The main reason I switched to the federals is I wanted a little more energy downrange than the rems had. There were 3 of us sighting in our rifles at the same time. I' d shoot 3, the next guy would shoot 3, the last guy would shoot 3, and both of them were also sighting in their blackpowders so they' d both shoot one each in those. Then we' d walk down to check the targets. The barrel should have had enough time to cool down by then, so I don' t think that a hot barrel is the culprit. The only other thing I can think of is I wasn' t cleaning the barrel.