Huntingtherut,

The age old question about first shot barrel conditions is something only your gun can answer. Once you have a load worked up you need to test it by shooting a group with the first shot being on a clean barrel to see what happens. If thedirty barrelshotsare close then you should be good to go, if not then you have a decision to make. Try to determine if the dirty barrel shots go to a consistent point of impact, i.e. always left and up the same amount. This will let you know, if a follow up shot is needed, where to offset your point of aim. Or you can choose to fire a fouling shot before loading for the days hunt, always test the results at the range to verify your chosen method works. For me, I prefer to not miss on the first shot but stuff can happen. There are other techniques that can be employed but this gives you some ideas to work from. Good luck and keep the reports coming.