Time for Rifle to Acclimate After Travel?

[solo06]

After traveling a long distance (like across the country) to a new area with different temperature, altitude, humidity, etc. conditions from your home range, I've heard that your rifle may shoot a little differently, which of course would be magnified at longer ranges.

The question is, how much time should you wait for your rifle to acclimate to the new conditions after arriving at your destination before confirming your zero and making any necessary adjustments?

Compared to synthetic stocks, I would imagine this would be more of a concern for rifles with wood stocks, and especially for rifles with wood stocks that are not free-floated, since the wood can swell or contract due to different conditions. So, there are probably 2 time answers, for synthetic versus wood stocks.

Synthetic stock rifle recommended acclimation time... 30 seconds, an hour, longer?

Wood stock rifle recommended acclimation time... 1 hour, 6 hours, 24 hours, longer?

 

[Whisky]

I may be wrong but I've never heard of a rifle changing. Alt, temp, humidity, they all affect the ballistics of your bullet thus need to be accounted for if different from your home range. I wouldn't worry about the rifle however . I think maybe you misinderstood, unless I need some education.

 

[slick]

I agree with Whiskey, never have heard of the rifle acclimating. Just your body, which takes days to weeks depending on altitude gained.

And as also stated, it's the ballistics of the projectile that change in the varying conditions. Not the tool that shoots them. If wrong, please correct me. I've never heard of a rifle acclimating. Just mountaineers.

 

[solo06]

I guess where I'm coming from, is that if you ask the question, "what's the advantage of a synthetic stock over a wood stock," one of the common answers is that synthetic stocks are much more stable and don't swell and contract from moisture like wood stocks do. The swelling and contracting of wood stocks can supposedly put varying stresses on the action and barrel, especially if not free-floated. Because of those changes, this can affect point of impact/accuracy. So, if all of that happens, my question would be, how long would it take for those changes to complete (acclimate). Sometimes, the humidity where I live in the eastern US can be high. If I were then to travel out west to a really dry area like I did last year to hunt, I thought it would not only be a good idea to check my rifle's zero, but to also wait a bit of time for my wood stocked rifle to finish contracting however it may do in the more arid climate, since supposedly these changes a wood stock experiences can affect accuracy. Does this make sense?

 

[rayporter]

if a person knows what to do when bedding, there should be no change in point of impact with the rifle.

but.......ammo???

way back my buddy and i decided if we both shot the same caliber we could reap a few benifits. i had a 30-06 [bedded ] so he bought a savage 30-06. after a week of serious snow while elk hunting he attempted to unload his rifle. it took a board to pound the bolt open because the stock had warped so bad. the savage went down the road and he got a synthetic stocked 7mm.


even though it was not bedded i still dont care for a savage.

 

[larryschwartz]

OK, to help answer the OP's question, both a wooden stock AND the weather can affect a bullets ballistics. But to answer the original question, if it is a wooden stock I would check with the gunmaker or a stockmaker to get an answer on how much the stock would change and how long it takes to return to normal.

 

[hodgeman]

I know that stocks can change slightly with temp and humidity....but, it would have to be a pretty poor stock to warp hard enough to really effect your POI significantly

I've hunted with walnut stocked guns in some ridiculous conditions and never had one shift enough to notice. I typically hunt with synthetic now...not because wood shifts POI, nice wood just costs too much to beat up in the mountains.

 

[solo06]

I would check with the gunmaker or a stockmaker to get an answer on how much the stock would change and how long it takes to return to normal.

Good suggestion!

I made some calls and learned a bit more about stocks! Here's what I was told:

Basically, the main advantages of a synthetic stock are primarily weight (not always, but often lighter), strength (less likely to break under tremendous abuse, such as a horse rolling on one in a scabbard), and finish durability (less likely to scratch, chip, dent, and wear off like wood). The stability of the material in harsh weather conditions is a benefit, but the least significant compared to the others.

