Randy99CL Wrote:Thanks for the info guys!
I read an article recently that talked of how hot the expanding gasses are; way hot enough to melt barrel steel. We're lucky that the bore is only exposed to those temps for milliseconds at a time.]
Plasma cutter effect....and seen in suppressors that are subjected to heavy volume of rapid fire. The baffles can often look eroded near the bore hole....because they are.
Lots of good advice as far as keeping the bolt open, practice precision early in the range session and development drills later, and waiting a good long time between strings.
When I was on a sniper team and we would have a session practicing "Cold Bore Shots" I would dread them because they were super boring. Lots of down time and chatting waiting for the rifle to "reach equilibrium" in the temp. One thing I learned though (at least it seemed to me anyway) is the rifle heated up easier than it cooled down***. So I would use a mist spray bottle and cool the barrel. Then I'd stick it in the front seat of my car with the A/C cranked up. After it cooled down I'd run a patch in the barrel (to wipe out the condensation if any) and wipe the outside as well. Bag it up, put it in the trunk and wait another 10 or so minutes. (Our bags were stored in the trunk and this was the most likely realistic temp for cold bore).
Like I said, tedious and boring. Lot of work to figure out where your stick shoots cold. But then again, it's really important to know that when a slight miss can be "two million dollars to the left". (at 100yds my cold bore was not quite 1/2" high and to the left from POA. The next 4-5 could clover leaf POA/POI)
***EDIT: for clarification, I meant the rifle would go from "too cold" to "just right" a lot easier than "too hot" to "just right"