Holes on paper don't mean much? Do they not? I'm fairly certain that 100 yard groups are widely accepted as the industry standard for gauging the accuracy of a rifle. When a rifle shoots three rounds, five rounds, twelveteen rounds, or whatever arbitrary number you decide to use, all through the same hole, channnnnces are pretty good that it's going to shoot well at distance. Not always, but one hole groups at a hundred yards are typically indicative of accuracy.
To be honest with you, I thought the test targets were horse shit too when I first started seeing them. I kind of assumed that Mike had a thirty caliber ice pick that he used to make them with, but my curiosity got the best of me and I bought a Tac Ops test target. It was a pricey piece of cardboard, but it did come with the most accurate rifle that I've ever shot. I have a lot of custom guns in the safe, and they're all extremely accurate, but none of them seem to have the magic mojo that my Tac Ops does. I'm probably as skeptical as anyone on the planet, and for me, seeing is believing. I'm now a believer.
I plopped down on the day I got my X-Ray 66, which is a belted magnum, mind you, and shot five rounds into the same hole. I got to the range and mounted a scope that I wasn't familiar with, to a rifle that has a hell of a lot more recoil than I'm used to, a trigger that wasn't the same, and a stock that is configured differently than mine. I bore sighted it, shot two rounds to zero it, and put the next five in the same hole. I couldn't believe I shot a group that small from a bipod and rear bag, with ammo that I can buy at a store that also sells tennis racquets. For the record, all of my ice picks are .22's.
Mike takes anal tendencies to a maniacal level, and that results in rifles that are pretty damn close to perfection. "Diminishing returns" is a phrase that doesn't seem to matter to the man, so he spends time on the little details that even the best builders simply can't afford to. The minutiae that most guys don't bother with, drive Mike crazy. Most shooters don't give a rat's ass about milking that last tiny bit of accuracy out of a gun, but for the discerning ones that really do, Mike Rescigno is your Huckleberry. Tac Ops rifles aren't economical, and they take forever to get, (forfuckingEVAR) but they're remarkable sticks!
Here is a pic of the target that popped my cherry, and I honestly think I can do better after a little time behind it...
And just for shits and giggles, a shot of the hand engraved floor plate that I thought was appropriate for the belly of a big green beast....
