After a half-dozen shots, all from prone with no support save my sling, the 180-grain Core-Lokt Ultras had moved to within a couple of inches of center, at 12 o’clock.

I could have hoarded the remaining rounds; instead, I kept shooting. The resulting groups gave me confidence in the rifle’s cycling, as well as in its accuracy. Every shot helped me shoot the next.

When at last I got up from my zeroing session, I’d fired 15 of my 20 rounds, but after an hour on my belly on the tundra, I had a very good idea of where this rifle would send that bullet, what the reticle would do against the tension of my sling and how the trigger would feel as I crushed the last ounce from it.

With the next four cartridges I killed a musk ox, a caribou and a black bear, all from prone. There was no need for a second shot at the musk ox, but he did not want to expire; a finisher was only humane.

Shooting from hunting positions, and shooting often, will give you the confidence to shoot well in the field. That’s much more useful confidence than the assurance that your rifle will print bottle-cap groups under ideal conditions from a bench rest you left 2,000 miles behind.