gilmillan1 said:
Can anyone talk to me about these things? I dont know much about them.
Also, how do you set it up in your rifle, meaning after it is installed on the barrel? Do you develop your best load and then tweak the tuner to try to get better accuracy? Or is this thing to be used during different temperatures?
I am lost on this one
Like Rick said...replies will vary somewhat. I think there are different reasons for this. One is that all tuners are different. This in itself creates some confusion when discussing tuners generically. For example..So and so says he moves his tuner 1/4 turn with his 4 ounce tuner to make fine adjustments on his rifle with a 20" 1.250 straight contour barrel. The next guy says that's too much....and he only moves in very small increments, but has a different barrel length and contour..as well as a 8 ounce tuner, etc....
Both may or may not be true and accurate statements.
I think the best thing to do is to be very methodical in testing and tuning with them. Don't make big adjustments until you PROVE that it takes those types of movements with your tuner, on your rifle. Also, there's so much conflicting info on HOW they do what they do.
One thing is for certain..they're much easier to use than to explain how they work.
I offer anyone the opportunity to come to my shop and see how I use a tuner. If you don't have a pretty good idea of how to use one when you leave, I'll buy lunch. It's so easy that anyone can do it. It's just much easier when you can see how it's done by the person or company that makes it.
Tuners all work on the same principle. Some are better at doing it than others, but they all accomplish the same thing, but with varying amounts of movement.
There are also those few that use a tuner but never move it. The reasoning here is valid as the mass on the end of the barrel does offer some benefit, by itself. The benefit is a wider tune window..one that is less sensitive to changes in temps, etc. It is my belief that this is leaving the best part of a tuner on the table..That being the ability to keep the gun in tune with a small adjustment, even while at the firing line. Bottom line here is,do what you're more comfortable with..tuning by traditional powder charge/seating depth methods or by nudging the tuner. Me..I'm a lot more comfortable moving the tuner. I use to do it the other way around, like most people. That said, I don't remember the last time I didn't go to a match pre-loaded but with a tuner. I've never felt like I lost because of a tuner but I do feel like a tuner has helped me win.
In summary...I think it best if you test a tuner the way the maker suggests, first. Beyond that is up to you, but taking bits and pieces of info and applying it to something that the people so generously offered help with, but have no experience, is asking for failure.
IME, tuners don't make a gun shoot smaller than they would if they were perfectly tuned by traditional methods, but they will help get whatever your equipment and a given load has to offer, from it. They will also maintain good tune in lieu of traditional tuning and make tune windows wider and more forgiving. Yes, tuners do work!
What they won't do is fix a bad gun or a missed switch in conditions.---Mike Ezell
Oh..as for getting started with one...
If you have a known good load, go with it. If not, I suggest working up loads as normal, with the tuner on the barrel, but don't move it at all during load development. That would be equivalent to changing two things at once..never a good thing if you want to know what did what. Remember...and I'd probably put this above everything else I've ever said about tuners..That 's to be very methodical about it. Don't grab it and give her a couple of rounds and a half, when literally a couple of thousandths of an inch was all it needed.
Give him a call for the straight answers. We are eventually going to get around to testing one of his, if he can ever keep one in stock.
