Does .204 require heavy barrel to see hits?

[sdbob]

If shooting pd's from my portable bench I am using a "Dog Gone Good" shooting bag. Put a little rubber shelf liner in the stock cradle and it really eats the recoil even from my 22-250. No problem seeing my shots at 24 power.

Something to consider if your having problems.

 

[JASmith]

Follow through has more than one component. In this instance, the follow through is keeping the eye open so that one can see the splash. The inevitable blink is harder to avoid when significant recoil is present. Worse when the recoil is strong enough to move the scope image away from the target.

These light-recoiling rifles make training oneself from anticipating the recoil much easier than with the .308 Winchester. If shooting an AR with the 30 - 40 gr bullets, the signal is more the back and forth caused by the action than the actual push on the shoulder resulting from momentum conservation. Both this movement and actual recoil cause reflexive eye blinking.

After I learned the importance of not blinking -- particularly before the shot breaks (dumb move), my groups tightened considerably. That allows be to see the splash much more oftern.

I was also rewarded by seeing muzzle flash through the scope!

 

[1raggedhole]

A lot of good info here, but the answer is simple: more weight is better for seeing the hits. So yes, heavy barrel is preferred.

 

[5spd]

Ive shot a lot of rigs in .204 with sporter barrels to varmint barrels and have not had any issues watching my hits with any of them. My own build was with a heavy sporter and I have no problems watching p-dogs fly with it.
IMO it has to do more with the way you shoot than the weight of the gun.