. . . In a brief nut shell --- The new barrel steel sucks, it will not "hang" through an agg.
Joel
So, me playing experimenter -- Suppose you shot just one target Monday, one Tuesday, one Wednesday, etc. On Friday, when the agg is done, would it be better than if you fired the agg normally?
I seem to have two barrels like that, one in particular. It will shoot in the zeros Match 1, and get steadily worse.
Steel is from the early 2000s, which I think is what you'd call the good stuff, right?
I always figured it was heat, and kept threatening to build a device that would circulate kerosene through the barrel during the "at least 30 minutes" we get between relays.
[ASIDE (aka other possible causes)
Yes, I know conditions are always better during match 1. And I have a history of doing well match 1 in groups shoots, then going down hill (Boy, that was easy, let's get on to match 2 ... oh no, where did that one come from -- time to buckle down & get to work ... match 3 ooops -- settle down, ... 4&5, OK, those are good).
But for whatever reason, my score shooting tends to go the opposite, start by dropping a couple Xs, then get better.
Point three: I had a l1,000 yard barrel in 6 Ackley that absolutely began to open up after 9-10 rounds. Every time, no matter who's shooting. It had a tensioning tube which also kept the heat in. Five sigherts, five record rounds = wood. A years worth of wood. But seven sighters, five record rounds = wait till next time.
END ASIDE]
Has anybody taken one of those "maybe problem" barrels and cooled them down to ambient temperature before each target? Maybe Jerry Hensler?