While I am new to range shooting.... I was wondering how long to wait between shots when I am shooting for accuracy? What do you do while you wait? Do I need to clean the barrel inbetween shots? Also, if I am shooting different bullets/loads, do I change my scope for each type? thanks for your help!!

------------------

I think it depends on you and your rifle/handgun. I have one rifle that has a thin barrel. After 3 shots I let it cool down. When I shoot my other rifles, it depends on me. Some days I will shot one right after another and on other days I will take a break after every couple of shots or so. It also depends on if I am shooting a heavy recoiling load. In between shots, I usually just sit in a chair and relax.

It also depends on the weather conditions. On windy days I will wait for the wind to die and shoot as many good shots as I can in the calm.

I do all of the cleaning after I'm done shooting.

Hunter333 - This is an often discussed and disputed topic. Simply Stated - If it is very hot to the touch, let your gun cool. Depending upon the loads you are shooting and the condition of your barrel, cleaning may be necessary between strings to ensure accuracy. Without getting into the barrel break-in argument once again, I would suggest that you clean between strings of 10 to 20 rounds. I generally shoot between 3 and 5 rounds per string when working up loads and testing accuracy.

Z

Hunter333

<I was wondering how long to wait between <shots when I am shooting for accuracy?

If you are group shooting and want to see the accuracy potential of the rifle, you want to shoot in the same conditions. Therefore, it is essential to have wind flags in front of you so you can read the wind. I shoot competitive benchrest and the key to shooting groups is shoot fast and in the same condition. Other thing to consider is what type of rifle are you shooting, Big game, varmint, target etc. For a big game rifle I would only shoot 3 shoot groups, varmint and target do 5 shot groups. With small dia. hunting barrels the tube is going to heat up alot faster than one that is a LV contour.

<What do you do while you wait?

Don't wait. Shoot the rifle under the conditions you will use it.

<Do I need to clean the barrel inbetween <shots?

No. shoot your group and clean later. It is dependant upon what type of barrel and rifle. My BR rifles get cleaned between each match target. I average anywhere from 6-12 shoots per target.

<Also, if I am shooting different <bullets/loads, do I change my scope for <each type?

If doing load development, don't change your scope. Just not where each group prints. Once you decide on the best load for your rifle then zero everything in.

Hope this helps and ask if you need help

Ciao

Mike

If your rifle is very hot to the touch you have let it get too d__n hot and have probably damaged your barrel (actually the throat).

Hunter,
When I go to the range, I usually take 2 or 3 rifles with me.
I shoot 5-shot groups, and use wind flags near the bench and near the target. Basically, I try to shoot the group during a good wind "condition". Sometimes all 5 rounds will go as fast as I can shoot & reload (I shoot single-shot, as some loads won't fit in the magazine), and sometimes I'll have to wait for the wind to settle.
I load 10 round "batches" for my .243 and .17 Remington, and 15 round "batches" for my .22 Hornet. So, I clean the .243 and .17 after every 10 rounds, and I clean the Hornet after 15 rounds. While one rifle is "soaking" in solvent, I'll be shooting another, so that I'll start with a barrel about air temperature. From what I remember reading somewhere, accuracy starts to suffer at barrel temperatures of 125 degrees F. and higher.
Regards, George.

I do something similar to George, above.

After I broke in my rifle, I shoot 5 round groups, waiting three minutes-minimum-between rounds. After the group is complete, I pull the bolt from the rifle, and place it in a range rack, barrel up. The barrel then acts as a chimney, drawing cool air through the chamber, and out of the muzzle. I wait for at least 10 full minutes.

During this time, I break out the .22 Ruger, and practice a bit at 25 yards.

After 25 rounds, I patch out the barrel; one patch with Hoppe's, then dry patch until the solvent is out.

Let the barrel cool completely between groups. By the way--when your barrel is warm to the touch, it is time to stop and cool down. This prevents damage to the throat.

------------------
Happiness is a 200 yard bughole.

Thanks for the advise. I have not used wind flags before and will in the future. I usually take a walk to the far away target to give my gun a rest. It is only 200 yards so its not that long of a walk/rest.
I am shooting a Marlin 30-06, initially bought for deer hunting but now I am looking more into range shooting at long distances.For me, hitting a golf ball at 100 yards is a hoot. I just couldnt hit the dang thing at 200 yards, just a bit off. I also reload so I like to load different loads and bullets. One of the rounds I like is a Nosler ballistic tip. It seems to shoot well from my gun.... Anyway.....
Thanks for the help!

