Hot Barrel and Accuracy

[jboyer]

I was shooting some relaods in my TC Encore pistol today and as usual the barrel got hot which is nothing new. My question is how much does a hot barrel affect accuracy? I was only shooting at 50 yards and didn't notice any change in accuracy but figured a hot barrel might shoot a little different than a cold barrel.

Thanks
Jeff

ORIGINAL: jboyer

I was shooting some relaods in my TC Encore pistol today and as usual the barrel got hot which is nothing new. My question is how much does a hot barrel affect accuracy? I was only shooting at 50 yards and didn't notice any change in accuracy but figured a hot barrel might shoot a little different than a cold barrel.

Thanks
Jeff

Answer as always is, it depends. I have seen top notch custom barrel guns that you could shoot 10 rounds in a row with no noticable accuracy difference. but seen out of box guns where stress's on the barrel, maybe bedding, cause your shots to string. I have a A-Bolt that you can get nice MOA accuracy with 2 shots, let it cool 15 min, and do it again. But don't ever try 3 shot groups or you will get one 2" upper left away. I have been meaning to work on the bedding to try to fix the issue, but not high on my list as its a good deer gun.

[NoKnees]

Another issue besides accuracy is barrel life.

Shooting a barrel very hot is one way to speed up errosion. At the range I try to bring several weapons to work on so I can let them cool between groups

NoKnees

[eldeguello]

ORIGINAL: jboyer

I was shooting some relaods in my TC Encore pistol today and as usual the barrel got hot which is nothing new. My question is how much does a hot barrel affect accuracy? I was only shooting at 50 yards and didn't notice any change in accuracy but figured a hot barrel might shoot a little different than a cold barrel.

Thanks
Jeff

Jeff-it depends on the barrel. Some barrels are affected dramatically, some not at all, then some are somewhere in between. Light barrels seem on average to be most affected vs heavy barrels, and another factor is how ell the barrel is bored. The more the bore deviates from the center of mass of the barrel, the more it warps out of line vs the sights asit gets hot....... this makes groups "walk".