I am talking just cold bore, not clean cold. I know it is supposed to be mental or a myth, but my cold bore shot is almost always away from the 2nd shot. Not predictable either. I count on it so much that if I am doing development, I shoot the first round away from the target.
Cold Bore Shot
- Thread starter mdmp5
- Start date
What shooting position are you using?
How far away is the cold bore shot?
What gun are you shooting?
How far away is the cold bore shot?
What gun are you shooting?
You can check easily to see if it's you. Shoot your cold bore shot each range session on a dedicated target, and see what the resulting group looks like after 5-10 trips to the range. Some rifles shoot the cold shot into the middle of the eventual group. Others don't; many F-class shooters take multiple sighters prior to the first string of shooting, before they shoot for record. That's to get the rifle to settle down. I know several hunters, myself included, who make sure to check the point of impact for the cold bore shot, since that's probably the only shot that goes toward an animal. I have gone to the range with my hunting rifle as many as 10 times, and only fired one shot each time, all at my maximum hunting range (it happened to be at 450 yards). It didn't matter what the wind, or rain, or anything else was doing. I would put one shot on the target off a bipod, to simulate the first shot of the day. The group was just under 2 MOA, and I knew I could hit within 4" of my intended point of impact. That rifle has shot a 5-shot group off the bench at 100 yards, with the hunting load, that measured 0.29", so it is plenty precise.
My theory is that cold bore is mental. Ive shot and had first round hits at ranges from 300 to 950. My nerves are always a little higher thou with that first shot. If I can’t trust my rifle with the first shot then I need to do more testing
