Removing shooter from equation

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To make sure the rifle is shooting straight. Put the gun in a vise (protect the stock and barrel) or secure it is a rest so it will not move. Then fire the rifle several times to see if the rifle is shooting in the same spot. Then you will know if it is you or the rifle. If it is the rifle, you will need to start with a chronograph and pellet match ( or send it to get tuned). If it is you, there are many people locally who would help you sight the rifle in.

Doc
 
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I did some meticulous corny ing (with two chronys back to back) and know pretty reliably that the pressure range I'm shooting at allows 1% or better ES. Then again, at 25 yards, it does not matter that much.

I get a feeling this has to do with barrel harmonics/vibrations. I would play with some weights on the barrel, but my gun being an FX Indy - getting to the barrel is not easy.

I wanted to avoid clamping down the gun, as at that point a lot of the gun itself is 'removed from the equation', leaving only the barrel, basically, but I agree, its a logical next thing to try.

(edit: typo)
 
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Greg, seems that you have put in a considerable amount of effort to reach your goal, so I applaud your efforts. No 2 guns tend to be exactly the same nor do people. A rock solid gun vise might eliminate the shooter for the most part and then maybe you can get a good analysis of the gun itself. More importantly the barrel. You know you are shooting into 1% or less, so tuning isn't the issue. That basically leaves the barrel and or pellet.

Barrels are damn near like snow flakes. Every barrel is somewhat unique to itself. There really is no such thing as 2 identical barrels. Many barrels are good, some not so good and very few are exceptional. I have slugged and measured alot of barrels across many different brands and that really shows the variance in barrels and makes it easier to understand why some guns are more precise than others. At one point in time, I had 4 different brands of .25 barrels that were all machined for the exact same gun. With the same tune, the gun would shoot a different velocity and level of precision with each of the 4 barrels. One could say that is expected since all 4 barrels were different and I agree. However, I also had 3 barrels that were from the same maker. Twist, length, and caliber all the same yet 2 barrels shot to somewhat the same level, but the 3rd was by far better than the other 2.



 
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"John_in_Ma"Something I noticed no one else mentioning. Rifle Cant.
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Good point, John, forgot to mention - cant is verified for each shot with a scope mounted bubble. Bubble is not perfect, but for 25 yards - more than adequate (esp considering that cant is less of an issue at ranges closer than the trajectory apex, which is where I'm testing).

Thanks for bringing it up!

[edit: clarification]
 
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"ajshoots"No 2 guns tend to be exactly the same ...
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Good stuff, AJ. Looks like you've gone waaay farther than I in your pursuits :) I want to clarify something. My original question was not about "how can I shoot or make my PCP shoot more accurately". Of course I'd like that, but with this question I only ask "how can an average shooter assess the maximum potential of a high end rifle/pellet combo."?

If I know that the best my rifle is capable of is "X inches at Y yards" under ideal conditions - that's my benchmark. If I ever shoot a group better than that - I know its pure luck, if I shoot worse than that - I know I have room for improvement.

On the flip side of this - given a solid methodology of assessing that true potential of the rifle/pellet combo - it becomes more productive trying improve that, i.e. try lubed vs unlubed pellets, vibration dampers, etc. W/o a solid methodology - all the tinkering is 'not scientific' so to say, and can actually create wrong beliefs.
 
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