Cold bore zero versus (very) Hot bore zero “test”

[T-Stick]

You continue to add caveats to make this complicated. It’s not. Barrel temp shouldn’t matter. Environmental temperature shouldn’t matter. Primary use of the rifle should matter.
Cold bore vs hot bore doesn’t matter.

People ask why and I explain how I try to duplicate field conditions -- whether they matter or not. I am not promoting or caveating what I do.

 

[Macintosh]

whether they matter or not

I enjoy doing the work to become better at something. But I dont care to do tedious stuff that doesnt matter. Shooting is fun, but on the “shooting fun-o-meter” zeroing is tedious, so while I wont take shortcuts I will do it the most efficient way I can. I enjoy testing things myself to see if something does indeed matter, and I appreciate stuff like this post that deep-dives on whether it matters. But if something doesnt matter then I’ll do it the more efficient way and spend that time and energy on something that provides benefit to me or that I enjoy more.

 

[Axlrod]

Oh absolutely.

If only deer allowed warm up shots…..

ETA: you’re taking a lot of crap for a new guy. Keep it up.

I have fired a "warning" shot a couple times!

 

[HuntHarder]

People ask why and I explain how I try to duplicate field conditions -- whether they matter or not. I am not promoting or caveating what I do.

Next time you shoot, you should try a few different methods. 1 that is cool is having 5-10 different targets and firing the same shot at each target. I.e. target 1 is the 1st shot of each shot strings, target 2 is the second and so on. Then see if you have any data to prove or disprove. 10 targets, 10 shots is what some on here like. I am sure 7-8 shows the same data.

 

[HighUintas]

I blows my mind this thread is still going, with some finding the information as ‘an epiphany’.

At first glance, while interesting, my take away is… If I miss the first 30 shots, at an elk of a lifetime – I can still keep shooting, cause the rifle is “prolly still on”. A lot of talk about junk rifles too, but those results aren't here.

As a Hunter, I basically want to know 1 thing – “Can I predict where my bullet will be, 600yds away, with high confidence?” And not when the rifle is hot enough to ‘fry an egg on!’

So, I go to the range, over the course of many days, and many conditions, (cool misty mornings, to days with a Heat mirage) taking note of those conditions, and where the pattern lands (maybe 10 shots, rifle cooling between shots). Then, review those days and conditions, before thinking of making an adjustment.

My findings have led to one important thing, and I didn’t even see it mentioned here, maybe I missed it.
After cleaning my gun, the very first shot, is the worst.

So, I know, to Not go into the mountains, with my every accurately sighted in rifle – “in a totally clean state”.
I’ll clean it, then fire a round, to foul the barrel first!

@Carl Ross ....can you link your no cleaning test for this gentleman?

 

[Carl Ross]

@Carl Ross ....can you link your no cleaning test for this gentleman?

If he wants to read it, it's here: https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/6-dasher-no-barrel-cleaning-test.387679/

I'm still not as set on never cleaning as some, but one thing EVERYONE I referenced agrees on is to not trust a clean bore. Even the short range benchrest guys who report cleaning between each 5 shot group shoot a fouler.

One time I was doing a "training" the day before general rifle opened. The client showed up with a freshly cleaned rifle and after 3-4 shots landing a few inches from the point of aim it walked to the center and showed its actual cone of fire. We shot for a while, finished up, and he mentioned he was going to go clean his rifle before his hunt! It took some convincing to talk him out of it...