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Hot Barrels |
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ND2000
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/29/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 308 |
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Posted: October/19/2007 at 08:04 |
It's obviously well known that hot barrels lead to reduced accuracy in rifles. I was just curious, how much do you all experience this with your guns?
My primary hunting rifle is a 30-.06 and I prefer 150-gr bullets. At 200 yards, I notice that after my barrel gets hot it throws the bullet to the left about 6-8 inches at that distance.
ND2000 |
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You either get what you pay for or what you deserve.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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usually when the barrel gets hot the first indication you should see is the bullets start to "walk" up the target and yes they can also be thrown off one side or a the other as well which i why i usually only shoot 3 shot bursts then take walk and look at the target drink some pop then maybe shoot the last two once the barrel has cooled a little
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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Dolphin
Optics Master Joined: October/05/2006 Location: North Carolina Status: Offline Points: 1795 |
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It is different with each rifle I own, depending on the barrel diameter, length and caliber. But, yes they all do the same when they get to that "certain" temperature. It can really be irritating. You see all these nice groupings on the site that are great. But, when you are trying to get these same groupings exactly 1.5 inches high, those fliers can be annoying.
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Graysteel
Optics Apprentice Joined: October/02/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 200 |
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So barrels seem more or less vulnerable to changes in temp. I have speculated that in some barrels the issue is one of latent stresses in the metal that become more apparent as the metal warms. You will often hear the term "cold bore zero" that refers to the difference between where the first shot of a rifle goes versus the second and later shots.
I have also noticed that some barrels seem to 'settle' in after a few shots. My guess there, is that they reach a more homogeneous temp after a few rounds as the barrel starts to leach heat into the air. Edited by Graysteel |
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ND2000
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/29/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 308 |
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Graysteel -
You bring up another good point. My cold bore shot is typically 1-1.5 inches higher than shots 2-5 at 100 yards. I can get about 10 shots in before accuracy goes to hell and then I go get a cold beverage like Pryo.
ND2000 |
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You either get what you pay for or what you deserve.
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pyro6999
Optics Retard OT TITAN Joined: December/22/2006 Location: North Dakota Status: Offline Points: 22034 |
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i always zero my hunting rifles to a cold barrel if it takes me all day to get sighted in and i only shoot 5 shells so be it, cause really for me out in the field thats what i gotta do, usually if the first shot isnt good enough the following shots arent that far off any way.
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They call me "Boots"
375H&H Mag: Yeah, it kills stuff "extra dead" 343 we will never forget God Bless Chris Ledoux "good ride cowboy" |
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Dale Clifford
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: July/04/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 5087 |
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leads to reduced accuracy in some rifles. glad your qualified the statement. also and along the same line some guns shoot better the dirtier (more fouled) they get (22 lr are notorious for this). the forum sniperhide spends an unduly large amount of time debating first shot min. of man hits. just about in all cases the "wandering" problem is a wet noodle stock, or some type of bedding problem, rather than "intrinsic" melalurgical alchemy.
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