I'm told that technically wood stocks can absorb moisture, which could translate to flexing and adding pressures against the action and/or barrel, potentially impacting accuracy. And, as expected, the more contact that the wood has with the barrel, the greater the opportunity for unwanted influence (a mannlicher-style stock with wood all the way to the tip of the barrel would be the worst, while a completely free-floated barrel would have the least opportunity to influence accuracy).

Having said that, I'm told that it would also take a tremendous amount of water over a long period to result in any significant changes/warping that could eventually maybe influence accuracy, such as the rifle being directly rained on for multiple days. Allowing the wood stock to absorb a ton of water and then freezing would also be bad. But, as several of you suggested, changes in humidity alone doesn't provide enough moisture to result in any significant wood stock changes.

So, only considering the moisture aspect, if you knew that the stock was going to be subjected to a lot of rain, then you'd probably want to choose a synthetic stock (and you'd also gain those other strength and durability benefits). On the other hand, even if in a very wet environment, if you tried to protect the wood stocked rifle, when possible, with some type of cover, case, or scabbard to minimize exposure to downpours and maybe also gave it an opportunity to dry out at night, then even then it wouldn't be an issue. Sure, that rifle would require more maintenance and care, but even those weather conditions wouldn't likely affect the stock enough to affect accuracy (an initial concern).

Regarding another initial question, simply traveling across the continent to different climates and humidity levels isn't enough to result in any significant wood stock changes. So, my "time to acclimate" questions were basically irrelevant. It's ready to shoot upon arrival!

As several others mentioned, weather/atmosphere conditions can certainly affect the bullet's ballistics as well, but that's after any stock/bedding issues have had their influence, essentially after the bullet has exited the barrel, so that's another topic.

Thanks for the discussion, I appreciated the experiences that everyone shared.

 

[GKPrice]

from the "snipers" ... any elevation shift or change of 5000' is good for a 1" shift with no prediction of the direction - it's not the "stock", it just "is"

 

[solo06]

Wow, that's interesting!

Given there's a difference of 8,000 feet between where I live and hunt, that could have significant implications. Better check that zero!

 

[fire arrow]

The short of it is yes there will be a difference of how your bullet reacts, as stated above. Yes, check your zero, and shoot some distance to validate your data, but don't over think it to much and let it mess with your head. It's still you, your rifle, and your squeeze.

 

[GKPrice]

after that last post I will add that I totally agree with fire arrow - DON'T overthink it ! I've hunted elk off and on with a good buddy who has shot a .300 Jarrett for years now - Anyone who knows the name "Jarrett" understands serious rifle craft - My friend has made some incredible shots over the years (and some not so great ones too) but he has never checked his zero when arriving at say, 6000' with home at sea level yet I have done so religiously - Have I made more fantastic shots on elk over 400 yds distant ? No (fewer actually) I believe that wood stocks, not bedded AND SEALED properly can and will change with moisture/humidity BUT as we go higher the humidity normally lessens (?) so it may be wise to put MORE thought into the context of where we are headed - If I lived in CO and was headed to Coastal AK for a bear hunt planning on using a wooden stocked rifle I'd darn sure check my zero when I got to camp, reverse ? maybe not so much although I don't think it ever hurts to be sure

and to put the "from the sniper" comments in perspective, there was no mention of stock warpage or swelling in the article, it was all bullet and atmosphere

 

[aron]

from the "snipers" ... any elevation shift or change of 5000' is good for a 1" shift with no prediction of the direction - it's not the "stock", it just "is"

So is this 1" poi change at 100 yds? 500 yds? I fully expect the bullet ballastics to change due to temp pressure etc but not sure I believe if you were to take a properly bedded rifle the rifle poi would change that much on top of the bullet. a good bedding has very little coefficient thermal expansion providing a consistent pressure through the temperature range. Now a wood stock that is not free floating could change drastically given temp and humidity but that is regardless of elevation and location.

 

[KMD]

Bedded synthetic stocks here & have traveled to 11 states to hunt/shoot.
The only reason I check/confirm zero is to make sure it didn't get knocked off from baggage handlers playing knock hockey with my Pelican case...