I'm posting this in this forum due to the importance of a good first shot in these rimfire games. I shot in rimfire benchrest for about 15 years and in that game, one is allowed to warm up the barrel with unlimited fouling shots and sighters. As I understand, that's not the case at precision rimfire events. When I recently saw a video of a fellow proclaiming that blowing in the barrel may eliminate cold bore flyers, I was skeptical, but intrigued. Being as this is winter and I'm retired, I had the time and figured I'd give this theory a test. Something to do. I have had for a number of years, a rifle (Remington 541T-HB) that is notorious for having real, bad, cold bore fliers, especially out of a cold & clean barrel. I figured it would be perfect for this testing. Most targets were shot on different days, and obviously different wind conditions. The temps on the days tested were in the 30s. I used the same brand and lot # of good match ammo (Eley Match), which I trust, and with which I am very familiar. The targets used is the IR50/50 target with a 1/4" 10 ring and was shot at 25 yds to minimize issues with wind drift. Targets were shot using wind flags, except for one day when I forgot, and off a solid, 2 piece rest that I've used for years in benchrest. The scope used was a Sightron 6X target scope with fine crosshairs and a dot. When blowing in the barrel, I used a straw, from the breech end, and gave two long exhales into the barrel and shot the target within 30 seconds after blowing. The targets shown below were each shot on separate days, with the shots being the first of the day. I did some shooting of the rifle after a 1/2 hour rest, which didn't seem to be a long enough break to produce a cold bore flyer.
My conclusion: There is something going on here that works. I found it especially beneficial when performed on a fouled, cold bore. I found no disadvantage to doing it at any time. Blowing in the barrel never seemed to hurt performance. Flyers from a cold, clean bore avg 1.25" out from the subsequent group. Flyers from a cold, clean, blown bore were 3/4" out from the subsequet group. Flyers from a cold, fouled bore were about 1/2" out from the subsequent group. Shots from a cold, fouled, blown bore were on target and in the subsequent group. I urge others to see if they have similar results from rifles that have bad cold, clean, barrel flyers. My suggestion for you precision rifle shooters, start your event with a fouled bore, and give blowing in the barrel a try, if you struggle with cold barrel flyers. It might help.
Shots from a cold, clean (brushed and patched with Hoppe's #9) barrel. It took this barrel 3 shots to group well and settle down.
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Single shot from a cold, clean barrel. Note, first shots are low and to the right, as in above.
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Shots from a cold, clean, blown barrel. Note: First shot is still low and to the right but not nearly out as far. Shots 2-5 were all in the subsequent group.
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Shots from a cold, fouled bore. The first shot was not out as far as the clean blown barrel above but it still was down and to the right. It took more shots to get it to group. The second shot was out farther than the first. Conditions were not as good on this day and subsequent groups were not as good as they were on the other days of shooting.
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Single shot from a cold, fouled, blown bore. On the money. Right after this shot, I fired a 5 shot group on target #2 and all shots touched the 10 ring. See last photo.
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My conclusion: There is something going on here that works. I found it especially beneficial when performed on a fouled, cold bore. I found no disadvantage to doing it at any time. Blowing in the barrel never seemed to hurt performance. Flyers from a cold, clean bore avg 1.25" out from the subsequent group. Flyers from a cold, clean, blown bore were 3/4" out from the subsequet group. Flyers from a cold, fouled bore were about 1/2" out from the subsequent group. Shots from a cold, fouled, blown bore were on target and in the subsequent group. I urge others to see if they have similar results from rifles that have bad cold, clean, barrel flyers. My suggestion for you precision rifle shooters, start your event with a fouled bore, and give blowing in the barrel a try, if you struggle with cold barrel flyers. It might help.
Shots from a cold, clean (brushed and patched with Hoppe's #9) barrel. It took this barrel 3 shots to group well and settle down.
Single shot from a cold, clean barrel. Note, first shots are low and to the right, as in above.
Shots from a cold, clean, blown barrel. Note: First shot is still low and to the right but not nearly out as far. Shots 2-5 were all in the subsequent group.
Shots from a cold, fouled bore. The first shot was not out as far as the clean blown barrel above but it still was down and to the right. It took more shots to get it to group. The second shot was out farther than the first. Conditions were not as good on this day and subsequent groups were not as good as they were on the other days of shooting.
Single shot from a cold, fouled, blown bore. On the money. Right after this shot, I fired a 5 shot group on target #2 and all shots touched the 10 ring. See last photo.
