What is too much coffee?To much coffee?
I find if I shoot in the evening after work, I shoot poorly compared to early Saturday or Sunday. I drink a thermos of coffee while shooting. It may hurt my groups.
What is too much coffee?To much coffee?
I had a couple high caffeine content energy drinks this morning and it gave me a 1moa or so shake. I consume a ton of caffeine too lol.What is too much coffee?
I find if I shoot in the evening after work, I shoot poorly compared to early Saturday or Sunday. I drink a thermos of coffee while shooting. It may hurt my groups.
How many rounds are on the barrelWhat causes a rifle group to go from 5rds clover-leafed or tighter to almost 1” or fliers? I’ve tried a 3-3 shot groups of H335 and 55gr BT and they shot one hole or cloverleaf. Tonight they open up! Dirty rifle, something I did in the reloading practice?
400-500How many rounds are on the barrel
You can't determine crap with a 3-shot group. Or a 5-shot group.
That’s about the perfect round count for a carbon ring,400-500
I use the eliminator and ran a nylon brush through it 6 times tonight and several wet patches and dry patches. I’ll load up 10 of each tomorrow and see how it goes.That’s about the perfect round count for a carbon ring,
Scrub with Bore Tech C-4 or ISSO paste and report back
I’ve used a .45 cal bronze brush right in the chamber in a circular motion as well as a 6 mm bronze, c-4 finally got it.I use the eliminator and ran a nylon brush through it 6 times tonight and several wet patches and dry patches. I’ll load up 10 of each tomorrow and see how it goes.
I’ll order some this week. Thanks for the help. I fired 3-3 shot groups with H332 tonight and it didn’t do too bad.I’ve used a .45 cal bronze brush right in the chamber in a circular motion as well as a 6 mm bronze, c-4 finally got it.
What a bear
Some of the scales don't like when you trickle the powder. They will read fine if you just dump the hole charge in. My hornady will be off over a grain after about 20 loads.I find more consistency with my Lee beam scale. Could shoot .5"-.75" consistently with my 6.5 CM. Not saying this is your problem, but I bought a Hornady digital scale to double check every load. The moment I started using that scale my groups opened up and got kind of erratic. Followed all procedures as far as letting it warm up, keeping electronics away from the scale etc. Got kind of frustrating...
Went back to beam scale only and my groups got back to being consistent like before. In scratching my head on that one
That's why regardless of scale, you should always use check weights in the powder charge range you are using to verify the accuracy of your scale.Hornady digital scale ... moment I started using that scale my groups opened up and got kind of erratic. Followed all procedures as far as letting it warm up, keeping electronics away from the scale etc. Got kind of frustrating...
Went back to beam scale only and my groups got back to being consistent like before. In scratching my head on that one
In addition to two Ohaus 10-10s and RCBS 5-0-5 beam scales, I have three "cheap" $20 range digital scales and some have even higher resolution and accuracy/repeatability than .1 gr resolution beam scales. Gemini-20 will verify check weights down to .04 gr.I've checked this scale against our very accurate and precise microgram scales at my old job, and it was surprisingly consistent for a 20 dollar unit.
I've had the Gem-20 and the FA, ended up giving both away, but they worked very well also.In addition to two Ohaus 10-10s and RCBS 5-0-5 beam scales, I have three "cheap" $20 range digital scales and some have even higher resolution and accuracy/repeatability than .1 gr resolution beam scales. Gemini-20 will verify check weights down to .04 gr.
RCBS and Ohaus ASTM Class 6 check weights
There are many reloading variables and powder charge is one of them.The loads I weighed out on our analytical balances were more accurate and precise than what I got from my little electronic balances, but didn't shoot any more accurately. Perhaps tho my delivery equipment and technique (and perhaps loads) are the weak link at that point lol.
Gremlins I call them. Nasty little beasties that infect all things with moving parts. The more complex the system, the better the chance for one of these little buggers to gnaw on something and jam a proverbial gear. A modern rifle, optics, and ammunition is a rather complex system of chemical and kinetic reactions, and there are many habitats for gremlins. Best practices towards consistency of the system can mitigate their damage, but they are still there waiting for a lapse in QC, good old fashioned entropy, or a seemingly insignificant change to give them succor.
Many shooters read too many online articles, forums and old fashioned paper rags on extreme accuracy. Many shooters sugar coat their grouping capabilities on said medias. This leads many shooters to allow the pursuit of perfection to be the enemy of the sufficient.
I shoot NRA high power, CMP matches and I hunt big game. I would be ecstatic to have a rifle consistently group under 1" at 100 yards across 10 rounds. In the real world, with service rifles or hunting rifles, about 1- 1.5MOA range is the best I've seen reproducible. I consider smaller groups in smaller numbers of shots to be outliers, and useful to narrow down options for further testing, nothing more. Over the years, I have found loads for most of my rifles that will maintain 2MOA or better across a range of atmospheric conditions and will usually hold this standard with a lot change in a component. This is good enough for my purposes, and since I also like to have money in my bank account and do things other than load and test ammo, this is where I stop.
Cloverleafs are fun, but I don't chase them into black holes.
Here's a real world example. Not my target or rifle, but submitted in the match I'm hosting as an unofficial "look at this". This is a tuned BR or F-class rifle. It is BUILT. Target courtesy of Nature Boy. 10 shots in aprox .9 MOA at 200 yards. This is about as good as it gets. If you're chasing a higher standard consistently, you better have the money, time, gear, and money to chase it (money intentionally mentioned twice).
Yes, it's not the "finished" OAL rather "chambered" OAL after any bullet setback from bullet nose bumping the feed ramp that will determine the holes on target - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...neck-tension-and-bullet-setback.830072/page-4variable neck tension is a big factor in group size.
Yes, I agree and why I replaced the collapsible stock on my JR carbine with fixed stock.rear bag ... Added some sand and just that little change netted this result ... Sometimes it’s not the load
Did you shoot the "terrible" H335 group with cold or warm/hot barrel?Was it cold barrel vs warm/hot barrel?
I usually fire enough rounds to bring barrel to temperature and let it cool down until I can grab it to conduct testing for groups.
Both groups were slightly warm. Done after letting the rifle cool while I blasted (or attempted to blast) 1x1 wood blocks at 100yards with the 22lr. 1-10 with 10 being the warmest I would say the barrel was 2-3.Did you shoot the "terrible" H335 group with cold or warm/hot barrel?
Was the Benchmark group shot with cold or warm/hot barrel?
For me, groups start out small and get larger as barrel warms up.