There is a good opportunity for someone to do a graduate level thesis studding, testing and evaluating ignition systems. Currently most of the information moving around is based on empirical science, rather than actual numbers.
There are so many things that we still need to understand what results in consistent ignition and how much each variable is contributing to it. For me personally, the biggest thing I would like to learn is, do we actually care about:
- Spring rate.
- Striker travel.
- Striker weight.
Which everybody is talking about all the time when they talk about consistent ignition
Or should we actually care about:
- Spring work (Joules).
- First derivative of spring work = Spring power = (dW/dt) = (watt or Joule/Second).
I also admire people spending a lot of time, tweaking various components to reduce drag, however, I do find the upward angled sear of the Remington 700 platform the elephant in the room when it comes to drag.
Another very important thing to keep in mind is, just because a certain ignition characteristic is good for one shooting discipline, doesn't mean it is the best for all other disciplines. To give an example; We as shooters might be tempted to copy what ever ignition bench rest shooters are using, because they are shooting the smallest groups by far. However, their rifle is held very rigidly, thus the crosshairs are not moving at all when they release the shot. Thus they can play with heavy ignition systems that have a long lock time. In PRS, the crosshair or the target is not standing still, thus a lighter ignition system might be more beneficial, even if it results in less ignition consistency.
My opinion is that until somebody takes the time and effort to get real numbers, ignition will remain a dark art where one day we will be told a certain thing is best, then the next day another, chasing our tails endlessly.
