Tag Archives: Sample Size

Over the past 3 articles, we covered a lot of ground! Before I jump to other topics, I wanted to simply provide a bullet-point recap of key points from the end of each of those articles and publish it here as an executive summary. This might be a good overview or reminder for those that read each article or hits the highlights in case you missed one.

This is the final article in my Statistics for Shooters series, and it focuses on the application of statistics when it comes to quantifying precision and group size. It provides practical answers to some age-old questions: How many shots per group do I need? Should I exclude fliers? Is extreme spread the best way to measure my groups? What is the most effective and accurate way to compare groups between two loads? I spent more time writing this article than any other single post I’ve ever written! It challenges some common beliefs held by some in the shooting community, so I tried to carefully present the reasoning behind that in a way that was approachable to shooters who aren’t math nerds. It also contains a lot of practical tips. I firmly believe these concepts will help a TON of people in the long-range community.

Part 2 in my Statistics for Shooters 3-part series focuses on how to analyze muzzle velocity consistency, which is critical for us as long-range shooters. This article shows how to apply the concepts from Part 1 to get more insight and make better decisions related to muzzle velocity. It provides practical answers to some age-old questions: Should we look at ES or SD? How many shots do we need to fire in a string? How do we get the most value from the shots we fire at the range? I spent an absurd amount of time arduously crafting this article and creating visuals so it was approachable by shooters who aren’t math nerds because I firmly believe these concepts can help a TON of people in the long-range community.

Many shooters have an uncomfortable relationship with math and aren’t impressed with fancy formulas. However, statistics and probability are insanely applicable when it comes to rifles and long-range shooting in particular. I have literally spent months crafting this 3-part series of articles specifically with the math-averse shooter in mind. I invested all that time because I strongly believe that understanding just a few basics can help us gain actionable insight, make better decisions, and put more rounds on target.