QUOTE: One question though, does taping the barrel affect accuracy?

I guess I would have to say yes in this case. My husband had electrical tape on the barrel of his gun [X(] as this is the only thing that was available. (It would have been his choice to use invisible tape. But alas, the gentleman he was hunting with was not prepared for that... so electrical tape, it was.) He said that he aimed in the exact same place both times that he shot. The 2nd shot was lethal so I would have to say, "Yes, the tape on the barrel must have affected his accuracy." The gun was right on the money as far as being sighted in. My husband spent at least a couple of hours sighting it in and that was just after our whitetail hunting successes. Anyway... I really believe in my husband's hunting abilities so I would have to say that with the gun being as dead-on as possible and his consistancy, something else caused a problem with the 1st shot.

I will try to get a picture uploaded for you all to see.