------------------

I am new to this myself shooting a Savage 12VSS. I have been speaking with several bench rest shooters who gave me the following advice.

Fire 3-5 shots to warm up the barrel and settle it down. Be consistant, don't fire them too fast. This will also properly foul the barrel.

The barrel should never get so hot that you cannot hold it with your hand for at least 30 seconds.

As you shoot keep track of barrel heat and number of shots. Two things will cause accuracy problems related to this; First the barrel will heat up enough to expand to the point where the bullet won't engage the lands properly. Second, the barrel will foul enough to prevent the bullet from engaging the lands properly.

Here is what I do. I let the barrel get hot enough to warm my hand, but not be too uncomfortable to hang on to at the throat. I usually run a dry patch, a wet patch and then two dry patches down the bore after every 20 rounds. I will do this imediately if I start to throw flyers and my barrel is at the proper temp.

If the barrel is not to hot, and the barrel is clean, any flyers are due to wind or a bad factory load. (because of course I never move/flinch/jerk)

If the barrel gets to hot, I have an 8oz. refueling bulb from a local R/C hobby shop. I use this to pump air down the barrel to cool it off internally before shooting again.

When your done shooting, do a good cleaning job and use Butches Boreshine to remove copper fouling. Make sure you use a bore guide and a straight S/S or coated rod when cleaning.

I'm a hunter primarily, so I shoot 3 or 5 shot groups then let it cool, I figure I can't wait for it to cool between shots while hunting...I like to have 1" or better groups, even with this method...

I shoot 3 shot groups with 375 or larger and 5 shot groups with the less powerfull calibers, mostly because I don't want to deal with anymore recoil of the bench than I have to....

I end each session with some off hand, snap shooting.

I like to shoot 10 shot groups fairly fast with my varmint guns on ocassions to see how they react as the varmint hunting around here can get hot and heavy...say a shot a minute or every 30 seconds...This is OK with the 222 and not so good with a 22-250...

------------------
Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

I like to test under conditions might use the rifle in,a groundhog rifle I will shoot once or twice and let it set a while and B.S. with some others or break out the 22 or something else. Don't let a barrel get very hot unless you want a new barrel, that said, I have done it and saw no bad effects but always wondered how much the life was shortened...

Shooting a Rem. 700 PSS in .223 I load a round, aim, shoot, check the spotting scope, maybe makes some notes in my reload book. Then another shot.

Every 5-10 shots I run patches. With a good jag and uniform patches, you can feel the bore diameter open as it becomes clean.

I run a solvent patch and let it sit while I put up new targets.

I pretty much copy the cleaning protocol from bench shooting muzzle loaders. Clean bores are easier to keep clean, and shoot better than a bore with layers of soot and copper/lead laid down in it.

------------------
PowderBurns Black Powder / Muzzle Loading Forum:

www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=powderburns

Just beware trying to shoot too many groups. I shoot frequently and have done for quite a while yet I can still only really manage 2-3 good groups before things start to open up a bit. Some of the numbers of shots talked about here are in my eyes an invitation to develop a flinch. If you're going to shoot another rifle at the range try a 22rf so you can stop a flinch developing.

I think it's better to do one good group and then go on to shoot at deer targets, gongs etc than to wait until you start to go off at which point if you're like me your confidence starts to take a knock. I'm (possibly mistakenly) assuming you hunt with this rifle.

Hunter333,
I am curious about which Marlin you are shooting.Is it a lever action?is it tubular fed?If so I'd be concerned about what kind of bullets you feed into the magazine.
1geejay
http://www.shooting-hunting.com

1GEEJAY,

Funny you should bring that up, I hunted quite a few times with a Win 94, my first big game hunting ever, back in the '70's and I always felt cheated that I couldn't reload with the really cool pointy bullets, always had to use these big clunky round or flat nosed bullets.... Anyway after that got a M70 in 30-06 so never had to worry about clunky bullets again. I wound up using Sierra Match Kings, 200 HPBT. The bullet had tremendous accuracy and energy, it would shoot through our 3/8" steel plate at 80 yds but not the 3/4" plate at 110 yards, and would do less than 1" if you did your part and kept it clean. My brother and I used that load on a few deer and it was always a quick killer. The other thing was that it really destroyed the chest cavity, when you'd gut them they would be just all scrambled up inside.

