What happened to target #3

[fkimble@charter.net]

Did you shoot the first three targets quickly with the barrel getting hot causing mirage off the barrel heat, then after awhile shoot the last two with a now cooled off barrel?

Frank

 

[iam1964]

Did you shoot the first three targets quickly with the barrel getting hot causing mirage off the barrel heat, then after awhile shoot the last two with a now cooled off barrel?

Frank

Thanks for the input, I really did not take much of a break between groups and and they were all shot within 20 minutes. There also was not much mirage so I doubt if that had much to do with it.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I did not have wind flags but the wind was minimal, maybe a 5-8 mph headwind.

A 5-8 mph headwind is not "minimal", especially for a .224" bullet. Head- and tail-winds can be especially tricky to shoot through because even a very slight deviation from side to side (i.e. 12:00 to 1:00 or 12:00 to 11:00) means going from a zero value wind to a 50% value wind almost instantaneously. A couple of the other groups have more vertical than might be desirable, but only Group #3 has a substantial horizontal component. In fact, it is over three times wider than the next closest group. I suspect there was some change in the condition, perhaps just a slight right to left/left to right shift that opened the group. Another possible explanation is simple shooter error. As has been noted, the use of wind flags is beneficial. The good news is that the gun appears to be shooting quite well other than Group #3.