How far off is your 1st shot from a cold barrel

IDHUNTER

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 16, 2014
Messages
206
Say you go out and get a perfect 3 shot group from a slightly warm but definitely not hot barrel. How far off from that would you expect your first shot to be from a completely cold barrel?

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Dec 28, 2015
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489
Better be dead nuts on! Cold bore shot is the most important shot you’ll ever take. One shot. One Kill.


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carter33

WKR
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Apr 12, 2017
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473
Location
Fairbanks
Also depends on the range, any variation will only increase in magnitude the further out you are shooting. At 100 yds I believe it’s likely the POI would be within an inch or so.
 

Chesapeake

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Messages
211
I expect my rifles to group a clean cold bore shot right in with the next several shots. I’ve had to replace barrels to get that. It can be a struggle with factory barrels. I’ve not had issues with custom barrels.

“Cold clean” can mean a few things. Maybe it’s cleaned to bare metal, then light oil, then 1 dry patch. Maybe it’s a fouled bore, couple patches Shooters choice or Hopes, light oil, then 1 dry patch.

I’ve had factory barrels that would take 10 or more shots to settle in if you stripped them of copper, but once fouled you could clean/oil them and they would stay stable for 100 rounds or more. I didn’t strip them if it was close to hunting season.

I hunt wet coastal country. Without care rifles will rust. I need my rifles to shoot even after being cleaned/oiled.
 
Joined
Jan 8, 2016
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Location
SW Idaho
From what I've seen with my rifles it will shoot a cold shot or a warm group into the same POA/POI within about an inch. Sometimes its under, sometimes it's slightly over. But it's never so different that I'd be concerned about it. Are you seeing issues with this?
 

Formidilosus

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Joined
Oct 22, 2014
Messages
8,017
Say you go out and get a perfect 3 shot group from a slightly warm but definitely not hot barrel. How far off from that would you expect your first shot to be from a completely cold barrel?

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3 shots isn’t a group, and doesn’t tell you anything about what size target the rifle will hit. Rifles shoot into a cone, not a point. If the cold shot falls somewhere other than inside the cone- fix the rifle, something is wrong.
 

Kotaman

WKR
Joined
Oct 12, 2012
Messages
3,105
Location
North Dakota
"cold" shot targets...

Here are three "cold" shots from three different rifles. 28 Nosler, 6.5 Creed and a 6.5 PRC. I don't think the "cold" shot varied much from the others.
 

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mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
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2,671
I'm lucky enough to have a 100yd range in my yard. The two rifles I use for 90% of my big game (264WM and 300WM) will put the first shot from a cold bore, clean or dirty, into the same group as long as I do my part. I can shoot those rifles one shot each morning for 5 days, and the groups will stay around .5" even if I clean in the middle of that sequence. That is important to me and why I use those rifles so much. If I screw up and plug a barrel with mud or snow and have to clean it mid-hunt, I want the confidence that it will go back to shooting where I want it to. Both are custom rifles that have good barrels. I have 4 other custom rifles that will shoot as good or better with a fouled barrel, but won't shoot the same POI without 5-10 rounds after cleaning. They are all .243 or smaller, maybe the bore diameter makes a difference, I don't know. For big game that first cold bore shot is the most important to me by far. I'll stop a predator hunt or prairie dog hunt to re-zero or re-foul a rifle and move to a new location. That doesn't work when I'm on a big game hunt trying to limit the human presence in the area.

My 300WM is by Rifles Inc and has their #3 fluted barrel. It's a light barrel that will change POI as it heats up, but the first 2 shots don't move and they are the ones that matter to me. The 3rd from a warming barrel doesn't move far (.5-.75"). The ones after stay within 1.5" and have not been needed on game yet. My primary 264WM is heavier and moves less with barrel heat.

FWIW I would take Formidilosus's advice over the rest of ours. He has taught me a lot on this forum and never said anything that didn't make sense when I thought it out.
 

howl

WKR
Joined
Dec 3, 2016
Messages
463
Location
GA
Ambient conditions count too. Some real loonies will shoot the same target once per Sunday a year round to see their true group size. My cold bore point of impact changes from August to January, but it's less than an inch. I don't snipe game from long range. The variance is inconsequential when shooting at game from field positions at reasonable ranges.
 

rayporter

WKR
Joined
Jul 3, 2014
Messages
4,251
Location
arkansas or ohio
i am sorta one of the loonies.
i like to shoot a shot a day to see what a cold bore does.

this year after sitting in the safe all summer it put the first one 2 in high. right where it did last year and the year before.

that is cold and clean!!!
 

FURMAN

WKR
Joined
Feb 29, 2012
Messages
1,793
I’ll say a couple things and it may be repeat. In order for me to keep the rifle or barrel it MUST put the cold bore shot in the group but you have to check. If everything is mechanically sound and you have found the correct load cold bore shot will be in the group. On another note I have NEVER I repeat NEVER had a clean barrel reliably and repeatedly shoot in the group. This is with around fifty different barrels. Almost every magnum I’ve done load development for required around 8-12 rounds before it will group.


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Joined
Nov 25, 2018
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SE, Georgia
If your "cold bore" shot deviates from your rifles natural zero, there is a problem with you or your equipment. With a proper setup, there should be no cold bore shift. Most of the time this myth is due to people shooting only 3 shots and not actually knowing their true zero or cleaning their barrel between shooting and attributing the first shot deviation to "cold bore". With fouled bore though, your rifle doesn't know if if its shooting the 1st or 5th shot of the day.

If cold bore shots were a thing, at what temperature does it go away? Do they happen in the summer or just when it's cold?
 

TomAZ

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 13, 2018
Messages
101
Location
Arizona
If your "cold bore" shot deviates from your rifles natural zero, there is a problem with you or your equipment. With a proper setup, there should be no cold bore shift. Most of the time this myth is due to people shooting only 3 shots and not actually knowing their true zero or cleaning their barrel between shooting and attributing the first shot deviation to "cold bore". With fouled bore though, your rifle doesn't know if if its shooting the 1st or 5th shot of the day.

If cold bore shots were a thing, at what temperature does it go away? Do they happen in the summer or just when it's cold?

I think your point about cleaning and clean barrel vs. barrel with 50 shots is spot on.


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