how hot is to hot?
when does it start to affect your accuraccy??
will the heat affect anything else on the rifle??
The reason i ask is yesterday i was at the range and shooting my .300 WM i was shooting 10 round groups then walking to the target (100 yards) and back on the third set i noticed the heat waves in the scope(could not see the target clearly very wavy) and when i felt the barrel it was EXTREMELY hot. so that brings up my question.
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I just love animals, they taste great.
Heating up a barrel to the point where it is extremely hot as you say will accelerate throat erosion greatly.The result will be much shorter barrel life than normal.
Hunting rifles are meant to be three shot groupers.....because it's rare to get three shots off at an animal.
While at a bench you should do this test....pick up your rifle by the barrel and hold it upright for ten seconds....if you can that's fine...if you can't, it's too damn hot.
Shoot three shot groups inside of a minute if you wish.....but stop then and look at the results.
There's little practical use for a ten shot group for a serious hunting rifle.
There's little practical use for a ten shot group for a serious hunting rifle.
i would agree with you on this statement
the reason for the extended shooting was due to my impatients
i normally soot 5 shot groups with time inbetween to inspect casings i was just in ahurry that day
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I just love animals, they taste great.
While the cold shot is or isn't the best accuracy shot, it is the one that you will be using to take that first shot on your animal. I shoot a 300 win mag hunting and competition, but at the most in competition i'll shoot is 15 rounds inside 30minutes so the barrel is not getting so hot. When sighting in any rifle I shoot three round groups and wait ten minutes so the rifle is a decent barrel temp. Then I go back and recheck the group and placement on a different day a total of three days I use for when I'm testing loads or sighting in. The barrel will be cold when you take that first shot while hunting. Trying to sight in a heated up barrel will only get you close. But I'm anal when it comes to group size.
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Take a youth hunting and preserve the future.
I agree with all the posts here. If you have a hunting rifle, why would you worry about shooting 5, 10 or even 15 shot groups at a time. Granted you may have been in a hurry that day, but you should at least take the time to clean your rifle about every 3 to 5 shots. Give your rifle time to cool down before you go to shooting again. On a hunt your first shot is going to be the one that counts not the fifteenth. All that you are going to do is shorten the life of your barrel, and waste your ammo and your time. Just my thoughts though.
If you have a hunting rifle, why would you worry about shooting 5, 10 or even 15 shot groups at a time. Granted you may have been in a hurry that day, but you should at least take the time to clean your rifle about every 3 to 5 shots.
first off i was working up a hunting load that takes more than 3 shots or 5 shots
second i beleive in cleaning my rifles then shooting at least three shots just to purposely fowl the barrel if you ever take the time you will see there is a greater difference between shot 1 and shot 2 and shot 3 than there is between shot 4 and shot 15 therefore giving me 11 +or - rounds that i know are going to hit the X ring (a pie plate is fine but the X ring is better)
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I just love animals, they taste great.
you will see there is a greater difference between shot 1 and shot 2 and shot 3 than there is between shot 4 and shot 15 (a pie
Not always.This depends a great deal on the gun and the load.Some rifles will shoot the same size group to the same point of impact whether it is with the first three shots or shots 7,8, and 9 since the barrel was cleaned.Some guns will show a loss of accuracy due to fouling in as little as a dozen shots.What is certain is that overheating a barrel does shorten it's life.
I agree i see no reason to shoot a 10 shot group. I usually shoot 3 shot groups waiting about 2 min between shots. Sometimes i shoot a 5 shot group the same way. I've seen guys get their barrel so hot they couldn't even pick their gun up by the barrel and to me thats just to hot. If your seeing heat waves in your scope from your barrel then i would definately say it's to hot no doubt.
barrel heat??
