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12-08-2013 | 10:39 AM

#1

ronlaughlin

Nontypical Buck

Joined: Aug 2008

Posts: 3,732

Likes: 0

From: Rapid City, South Dakota

X7 -- Cold

Well it has been quite cold around here lately. Hunting has been not as fun as it could be, but not too bad. My rifle was loaded about a week ago, and the muzzle taped. Today, it seemed watching the NFC West game would be worth staying home from hunting, so i figured it would be good to shoot my hunting rifle in the cold this morning, before the game.

It was 2 degrees, which seemed kinda warm compared to the negative temperatures we hunted in. The load was 90g Blackhorn, 270g Deep Curl, green crush rib sabot, W209 primer. The first 5 shots were at the top target, and were made from about 100 yard. The first shot disappointed me, and i wondered if the tape over the muzzle made it fly so high and wide. After the second and third shots were the same, i realized that is where my rifle was aimed. The scope was adjusted, and shot 4 and 5 taken.

After seeing shots 4 & 5, the elevation dial was re-zeroed. A move was made out to 200 yard, and the elevation dial turned up 7 moa. Shot 6 was taken, and i realized i should have only turned the dial up 6 moa. However, it is hard to be sure about the 200 yard target, because the reticle completely hides the paper. Then the move was made back to 100 yard for shots 7, 8, and 9, which were taken after turning the elevation dial back to zero. After shot 7, the rifle was laid on the ground for 15 minutes, before taking shot 8. Didn't seem to have much affect. It doesn't seem the cold really changed much, but of course more shooting is needed.

It almost seemed i should adjust the scope back up after shots 7,8, and 9. However i believe that is what i did the last time i went shooting, prior to hunting season. The windage dial was adjusted right. My guess is the rifle hits higher when shooting from a cold clean barrel. Hopefully my guess is correct, if we don't get a chance to shoot again, before rifle and i go hunting.

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