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Joined: 9/20/2007
Posts: 123
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went to the range today to practice the short shots but hit the 100yrd range for a few shots to kill the box (7 rounds)(barrel cooled before shots taken from short range). over the summer I sighted in to be 2 inches high at 100yrds. Today in the cooler weather (guess 20-30 degrees difference) I'm hitting dead on.
any ideas? same ammo, no trauma to the scope or rifle since the last trip. could it be the temp? could it be the jerk working the trigger? lol still new to shooting rifles over .22lr but this has got me scratching my head so shoot some ideas at me
thanks guys
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Joined: 8/19/2008
Posts: 988
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Yep, it's the change in temperature and barometric pressure. Just click it up 8 clicks high, and you should be dead-on, unless you have one of those weird 1/8" click scopes. HUNT 'EM UP!
Jake from NE Pennsylvania. a.k.a: fishnman (NAFC). "Live every day as if it were your last. Tomorrow just may be." "Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll be confused for a lifetime." Proud PETA (People for the Eating of Tasty Animals) member. GIT-R-DONE!
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Joined: 7/27/2009
Posts: 26
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I agree it the tempature thats why i wait till right before the season im going to hunt to sight in my guns.
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Joined: 10/14/2007
Posts: 168
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You didn’t say what you were shooting or what ammunition, but yes a 30deg temperature change could have a large effect on pressures/velocities. That’s why reloaders should test hot rounds on hot days.
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Joined: 9/22/2007
Posts: 82
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I agree it could be the temperature if you had a 30 degree swing. We noticed the same thing chronographing loads summer and winter. If you had a change in your clothing you could be mounting the rifle slightly differently than when you sighted in.
art3006
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Joined: 9/20/2007
Posts: 276
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As was already said. The tempurature has has a large effect on not only where your bullet goes.[high or low] It also effects chamber pressures. The powder will burn slower at lower temps than at higher temps. Thus effecting where the bullet will strike the target. Again,as was said earlier. You want to zero your rifle in temps as close to the same temps as your going to hunt in as possible. In the summer time. You will notice that your rifle will strike the target higher than in the winter. The powder burns faster. Thus, giving you higher chamber pressures. This is most noticable by looking at your primers after firing the round. If you compare them with rounds fired at a different time of year or season. You will see what I'm talking about.
bigrig
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Joined: 9/19/2007
Posts: 4159
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Ahh, you have discovered that guns shoot differntly at different temps...cold or hot. My hunting guns are shot in cold weather with cold ammo and I take notes so I know what to expect and compensate. If your going dogg'n and it's gonna be 90+, your gun shoots differently here as well.
A government that's big enough to give you everything you want, is also strong enough to take everything you have. Thomas Jefferson. NAHC LM 1993. Hunter Ed Instructor, Greater NW WIS.
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Joined: 9/17/2007
Posts: 6102
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I keep all my rifles zeroed at 2" high at 100 yards yet when I get to hunting camp the first thing I do is fire a 5 shot group to check the zero. Air temp, humidity, and weather conditons can and do effect the bullet flight sometimes being barely noticeable to being off by inches. Always be sure and fire at least one group after arriving at your hunting location.
ALL THE WAY ! NEVER QUIT !! NO MAN SHALL BE LEFT BEHIND !!! Sgt Clyde Walls US Army Retired Canton, Georgia 100% disabled VET, Member American Gunsmithing Association, LM NAHC,LM Whittington Center, LM DAV
For I am DEATH, I ride a dark horse, and I bring HELL as my companion.
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Joined: 9/30/2007
Posts: 5005
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Good advice Dawg! I also have the rifles that I take out West sighted 2" high at 100 yards, but I only shoot a couple shots when I get out there, rather than a 5 shot group.
NAHC LM (1991), NWTF, NRA, SPC 5 Army Vet Corp 68-71
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Joined: 9/19/2007
Posts: 664
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Hello everyone! What can I do, to make sure my rifle is still "zeroed in" if I cannot do the test shots the day before hunting or if the temp does a wild swing, + or - , in the hours leading up before going afield? Especially me, I hunt in my back yard in the narrow strip of woods that border our property and a farmer's corn fields, on what used to be an old railroad right of way and tracks. The tracks are no longer there but the railroad bed is still there and has become overgrown with Honeysuckle, Black Walnut trees, Poison Sumac trees, Wild Raspberries, and other weeds and grasses. Yes, temperature can and does have an affect on where the bullet will hit, after it leaves the barrel. Especially when there are big differences in temperature from when you originally zeroed in the scope and rifle, or rifle.
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Joined: 10/26/2008
Posts: 1363
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That's why I like to shoot throughout the year. Here in Mn. I've seen the temperature range from a tree popping 0 degrees to as high as 70 degrees during deer season (not in the same year). This weekend was our deer hunting opener. The first 2 days we reached 50 degrees, it wouldn't surprise me to see 10 degrees buy the end of the season. Buy shooting throughout the year I know what to do if it does.
"THOSE WHO HAMMER THEIR GUNS INTO PLOWS, WILL PLOW FOR THOSE WHO DON'T" ~ THOMAS JEFFERSON. Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held it ground.
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