Anyway, I was thinking how it has been way over a decade that I have actually hunted anything with iron sights I'm going to take my '94 out and kill some meat with it, hell I might even try a black bear with it. I'm planning on seeing what the 155 Moly HPBT Matchkings will do. If it shoots well, less than 1" then that is the load I will hunt with. At least deer, bears may be a different story, but what I will do is just load 2 bullets, one in the magazine and one up the pipe. I haven't used more than 2 shots from a 30 caliber since I can't remember when. I am going to put a peep sight on it though, I always wanted one but never could afford the money for one and now I can, so I will. They are really a fun little gun to hunt with, and quite light to carry too.

1894,

Like you are aware too, I started developing a flinch when shooting anything larger than a 22, and would shake my confidence in the me/load/rifle combination. When my confidence got down I had a heck of a time shooting anything good. To me, any rifle I couldn't shoot good, 1" or less, I wasn't taking hunting. What got my confidence back was shooting the Matchkings, and I would kill everytime I'd pull the trigger. To me there were many more things to think about than worrying whether or not the bullet will hit where you are aiming.

P.S. Why don't you do it first and tell me/us here about it? Then you can Tie this into the recent limey "why can you yanks only hunt deer 10 days a year?" thread and prove that it can be done!

[This message has been edited by MarkWhite (edited 06-27-2001).]

Hers's a tip to help your barrel cool. Pull out the bolt and put in your cleaning rod. It will pull heat off the barrel. After a few minutes pull it out, cool it with water, dry it and put it back in. Also while the bolt is out tilt the muzzle either way to create a "chimney" effect to help the hot air in the barrel out. I usually shoot 2 rifles so I put one in the rack vetically with the bolt out with the muzzle up.

MarkWhite,

I think we agree that apart from bullets confidence is what kills deer. When I started rushing check zeroing my rifle I did more harm to my confidence than anything. Now like you I've got confidence, a good load, a rifle that has held zero and I'm happy. I'm afraid I don't fully understand your P.S.

If your rifle barrel is warmer than luke warm to the touch you are shooting to fast. Heavy barrels can stand the heat build up a little better than the sporter weight barrels on most hunting rifles. The same rule applies to them, luke warm to the touch. Benchrest shooters are forced to fire five rounds in seven minutes or less. They are much harder on barrels because of that time constraint rule.

Between shots, I like to practice with a double action revolver. The long heavy trigger pull generally erases my memory of about when that 3.5 pound rifle trigger will break (hard to flinch properly if you don't know when to do it).

At our range, the best way to cool a barrel is to talk to one of the old men who are there to shoot the bull, not the targets. Good way to learn something too.

[This message has been edited by HenryC470 (edited 08-23-2001).]

I wait one second per grain of powder burned in cool or cold weather. I wait two seconds per grain in hot weather.

George

------------------
Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

Hunter333... Looking down thru the replies I see some good ones. I take my .22LR target rifle along and shoot that in between groups. I will shoot a 3 or 5 shot group and then let it sit until it's cooled down.

Depends on what I'm trying to achieve that day. Most often, I'll shoot my group at a comfortable pace, making no conscious effort to space out the shots.

However, just the other day, I was shooting a light barrelled Model 7. Working on the theory of cold bore accuracy, I'd shoot one, then pick up my 10/22 & shoot at a small swinging steel target set at 50 yards. Usually shoot 2, 10 rd mags at it, then shoot one more shot through the Model 7. Repeat the whole process until I had a 5 shot group representing cold bore shots. Shooting the swinging steel target is more fun than punching paper, especially with a 22 LR.

I remember an article in Rifle or Handloader where they discussed different ways to cool the barrel. Pressing air through it was not the hit - best results were achieved by running water through the bore. As the barrel is still warm, the moisture in the bore evaporates. No harm to the gun is reported.

If your rifle barrel is warmer than luke warm to your touch you are shooting to fast. In Benchrest they must fire their five shot groups in seven minutes. Benchrest shooters go through barrels like we go through socks. Seven minutes on a hot day is not ample time for your barrel to cool between shots when shooting five shot groups through a sporter weight barrel. In the fall and winter months when the weather is cool or cold you can fire your groups faster because of the cool weather conditions keep your barrel cool to the touch. Nothing can ruin a good barrel faster than shooting your rifle to fast and getting the barrel to hot. The throat in the rifle bore can be ruined at one shooting session if you shoot to fast. You can take this to the bank. Shoot it fast, it won't last, shoot it slow, a long way it will go.