no grey areas with sniping — a bullet fired at long range either hits its target, or it doesn’t, depending on how good the rifle and its human operator are.

My initial knee jerk reaction was to point out the author's misuse of precision. The way the paragraph is written one should actually use the term "accuracy" if referring to whether the fired bullet is a hit or a miss. By definition:
Accuracy: how close to the target the projectile is.
Precision: how close together multiple projectiles are.

That said, I think the author is overtly right. A "tight group" is lord of all in high-end rifles. Custom rifles are rated on their "MOA," that is Minute Of Angle of their group. The tighter - more preciese - the group, the better. If a rifle fires consistently it is good. The aim (accuracy) can be adjusted by the shooter. The precision (largely) cannot.

Anyway, the point I wanted to make was simply that accuracy and precision are two different things. Think of it next time you play darts. Hitting a bullseye is accurate. Hitting 20 three times in a row is precise.


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