What's the definition of a "Group" ? (of shots)

[hemiford]

3 shots in 90 seconds ?
3 shots in 3 minutes ?
3 shots in 30 minutes ?

5 shots in 50 seconds?
5 shots in 75 minutes ?
5 shots in 5 hours ?

How quick do the follow-up shots have to be after the first cold bore shot ? To be considered in that same group.
The barrel is going to be warming up, so all the shots were not shot under identical conditions.

 

[dfanonymous]

Well you're on to something.

Cartridge and barrel profile will shift the extremes as to how long to wait between shots, but generally 5-10 minutes per shot can give you negligible poi shift.

The issue is going to be SD of velocity. A lot more factors contribute to splitting hairs in this then just cold barrel.
You might hear about cold shooter, fouling, copper equilibrium and stuff like that that all contribute to such factors between shots.

Point being, waiting about 10 minutes between shots, heat is probably not going to be your problem. Where as machine gunning a .300 win mag with a sendero barrel is well on the path to having a short barrel life, wild velocity, and poi shift in the last few shots possibly.

 

[Phil Rizzo]

I usually do it in a minimal amount of time, for 3-shot groups. Say 1-1.5 minutes I'm guessing.

Does that gives me a "worst case" scenario, possibly? Not sure. Maybe hopefully.

 

[C.O. Shooter]

I usually do 2 minutes between each shot. Either 3 or 5 round groups. All depends what I am doing.

To truly see how your rifle is shooting, shot one round every day, same time each day, at the same target, for 3-5 days. This will provide you a cold bore group and how the rifle is going to preform, cold bore accuracy.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Shooting F-class, how do you time shots and conditions, or any other discipline, with a timed amount to get your shots off in to count?

There is no hard and fast rule to answer this.

I have seen guys shoot a 5 round group in 15 minutes, then clean the barrel and repeat until all shots are fired.
Is this correct?

I shoot my groups in fairly quick succession, no cleaning until all rounds are fired, normally 15-20 shots.
Clean the barrel and proceed with the next lot.
Is this correct?

When I find a load the rifle likes, 10 shots are fired at 600 in fairly quick succession to verify group size AND pattern. YMMV.

Cheers.

 

[Doom2]

3 shots in 90 seconds ?
3 shots in 3 minutes ?
3 shots in 30 minutes ?

5 shots in 50 seconds?
5 shots in 75 minutes ?
5 shots in 5 hours ?

How quick do the follow-up shots have to be after the first cold bore shot ? To be considered in that same group.
The barrel is going to be warming up, so all the shots were not shot under identical conditions.

There is not specific definition of "group" beyond what may be used in a specific set of rules for a shooting competition (time and group size measurement). Otherwise it's whatever the person chooses.

Typically if a person is shooting in competition the timing should reflect the shot timing in competition. For hunting where accuracy is more important than precision it should reflect the cold bore shot and at least the followup shot.

Often when developing loads the shots are spaced to allow the barrel to cool some to minimize the effects of barrel heating and distortion from affecting the group size. The actual time is a function of barrel profile and ambient temperature to achieve the desired result.

 

[sturner]

5 shots are my group sizes never timed it but it's no more than 2 minutes probably less

 

[crashlanding]

Mine are all hunting rifles and I'm not looking to burn up a barrel, between shooting and reloading, this is my place of refuge so I'm never in a hurry either. Summer time when the heat is on, 7 minutes between shots, winter when my fingers go numb, 3 minutes then send it, I use my phone as a timer. Number of rounds fired in a group usually are three, if it looks good, next time out it's 10.
I do what C.O Shooter described, once I find that load I like, I use that same very target each time to verify cold bore, only difference is I do it at different times of the day in varying conditions to make sure it shoots the same or within reason each time.

 

[sable tireur]

There is no hard and fast rule to answer this.

Once again, the variables are many and the needs of the shooter will decide on how to express the 'group'. Many shift their parameters in order to appear that they have the answer to any particular load, bullet, rifle or scope.

Competitions have their own rules so read the requirements.

Enjoy the answers!

 

[sturner]

Do you ever wonder how a sniper sitting somewhere for hours or days waiting for a shot at distance warms up his barrel for the cold bore shot???
Yall hold up my first one don't count

 

[YZ-80]

5 shots are my group sizes never timed it but it's no more than 2 minutes probably less

I'm maybe about 1 minute a shot on a 5 shot group. It's very scientific. If the barrel is hot to the touch, I wait until it's warm to the touch.

 

[sturner]

We all have our on ways
I try to load to a .25 but anything under a .5 is good enough for me

 

[justinp61]

I like to wait for three minutes between shots when working up loads. All of my rifles are used for hunting too, so I like shoot one shot each day for three to five days to verify my zero. I've had some pencil barrels that shot cold bore shots several inches from warm/hot groups. The last couple rifles I screwed together used varmint contour barrels and shoot the same cold to hot.

 

[hemiford]

I was pondering, at which point, or interval, does a 3-shot group become three individual shots ?
Do you get up to sip coffee or pee, move the rifle, then re-focus ?
Do you discard the first cold bore shot, and only count warm barrel shots ?

I understand different folks have their own ways of doing things. I'm wondering what would
be a better method, what would give statistically better info (in theory anyway).

I'm probably just splitting hairs.