why are cold shots the best shots and does even the little bit of heat effect accuracy when shooting, and should shots be taken every 5 or 10 sec maybe so barrel heat up fast.

-- josh (trunks_1010@hotmail.com), September 01, 2003

Answers

Your cold shot is exactly as Bob describes; the shot you'll most likely have in any situation that counts. A lot of emphasis is put on your first shot through a cold, clean bore at just about every sniper or tactical marksmanship school I've been to or heard of. Personally, I tend to put more emphasis on my first shot through a cold, slightly fouled bore. By that, I mean after a good cleaning, I'll put two or three rounds through the barrel and leave it that way. I don't recommend this if you only shoot sporadically, but I generally hit the range about 5 times a week. Either way, my ritual is the same. Whatever distance I'm shooting from, I dial the scope to full zoom ( 9x in my case)and put one round into a 2" box. After logging where it went and where I thought it went, I proceed with the day. NEVER neglect to train your first shot though.

-- Mike Brewer (jkdkalicouple@aol.com), November 25, 2003.

A cold shot isn't necessarily the best shot, but it is the one you will probably be taking in the field (that deer or Iraqi soldier isn't going to hang around while you take a few shots to warm up your barrel). In manufacturing, many rifles' barrels have to be straightened to shoot true and as one of these heats up, the stresses in the steel cause the barrel to bend slightly, moving point of bullet impact. Sight your weapon cold and hot, in case you have to make repeat shots.

-- Bob Chattin (surbat6@earthlink.net), November 13, 2003.

In an engineers perspective the "space" between the bullet and the barrel gets bigger and bigger the more you heat up the barrel.

So cold barrel high preassure, warm barrel not so high preassure and the bullet doesn´t get the same speed. Just one effect of many.

Mike

-- Mike Lima (mikelima215@hotmail.com), September 03, 2003.