Hot barrel?

[J. Yuma]

whelp, I shoot once a week most times, at most 3x a week. A range officer told me about guys that practice a lot. You sound like what he was talking about.

I think the rest in between shots, and shooting 60 light loads rather than 70+ with H110, was a big difference, but I figured it wasn't hurting the gun either.

I'm really interested in the standing revolver competition. How far from the target?
How much time for how many shots?

I started using a rest when I figured out that holding steady was most of the game.

In any event, I think I'm going to follow your practice of "relaxed shooting."

 

[Pál_K]

whelp, I shoot once a week most times, at most 3x a week. A range officer told me about guys that practice a lot. You sound like what he was talking about.

Unfortunately, I go to the range about once, maybe twice, a month. So, not a lot of practice these days. I consider myself an average shooter, though I have rifles that shoot pretty tight groups.

I'm really interested in the standing revolver competition. How far from the target?
How much time for how many shots?

Animal targets are life-size: chickens pigs, turkeys, and rams. There are 10 of each animal. The ram weighs 55 pounds. You have to topple it to get a point, otherwise you get zero.

You get 30 seconds to load, then two minutes for your first five chickens. Cease fire for maybe 10 minutes, and the cycle repeats for the next five chickens, then again for pigs, turkeys, and rams.

Distance is 50 meters (55 yards) to the chickens.

100 meters (110y) to the pigs.

150 meters (160y) to the turkeys (the hardest target)

200 meters (220 y) to the rams.

There are smaller half-size targets and .22 targets for the other classes.

Not many people shoot standing. Fewer use a revolver. The T/C Contender is most common, followed by the XP-100.

Back in the day, 1980's, you had to use open sights only. Now scopes are permitted - they put you in a different class though.

I have used only open sights.

The Creedmore position is what many use; it is a simple and very stable 3-point position: lie on your back, knees drawn up, left wrist behind your head with fingers on the ground like a tripod, right elbow on the ground, right wrist against right thigh, barrel along right shin, projecting past your body so you don't shoot your leg. A very steady position. If you're doing this with a revolver, you need a leather blast shield covering your leg so that the flame from the cylinder gap doesn't burn you.

I shoot revolver standing, T/C and XP in Creedmore.

My use of a S&W M29 is uncommon, the Ruger Blackhawk was the big favorite, followed by Dan Wesson.

Even so, I've put thousands of rounds through my M29 and it's pretty accurate still after 35+ years.

For big bore, the most common calibers have been 7 TCU (essentially .223 necked to 7mm), 7mm BR, .30 Herrett, .30-30, .44 Magnum, and .357 Maximum (not Magnum).


The sport has become more complicated these days; it used to have fewer classes and was easier to understand. I think the aging membership and aging membership's eyesight is what has led to scopes and so many classes. That, and many just want to have an easier time getting a higher score. All the details are here:

https://www.ihmsa.org/index.html

In any event, I think I'm going to follow your practice of "relaxed shooting."

For me, shooting is more social now than for doing practice, although I am more serious when testing out new guns that I buy or to test out new loads - that is actually fun.

 

[J. Yuma]

As I'm not sure how to use the quote feature, so cut and paste:

Distance is 50 meters (55 yards) to the chickens.

100 meters (110y) to the pigs.

150 meters (160y) to the turkeys (the hardest target)

200 meters (220 y) to the rams.(!!!)

I don't think I could see a target at 220 yards, let alone hit it with a revolver standing up!
Maybe I could hit a chicken

 

[Pál_K]

I don't think I could see a target at 220 yards, let alone hit it with a revolver standing up!

Sure you can. This range has black targets, most common, but here in Worsington state the targets are painted white to stand out better from the foliage.

The very first time I shot Silhouette I got a whopping total of 4 out of 40. However, one of those was a ram and the thrill of seeing a ram slowly topple over about 1/2 second after firing is what gets people hooked.

 

[J. Yuma]

just like wishing and doing, seeing and hitting are two different things.

As far as your range practice, you remind me of the great Paul Anderson. He was an Olympic Weightlifting champ. His prowess was such that towards the end of his career his "workout" consisted of hitting a golf ball across a meadow between two squat rack stations, and doing sets of squats at each end. He didn't need much practice to maintain what he had.

I would be glad to get a 4.
thanks for all the information.

