If the newest technical improvement in golf clubs improves a golfers game then the newest technical,improvement in air guns should also improve ones score?
Ha, ha. If you believe this then I also have bridges for sale, your choice of location. I am particularly fond of the bridge in Sydney harbor.
I'm very fond of that bridge as well... probably the one my daughter took a beautiful picture of the Opera House from. I'll take it, because I DO believe the newest improvements, if they are indeed accuracy improvements to the gun before the human factors are applied (and not just marketing hipe) will indeed on the average improve any shooter's score (well, at least group size, which will usually improve any target score over time).
Keep in mind, I am NOT saying minor hardware based improvements are the most effective place for a shooter who can't keep a reasonable hold to look for improvements to his scores or groups. I am saying the physics of it is the improvement to the gun is passed along to the final result and is still in there after the shooter has gotten involved. There are two primary sources of variability that contribute to our group size... hardware and fleshware. Without a doubt, most of us will by far get our biggest improvement in our score by concentrating on our biggest source of variability... us... the shooter. But, this does not in any way mean that improving the hardware will not provide that improvement to even the worst of shooters, all other things being equal.
To illustrate... let's presume when FX went from the standard Smooth Twist barrel, to the Smooth Twist X barrel, they saw on average a 1/2" reduction in group sizes (arbitrary number for the illustration). This is from some sort of bench device that eliminates the human factors that the shooter typically introduces. So let's say a machine rested or clamped Impact with a ST barrel fires a 1.5" group, and the same Impact with the STX barrel fires a 1.0" group, all other things being equal. Now add the shooter. If they are good enough to live in a perfect world, and off a bipod or the like they somehow add no more movement to the gun when it fires, they will also shoot the 1.5" or 1.0" groups, depending on the barrel used. If they are like the majority of us, they are going to add another amount of wobble that will, over a large enough sample size, cause the group to open up some. An excellent shooter with very little additional wobble may only add a 1/4" to the starting group size. Another shooter with lots of wobble may add 3" to the group size. The point is the variability is always additive. A given shooter has a typical amount his shooting opens the group up due to his particular human factors of hold, breathing, trigger control, etc.
Any shooter, holding his shooting characteristics constant between these two rifle setups can expect to see that 1/2" groups size reduction in the groups he shoots with the STX barrel. If he starts with a 1/2" smaller groups size, then adds his variability to the groups, he still finishes with 1/2" smaller groups sizes, purely as a result of the technical advancement he applied to the airgun.
Keep in mind that improving the hardware may improve your group sizes or scores, but it is in no way improving you as a shooter. Only reducing the variability introduced by your particular human factors makes you a better shooter, because that is independent of, and transfers to, ANY hardware. If you are saying the improvements from hardware advances are typically much smaller than those that can be achieved by improving the shooter, I whole-heartedly agree. If you are saying new technical hardware improvements won't improve a shooter's scores/groups, then I disagree.
