Cold bore shots while hunting

[BjornF16]

[icanhithimman]

Well all my hunting rifles are zeroed for a cold bore engagement. I relize that some of you have the opertunity to shoot hogs and there can be more than one but thats not the case for me. So with that said to zero your rifle for cold bore you cant shoot more than one round in a 10 min interval.

[PigOPs]

Have you ever heard of Todd Hognett? He discusses the difference between cold bore and clean bore and it made a lot of sense to me. My guess is that regardless of which theory you hold to, the accuracy you need for hunting vs. X-ring chasing you will not notice a difference.

[BjornF16]

Thanks PigOPs, very informative.

Guess I'm stopping the use of Butch's Bore Shine...

Just curious, how long with carbon sitting in barrel before it becomes an issue?...On my elk hunt last year, I let my rifles sit a week after sighting them in before I cleaned them.

[ChellieWiles]

Bjorn,
I think you'll be alright letting the gun sit if you live in Texas in a place where the air is dryer. I've noticed here in N.C. that moisture likes to build up on carbon especially in the mornings and that can cause a problem. CLP will be your best deterant against moisture because it leaves behind a lubricant on everything you clean with it (there are other cleaners, just not as good). I'll normally fire two or three shots after cleaning and before hunting and try to put something on the end of the muzzle to keep out dust if the firearm will be sitting for any extended period.
There's not really any prep for a cold bore shot. Just make sure you know where that first shot will be and practice taking a follow up shot quickly after the first to see just how much your point of impact changes so that you will know how much to adjust for in case you need that follow up shot.

[LR1955]

Bjorn:

Most of the 'cold bore' stuff is a myth. If a barrel is that poorly made that a guy will miss a game animal at most hunting ranges (under 200 yards?) then the guy deserves a miss by owning such a poor piece of equipment.

As for elevation changes and zero, you need to have a pretty significant change in elevation before you will miss a game animal at most hunting ranges. You can easily go from sea level to about 3K feet and not be able to tell if any shift to your zero is due to the elevation change or something else. Have a elevation change of more than 3K feet and you can see the difference but you really need to hit about a 5K change in elevation before a change to zero is so great that you can predict it with certainty.

Most zero changes are from a clean bore to a fowled bore. However, if you have a premium barrel, it will be very difficult for you to attribute a change in zero to a clean verses fowled barrel until you hit about 500 yards. If you are concerned about a one minute zero change at 500 yards or more, then do what ever you think is right. The problem with this stuff is that few shooters can positively determine why a change to zero happens and fewer still can predict it well enough to be certain. About the most a guy can do is say 'most of the time a clean bore will shoot higher or lower, left or right.'

One place where you will be able to say a change occurred because of something other than you, your equipment, or your loads is if you zero at a moderate air temperature and hunt in extreme cold. If you have a chronograph, you can experiment with changes in velocity due to changes in ammunition temperature. You will find that when your commercial powders get below freezing and particularly when the temps get below ten degrees, you have very low and irregular velocities. Below about ten degrees and your equipment begins to show problems, particularly if you didn't lube with some type of rifle lube made specifically for extreme cold. Such changes do happen when the ammo is extremely hot, however under those conditions a guy has to contend with a huge amount of mirage, obscurants, and barrel mirage to name a few so predicting what a change will be is much harder if not impossible in extreme heat.

Unless you can absolutely predict a change to within about a half minute, every single day, under every single environmental condition, and that the change is enough to cause a miss at your hunting ranges, then you may be pole vaulting over mouse turds.

If you are worried about it, no problem in shooting a fowling shot or two before the hunt. Just don't be concerned about it when you are hunting.

LR1955

[BjornF16]

So no cold bore issue...then just clean bore concern. When my guns sit, they have a liberal amount of CLP on them. So fouling shots (or running some dry patches through them should take care of it).

My elk hunting trips take me to 8,000-10,000' from my home base of a whopping 600'.

Last year on my way to Gunnison, we stopped by NRA Whittington Range (elev approx 6,000') to re-zero at higher elevations and practice some beyond the 200 yard limit of my range. I didn't clean the guns until after the end of the hunt.

[bwaites]

So no cold bore issue...then just clean bore concern. When my guns sit, they have a liberal amount of CLP on them. So fouling shots (or running some dry patches through them should take care of it).

My elk hunting trips take me to 8,000-10,000' from my home base of a whopping 600'.

Last year on my way to Gunnison, we stopped by NRA Whittington Range (elev approx 6,000') to re-zero at higher elevations and practice some beyond the 200 yard limit of my range. I didn't clean the guns until after the end of the hunt.

It really is cold bore vs. clean bore, and that's the process I would use, but hunting that high up is work! Why not find a place where you can hunt where there is actually still oxygen in the air?

[BjornF16]

...but hunting that high up is work! Why not find a place where you can hunt where there is actually still oxygen in the air?

I haven't gotten rid of the "invincibility" mindset from flying up to 50,000' with pressurized breathing!...and yes, it was hard work. I need to prepare better this year (and lighten the load)!...but boy, did the beer taste good at the end of the day!

[LR1955]

So no cold bore issue...then just clean bore concern. When my guns sit, they have a liberal amount of CLP on them. So fouling shots (or running some dry patches through them should take care of it).

My elk hunting trips take me to 8,000-10,000' from my home base of a whopping 600'.

Last year on my way to Gunnison, we stopped by NRA Whittington Range (elev approx 6,000') to re-zero at higher elevations and practice some beyond the 200 yard limit of my range. I didn't clean the guns until after the end of the hunt.

Bjorn:

That much of a elevation difference has meaning and it is very evident at closer ranges such as 300. And, it can be predicted pretty precisely.

Best idea and the one you are using is to zero at the closest elevation you can to your hunting area.

CLP and or lube does need to be removed from the barrel. Shoot it a couple of times or use some carb cleaner but it will cause problems if left in and you want something precise with your first shot.

LR1955