 

[Mobuck]

I don't shoot handguns that much. If you want to achieve a perfect zero with a rifle, fire no more than 2 shots per sitting with plenty of time for the barrel to return to air temp.
I'm going to say that blasting string after string with a hard recoiling handgun will cause shooter fatigue, flinching, and anticipating recoil.

 

[Pál_K]

• Bullet expansion: A hot barrel can also cause the bullet to expand, which can lead to a looser fit in the barrel. This can result in a decrease in accuracy.

I don't agree with this. If a bullet "expands" in the barrel it's not going to get "looser". Stupid AI.

My bet is that, somewhere, someone meant to write that the bore expands, but AI is not able to catch that mistake. Because AI really has no intelligence. Perfect example of that.

Taking that further, some ballistic lab surely has conducted experiments where the bore diameter is measured as the barrel heats, right?

... I shot really well that fall. 35-38 at every match and I shot every weekend.
...

Achieved S-INT in BB and SB and shot that way for another 20 years.

So to sum it up, YES heat can really affect your shooting. It also depends on the bore and bullet specs you have when the bbl is cool.

Very impressive.

 

[J. Yuma]

Today, with the Super Redhawk; the first six rounds and next fifty-four.

I really tried to slow down. I put the gun down between (almost) every shot.
I was relaxed, talking to the range guys, other shooters, texting, reading emails.

One thing I learned, when I put the gun down, I lost count of the rounds a couple of times.
Well into the session, I squeezed off on a spent round, and FLINCHED. (oh, the shame )
That woke me up (I hate using that word, "woke") and made me concentrate harder on not flinching.

I felt the barrel between shots, once it warmed up, it was never as "cool" as the first six rounds.

all rounds: 9.5 grains of WIN 244, a little bark, not much bite. The SBH and the SRH have 10.5, and 9.5 barrels respectively
75 feet, indoors.

Empirical data, but there seems to be a pattern emerging: early shots are best, and flinching becomes part of the problem as fatigue sets in, even with the long barrels helping tame recoil.

 

[Pál_K]

Good groups.

 

[J. Yuma]

aw, shucks... thanks.

I must say that the people on this forum are very helpful. There's a wealth of experience that's been freely given.

I happened today to speak with one of the major players (an owner?) at the range I'm a member of, and he said what has become obvious to me.
He said that this is a sport, and a thinking person's game.

My thoughts this moment:
1. Pistol shooting requires physical and mental ability. IMHO, shootin pistols is like baseball pitching, you gotta "lock in" if you wanna throw strikes.
2. Big bore pistol shooting is especially challenging because the guns make you blink.
3. It's way better than golf.

 

[Dan in MI]

View attachment 48759


Great looking range. At one time MI had about 10 IHMSA ranges. I "think" we still have one.

1993 Ints in TN

 

[Pál_K]

Hi Dan,

Sorry - that isn't the range I go to; I used that photo to illustrate all the targets at distance.

Did you ever go to the very large IHMSA "home" range in Idaho Falls, built by Elgin Gates (founder of IHMSA)? I went to the 1989 Internationals there, shortly after he died. I've tried to find it in recent times with Google Earth, but I think it's gone.

Do you know if a perfect 40 has ever been shot in Standing Production class? When I joined IHMSA in 1989, I think the highest was 39, by a woman shooting a 10" .30-30 T/C.

 

[J. Yuma]

Good groups.

I was studying my targets from the last two days. I found one hole that doesn't look like a .44.
The guy next to me (I hope it was next to me ) snuck in a little extra practice?

 

[Pál_K]

Somebody with a .22?

 

[J. Yuma]

Kinda like when I would be forced to go golfing.
I'd be playing on one fairway and my ball would often land on another.

 

[Dan in MI]

Never made it to Idaho.

AFAIK there has never been a standing 40, in BB or SB, irons sights (prod)

I've squeaked out a 36 in BB. Don't remember my best in SB. Never dropped 10 turkeys straight either.

 

[J. Yuma]

H110 is a hotter powder meant for top end loads. That translates into more felt recoil in general. Slow down a bit.

here's a handy little item.
cools your barrel in 7 minutes.

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply....l+cooler&utm_campaign=FREE+Hazmat+Begins+Now!

 

[contender]

I'll pass on one of those.

 

[J. Yuma]