ray's point was that with the rest of the investment made in a safari, you should be able to shoot 4" groups off-hand at 100yds at the range. that is "ideal" as it ensures consistent placement in the vitals and minimizes the chance of loosing an animal, and it gives you a bit more margin of error with the pressure of the field.

now, apparently my 6" off-hand are better than normal (couldn't tell you personally... ) that makes me a bit sad actually, I always considered myself decidedly average off-hand.

its about practice, practice practice... get as good as you possibly can... that extra $100 of ammo you shoot up is minescule compared to the 10-grand you're dropping on the safari.

personally, I've got a few boxes of ammo ready for the whelen already, and we've got ~140 rounds of -06 just waiting to be shot-up. tomorrow afternoon I'm going out to unload a brick of rimfire...