Omitting cold bore shot from ES/SD calculations

[6ShotsOr5?]

For my benchrest rifles, I always pull a patch with oil on it as my last pass. I have found the first shot is between 50-100 fps slow due to clearing that oil from the barrel. After that I’m around 5-7 fps Std Deviation until I clean again. No reason I would want to include the first shot with a known issue. I want to know if something has gone amiss during reloading, and including that first shot just muddies the water.

 

[K22]

The cold bore shot is the only one I care about. For me, it's the "money shot". I cannot tolerate flyers on the cold bore shot because I am a varmint and predator hunter, and the vast majority of my shots are from a cold bore.

When I practice at the range (which is a lot because I like to shoot ) and / or gather performance data on me and my gear, it is based on cold barrel shots.

So, I guess it depends on your shooting application.

 

[dgeesaman]

Is omitting the 1st shot from your calculations cooking the books?
Or is it an acceptable practice?

Unless your competition doesn’t allow sight in shots, I see no reason to start collecting data until you’ve sent a few barrel warmers downrange.

 

[TominSWNY]

Is omitting the 1st shot from your calculations cooking the books?
Or is it an acceptable practice?

It's yours and you can do what you want!

 

[Bat Rastard]

I will omit it.
With it, SD was about 14.5
Omitted 3.5

 

[RabbitSlayer]

I never count it, but the bore is basically always squeaky clean when I start. The first shot is like 50 fps slow. I shoot 3-10 foulers, depending how many rounds I loaded that made it to the fouler pile. I haven't noticed the first shot being off if the barrel is fouled and then allowed to cool completely.