For those who shoot target rifles whether they are for hunting or just punching paper, what kind of shift do you see between your first cleaned and oiled cold bore shot and your followup shots? Is it consistent in it's distance and angle?
What kind of variance do you see between your first and second shot
- Thread starter kingfish
- Start Date
To be truth full. i dont clean my rifle a lot. some people my cringe. if you are going to target shoot. you verify 0. after that your barrel is fouled. is you keep shooting with a fouled barrel your shot group will remain the same. yes the more you shoot the dirtier it gets. but your shot group will be more in line every time. on the other hand if you shoot with a clean barrel and want to keep it that way. clean the barrel between shots. But yes from cold barrel to hot barrel my shot groups do shift a little. after the first shot im normally back to normal.
If I clean my Bergara Pro, I don't get my accuracy back until 3 or 4 rounds. It likes to be dirty and then about 350ish, groups open up. I clean at 300 regardless. This barrel is finicky.
My HMR in 6.5, I cleaned it at 400 for S&G's and thought I killed it. I was in panic mode until 20 rounds in and my tiny holes returned. Noted to never clean the damn thing again until I see .333" open up. That barrel is worth more than gold!
Now, a fouled cold bore shot vs the remaining 4, on my heavy barrels in 90 degree heat, I see a tiny shift usually high and right. Tiny in that it will make a 5 shot group open up maybe .100" still sub MOA. I tested this at 12 degrees with my ammo and rifle in the bed of my truck over night and if there was a difference between the two temps, I didn't see it. It's so minimal, I don't worry about it for hunting purposes. I've pushed it out to 300 on 6" steel and went 5 for 5. That is just my Pro on .308. Each barrel is different.
For what it's worth, I never leave a rifle sit with a clean barrel. All of my rifles are ready to go when needed. I don't clean unless I'm going to the range.
My HMR in 6.5, I cleaned it at 400 for S&G's and thought I killed it. I was in panic mode until 20 rounds in and my tiny holes returned. Noted to never clean the damn thing again until I see .333" open up. That barrel is worth more than gold!
Now, a fouled cold bore shot vs the remaining 4, on my heavy barrels in 90 degree heat, I see a tiny shift usually high and right. Tiny in that it will make a 5 shot group open up maybe .100" still sub MOA. I tested this at 12 degrees with my ammo and rifle in the bed of my truck over night and if there was a difference between the two temps, I didn't see it. It's so minimal, I don't worry about it for hunting purposes. I've pushed it out to 300 on 6" steel and went 5 for 5. That is just my Pro on .308. Each barrel is different.
For what it's worth, I never leave a rifle sit with a clean barrel. All of my rifles are ready to go when needed. I don't clean unless I'm going to the range.
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