Range Report Cold bore shot help

[KOOutdoors]

I have about an inch high cold bore shot.(barrel had about 20-30 shots threw it) Shots 2-4 are holding together good. I'm new to long range shooting.

I'm curious if this is normal?

How do I accommodate for this while hunting?

Do I create two different ballistic programs?

Any help would be appreciated thanks

 

[Captain Kirk]

If your cold bore shot is repeatable, you will just need to compensate for it. It is also important to understand the difference between clean cold bore shots and fouled cold bore shots. It is very normal for a rifle to throw the first cold bore shot, but if you can document and repeat it, you can make a first round hit based off of your data.

Also remember, your talking minute of deer, its a big target but a miss is still a miss.

 

[KOOutdoors]

the barrel was fouled already. so if I'm shooting 1000 yards ill be aiming 10 inches lower than follow shots?

 

[Captain Kirk]

I wouldnt base that off of one group, I always do a 1" dot at 100-200 yds and fire the first CBS at the dot, you will see a patern. If you can use the same target to fire multiple CBS into, you will get a consistant group, but again you want to be able to duplicate this many times. You may also want to play around with dry graphite, many shooters will put a patch with graphite down the bore and find their CBS will be closer to POA. I use BN coated bullets and have a very minor CBS shift, around .2-.3" from POA

 

[M40_A1]

You may also want to play around with dry graphite, many shooters will put a patch with graphite down the bore and find their CBS will be closer to POA.

Is the graphite used only on clean and dry bores, or also on fouled bores? Just wondering if graphite and carbon fouling aren't already basically the same.

 

[RobertB]

I record all cold bore data in my data book.
I go about 50/50 on 100/200 yd dot style check and long range steel targets.
I think both are very helpfull. But I have found that enviromental conditions can change the long shots and if your not familiar with enviromental recording then it will make it confusing.

I would recomend using the small dots for checking cold bore. I used to use larger targets and shoot several shots on them but now I think I see patterns more when using multiple dots and shooting each once.

On most all my rifles with cold bore deviation the cold bore shot is about 1 moa above it. My favorite rifles don't have enough differnce to see.

I recommend getting a data book and recording everything you can about your load,rifle,scope,yourself, and the enviromental conditions to the best of your abilities if you don;t have a Kestrel.

Over time you should start seeing patterns that will help you to be able to compensate for the deviation.

I only long range hunt with guns that I am very familiar with. I put a gun together today that I took out and hit targets from 400-800 yds today on the first shots after zeroing but I still wouldn't feel as comfortable with it as I would with my rifles that have say 500 documents rounds through it. I have determined then that either the rifle is consistent enough to take hunting or it isn't. I'm talking LR hunting. BTW: I think I'm way to picky to many peoples ideas of what a rifle should do.

I don;t know what your shooting but different type rifles behave different.

I have found that cold bore wise my thin bbl thin stock hunting rifles are the worst at shifts. I have 2 custom rifles that are meant to be light weight LR hunting rifles and they are both accurate but I have had a harder time learning them then my target style rifles. The heavy target style is much more forgiving than the lighter one in my experience.
So if you have a thin bbl you can have a cold bore shot that is seperate and then it can start walking when it gets hot and be all over the place.

Recording all data is the only way to know what its doing if your new to LR shooting.

Keep us posted on your progress and good luck to you. That group looks like a great start.

 

[Niles Coyote]

It’s always good to keep a log... But I will venture to say YOU are the cold bore shift, not the dirty rifle.

Next time you go shooting try shooting another rifle first for a few rounds then switch to this one and get into position, completely relax and cycle yourself through 5-10 quality dry fires (just as if they were the real thing), finding and verifying your natural point of aim, then go live without changing anything with the rifle or your position. I use to have a cold bore shift and still do on occasions where I rush things on that first shot without setting myself up for success first.

A clean cold bore shot is going to show a shift and this is where a log can be very valuable. As is for a rifle that “warms up” but that would show a series of shots that land in a string pattern on target.

 

[longun83]

I wouldnt base that off of one group, I always do a 1" dot at 100-200 yds and fire the first CBS at the dot, you will see a patern. If you can use the same target to fire multiple CBS into, you will get a consistant group, but again you want to be able to duplicate this many times. You may also want to play around with dry graphite, many shooters will put a patch with graphite down the bore and find their CBS will be closer to POA. I use BN coated bullets and have a very minor CBS shift, around .2-.3" from POA

BN coated bullets?

(I'm new to precision shooting as well. Previously, as long as I can hit the magic triangle in the face, or centre of visible mass I am happy)

 

[TheGerman]

Keep track of clean cold bore and fouled cold bore in your shooting log. They are usually different in POI changes (but not always).

Remember that most hunting and some real world shooting are constant cold bore shots. Keeping a log of where your cold bore (both fouled and clean) land in relation to your POI will help you put that first round where it needs to go instead of shooting the other 4 for a group, assuming there is a POI change and it is repeatable.

 

[Trigger Monkey]

Also consider the cold shooter concept since you are, by your own admission, still pretty green to long range shooting and have only a few rounds down through the gun. Ask yourself these questions and be honest, are you doing everything consistently from the time you get in position to the time you complete your group? Are you breaking position to work the bolt? Are you following through with the shot? Are you executing proper trigger control? How's your breathing? Stuff like that can come in to play on that first shot and cause a deviation, where in the following rounds of the group you're settled and do things a little bit better.

A while back I had a lull in my shooting and when I was able to get to the range I had a helluva time getting consistent groups. Similar to your situation the first shot would be left of center about 1" and then the others would be on zero but I knew it wasn't the gun. To improve my fundamentals I did dry fire practice for a few minutes each day and worked more with my Ruger 10/22 at 50-100 yards, which seemed to help out greatly. I noticed after a little bit of working with the .22 and dryfire drills that I was more calm and consistent behind the gun and my issues of the cold bore shot wondering into left field was less of an issue. It's good to log all of this data though because you'll not only be able to see under what conditions it occurs but also your improvements as time goes on.