The thing is yoeman - ya` never know. That just might be the best technique for your gun. In my Mustang I get better groups with damp,damp,dry,dry than I do with a dirty barrel. Also, keep in mind this is only one group with each technique and I could have screwed any of those groups up myself. Now, if I repeated the experiment and got the same results I would be more confident in ranking the techniques for this gun.

I did learn two things that I wanted to know.

1. The gun shoots darn well on a dirty barrel, and does not become difficult loading (at least for five shots).
2. A clean - oiled barrel shoots to the same point of aim each time. That's good for me because I like to hunt with a clean oiled barrel and leave the load in the gun if I don't shoot it that day.