I've been thinking lately (always frightening) about the way in which I experiment at the range. If I am going to shoot a single bullet and try varying charges, as I plan to do this coming weekend with the 54 cal, my procedure tends to be:
Shoot 3 shots with 70 grains, then 3 with 80, then 3 with 90 etc.
It occurs to me, it may be more revealing to shoot 1 with 70, then 1 with 80, then 1 with 90, three times in a row. By doing it this way, the variables are more evenly shared and no subsequent group is inadvertently punished or rewarded.
An example would be:
You arrive at the public range and are the only shooter. You get 3 shots in with 70 grains and 1 with 80, before a guy gets set up nearby and goes to work. Your results show the 70 grain charge produced the tightest groups. Might it have been the new distraction?
Or it's a hot summer day, and the 90 grain charge performs the best. Might it have been the hotter barrel of the final group or softer sabots warmed on the bench by sunshine?
It seems as though those variables which do exist would be more evenly shared by shooting 1 with 70, then 1 with 80, then 1 with 90 three times, or five as I prefer, to achieve the most valid, if not the most accurate, result.
If you carry a "CLOSED" sign with you and put it up at the gate when you go to the range, you won't have to worry about a guy setting up nearyou.
You've got a point, but I would suspect that if you settle yourself down for each shot and concentrat on technique for each shot it won't matter that much.
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My wife says I'm totally nuts, but I think I'm Semisane.
Things I've Learned: (1) It's not possible to please everyone, but quite easy to piss everyone off. (2) If you love animals as I do, then you're not a vegetarian. (3) There's no need to act stupid, even if you're very good at it. (4) If you eat right and exercise, don't smoke or drink, you're going to die anyway.
Semisane - that's a leap of faith I'm not sure I can make. Suppose it's windy when I arrive and diminishes over the hour or two that I'm there. Or the punishment of the rifle has taken its toll after 15 rounds. Those kinds of changes can go unnoticed. Even a change from sunshine to cloud cover can affect results. For open sight shooters, I believe subconscious "adjustment toward the bullseye" also occurs when your brain knows you are sending the same missile sequentially.
It sure would be an interesting experiment, but mighty hard to set up parameters. As you mentioned, wind and light conditions really conplicate the issue. Now, if you shot the exact same loads and same number of shots over the course ofa half dozen range sessions and used Sequence One for sessions 1, 3 & 5 and Alternating Sequence Two for sessions 2, 4 & 6 it might tell you something. (Are you looking for a homework assignment??)
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My wife says I'm totally nuts, but I think I'm Semisane.
Things I've Learned: (1) It's not possible to please everyone, but quite easy to piss everyone off. (2) If you love animals as I do, then you're not a vegetarian. (3) There's no need to act stupid, even if you're very good at it. (4) If you eat right and exercise, don't smoke or drink, you're going to die anyway.
I have used a similar approach when working up loads for my CF rifles.
If you have a way to pre measure your powder, tubes or film canisters, measure out your loads before going to the range. That way you can measure the 3 or 5 shots of powder before changing the measure and thus have the most consistency for each powder level. Then put up as many aiming dots as you have powder levels and shoot each powder load at a different dot, i.e. one dot for 70gr, one for 80gr, one for 90gr, etc. Shoot one of each and then go back and start again. This does help in weeding out some differences over time that can occur as the day goes on. Keep everything else as consistent as possible for best results. I would also suggest doing at least 2 or 3 range sessions like this to average out the results and check for consistency of results. This helps justify and gives a good reason for more range sessions, right?
Good luck and keep us posted on your results.
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David
Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men -- the other 999 follow women.
Groucho Marx
Practice session sequencing
