Range for Tuner Testing?

[ewspears]

I'm a long time centerfire benchrest rifle builder and competitor that wants to try rimfire benchrest.
I've built a rifle; Turbo action, shilen barrel, jewell trigger, Don Stith Stock, Weaver 36X sitting in Kelbly's rings. I have fitted a Harrels Tuner with a Pappas 6" bloop tube.
Initial function and shooting seems great but I now need to do Hopewell tuner testing with several different ammos.
Since I have a 0 to 50yd range in my backyard and I normally shoot at 50yds since that is what I would compete at. But here is my problem; Even on a good Florida Sumertime day I get 0 to 5mph puffs coming from different directions. Even when I shoot "both eyes open" and watch the wind flag; I'm afraid the Hopewell test would be more of a test of my ability to read and time the windflag than identify small changes from Tuner setting.
Would like to get others opinion on doing Hopewell test at 25yds to minimize wind input!
Thankyou for any feedback!

 

[patriot]

The compensation will be less observable.

 

[Intell]

I've used the hopewll method also, some times I'd try and shoot farly fast to get as many off as I could in a lull. And double shoot anything I thought could have been my fault by a miss read. The problem with 25yds is everything looks so good it's hard to seperate. Harry Deneen used to tune and test ammo inside at 25yds and he had won just about everything there was to win in rimfire benchrest so it can work.

 

[savagedasher]

I've used the hopewll method also, some times I'd try and shoot farly fast to get as many off as I could in a lull. And double shoot anything I thought could have been my fault by a miss read. The problem with 25yds is everything looks so good it's hard to seperate. Harry Deneen used to tune and test ammo inside at 25yds and he had won just about everything there was to win in rimfire benchrest so it can work.

Tuners test at 50 yards works fine. But each lot and kind is needed to be tuned. That can be expensive. Larry

 

[Intell]

Tuners test at 50 yards works fine. But each lot and kind is needed to be tuned. That can be expensive. Larry

I've shot rimfire benchrest for 16 years, and I don't retune for new lots, you will chase ur tail doing that. Once mine are tuned they stay where they are set. Any good ammo will shoot well on the same setting, I don't know about centerfire, but in rimfire the top shooters are not twisting their tuners for a new lot of ammo. My rifles shoot good on the same setting for eley or lapua. There a lot of myths out there about rimfire tuners and how their used.

 

[ewspears]

I've shot rimfire benchrest for 16 years, and I don't retune for new lots, you will chase ur tail doing that. Once mine are tuned they stay where they are set. Any good ammo will shoot well on the same setting, I don't know about centerfire, but in rimfire the top shooters are not twisting their tuners for a new lot of ammo. My rifles shoot good on the same setting for eley or lapua. There a lot of myths out there about rimfire tuners and how their used.

I really appreciate your feedback!

 

[savagedasher]

I've shot rimfire benchrest for 16 years, and I don't retune for new lots, you will chase ur tail doing that. Once mine are tuned they stay where they are set. Any good ammo will shoot well on the same setting, I don't know about centerfire, but in rimfire the top shooters are not twisting their tuners for a new lot of ammo. My rifles shoot good on the same setting for eley or lapua. There a lot of myths out there about rimfire tuners and how their used.

A good friend who shoots rim fire and is fair at it . Spends out outrageous amount of time and money shooting rim fire and every lot And brand takes a different tune .
Center fire is just the same as rim fire only center fire We can change the SD . Larry

 

[Intell]

A good friend who shoots rim fire and is fair at it . Spends out outrageous amount of time and money shooting rim fire and every lot And brand takes a different tune .
Center fire is just the same as rim fire only center fire We can change the SD . Larry

I disagree Larry. Yes, I bet going about it his way would be very time consuming and expenceive. He must have deep pockets. They are two types I love to shoot against, Part time gunsmiths and tuner twisters. My best rifle hasent had the tuner touched " same setting" for over 10 years. The rifle also shot good enough to get five national championships with over 20 cases of differant lot#s without "retuning". What Does your friend shoot, IR50/50, ARA or PSL? Rimfire is differant than centerfire. My friend Tony Boyer that took up rimfire about 6-7 years ago will tell you the same. And yes it the same Tony Boyer that dominates centerfire benchrest.

 

[savagedasher]

I disagree Larry. Yes, I bet going about it his way would be very time consuming and expenceive. He must have deep pockets. They are two types I love to shoot against, Part time gunsmiths and tuner twisters. My best rifle hasent had the tuner touched " same setting" for over 10 years. The rifle also shot good enough to get five national championships with over 20 cases of differant lot#s without "retuning". What Does your friend shoot, IR50/50, ARA or PSL? Rimfire is differant than centerfire. My friend Tony Boyer that took up rimfire about 6-7 years ago will tell you the same. And yes it the same Tony Boyer that dominates centerfire benchrest.

I think he does won all but one relay in Wisconsin a couple weeks ago set a new world record last year yes he is into it The reasons he is thinking about quiting ammo All he find is the wrong speed lot Chang them change tuner type setting add more tuner

 

[doclu60]

Tuners test at 50 yards works fine. But each lot and kind is needed to be tuned. That can be expensive. Larry

Absolutely incorrect. IME, once the barrel is tuned, it's tuned. I have done a bunch of them. After that, it all depends on quality of the barrel, and the lot that is being shot. All of my barrels shoot the same without tuning for specific lots or brands. Some barrels, okay. Other really good barrels, excellent. Really good barrels shoot a lot of lots really good. Other barrels of lesser quality may only shoot a few lots really well, if at all.

To add value to my comments, look at IR50/50 Sporter. A legal IR Sporter can not have a moveable barrel tuner. It is tuned by the smith when it's being barreled by testing how much gets machined off the dog knot at the muzzle end of the barrel to bring the barrel into 'tune'. After that, it's all over, unless you machine more off the barrel. I have two IR Sporters, and one has an exceptional barrel, the other one, a very good barrel. Either will run with a well tuned heavy rifle with the correct lot. The exceptional barreled one will shoot almost any lot I own very competitively. The other is more picky. Do I think that is because the smith didn't tune it properly, no......not at all. Do I think the one barrel is better than the other, absolutely.

Bottom line, lots of IR Sporters out there that kill it without the need to 'tune for every lot'......because they can't be messed with without machining. Those that kill it have properly tuned good barrels and are shooting tested good lots. I am sure some will argue here, but that's my experience in RFBR. Once the barrel is tuned, performance goes to it's (the barrel) quality and lot selection.

Scott