At what point is a pellet unaffected by propellant air & pass-through openings?

[fe7565]

At what point is a pellet truly unaffected by the air that propels it and by the size/evenness of pass-through openings such as the barrel crown or moderator baffle holes?

I am asking because in my Daystate Airwolf after the pellet exists thorough the crown of my .22 barrel deep inside the shroud the pellet still travels through a barrel centering fork that has a 0.267 in (if I remember correctly) hole about 1.5 inches away from the crown, then it travels about another 4 inches through some baffles and passes through the shroud's end-cap hole that is 0.281 inches wide and about 6 inches away from the crown.

I am not talking about clipping. Clipping was a problem in some early Airwolfs where they had to enlarge the barrel end-cap. Instead, I wonder how the smoothness and evenness of these two other holes at those distances from the crown affect the pellet, if any? Since these holes are fractionally larger then .the 22 barrel itself I think they could act as another crown and any imperfections as far as smoothness and not being perfectly round can influence accuracy . I read that add-on moderators at times also may move the POI albeit without affecting grouping,


Here is a photo posted by someone else:

 

[rjohnigk]

That's a great point. I know the POI changes on my PCPs when I remove the add on baffles,end cap or shroud. .25 marauder .22 cricket .22 wildcat .25 wildcat all were affected. Seems like the air in the barrel sped up in a split second forced into the baffles, shroud and end cap and backwards toward the advancing pellet as it moves through the terminal shroud would and does have an effect on the flight of the pellet irregardless of the shape or size of the holes. But maybe the holes R also a major factor.

 

[fe7565]

Thanks for posting. Moderators (and shrouds?) definitely could move POI with out affecting accuracy. The question is that is that a normal "side-effect" or it can/should be tuned out?

As far as the holes the pellet passes through. I figured that the size and shape (imperfections) of the holes may matter is that the crown can play a major role in accuracy as it affects pellet flight. If the pellet travels inside a moderator that has holes very close to the size of the crown the air pressure behind the pellet may still make a difference. Or possible that once the pellet leaves the crown the pressure has decreased so exponentially that it does not matter anymore. Gotta be some golden rule. Neil Clague may have some good pointers.