Trends in BPCR Long Range Shooting

[bruce m]

the old wiping question!
in the day, shooting was done by taking turns.
this would have minimized barrel heat.
this also allowed plenty of time to wipe between shots, some shooters using up to 5 rods, and including oiling and de-oiling in the process.
all with the intent of having an absolutely consistent bore condition from shot to shot.
shooting in such a way effectively makes each shot a first sighter, as feedback from the last shot is almost worthless.
we must remember this and realize what good wind readers those guys must have been.
shooting as a team would have been a great advantage over shooting as an individual assuming similar bullets and similar muzzle velocities, as each shot would have been much closer to the last one, giving quite meaningful feedback on the condition.
today things are different.
we have adopted methods introduced with smokeless repeaters, the most obvious of which includes string shooting with time limits, and shooting position.
better feedback and hotter barrels.
however we still require consistent barrel condition for accuracy.
while blowtubing can work well, it can be a problem in hot conditions, magnified by shooting strings heating barrels faster.
clearly wiping is the most reliable method of achieving consistency, but we have to fit the whole 5 rod process into a shorter time frame to suit our time limits.
the best way to deliver consistent barrel condition is to get the bore absolutely clean.
this is done in various ways including patches, wet and dry, bore pigs,(and patches), and the baco system.
having tried all 3 systems, some things have become apparent.
patches wet and dry takes the longest time due to the number of pushes required.
hotter drier weather and barrels requires more wets, which is more time again.
the wetter the first patch, the more reliable this method works.
correct sized patches are the easiest to push, making staying in the prone position easier.
fully wet texas bore pigs are easier to push than baco felts.
baco felts remove fouling more thoroughly than texas bore pigs in one push.
both of the above leave moisture in the barrel in varying ammounts, a bad thing for consistency.
to overcome this, either of the above can be pushed by a patch on a jag, which is best pulled back from the muzzle and then pushed back down the barrel and out.
this can still leave some moisture, and a second dry patch has demonstrated better vert at long range.
however tactics sometimes reveal that it is better to sacrifice 1/2 to 1 moa of vert in order to shoot faster.
all 3 methods have their plusses and minuses, and individual shooters must experiment.
it sounds like mpro7 is gaining a following as a wiping fluid.
oh well, another thing to try.
keep safe,
bruce.

[gunlaker]

I used three reasonably tight Shiloh 3" patches each shot and I think it worked very well. I had more NAPA oil in than I usually use, and had the patches quite wet. This seemed to be working well as I shot my highest score on the second target of the last day which was pretty hot. The last patches came out completely clean and the rifle was easy to clean at the end of the day with only a few sparkles of lead on day one and two. I think the bit of carbon I accumulated on the last day came from the last target when I used the BACO wipers as the "chasing" patch was not always clean. I'll have to play with them a bit more. I know the rifle was hot though. When I carried it off the line I could feel the barrel heat right through the forearm. There was no way I could hold onto the barrel or even the action.

I also noticed quickly that the flags in Phoenix were a lot more valuable than the mirage. We mostly used the mirage to see if there was going to be a reversal. Often I have been getting more out of the mirage than I did there. The flags on the line were valuable as was the smoke direction. It was very interesting to see how different wind conditions were on the left side of the range vs the right side at some times.

I do like shooting with a scope as I can get more information than I can looking through an aperture. The DZ mounts are a big help too.

I was fortunate with my spotter. He'd never spotted before but took to it very quickly. I had made up some new spotting sheets which helped him with that. We made for a decent team I think.

Chris.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

It was very warm, that last day. My fouling control, consisted of 1-7 Nappa to distilled water, 2.5 inch proshot patches 3-4 damp 1 dry.

I was very pleased with my score.

KW

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Over the course of 4 days shooting, the lessened effects of the recoil, are not to be discounted with the heavy barreled Sharps, or shooting PP. My 92-1x day 3 relay 1 was my personal best for 1000 yards to date.

I believe it was the top Score, for Relay 1, and I was using Olde Eynsford 1.5 btw. and my .446 538 gr version of the money, sized to.445, wet patched with 55w Seth Cole paper, very short patched, 16-1 alloy, from John Walters.

Tolloffson guns kick ass.

KW
Founder President HRASS

[gunlaker]

Interesting. My best ever 1000 yard score was the second target on the last day.

I do think those heavy Sharps rifles are pretty awesome. Seems like paper patching worked pretty well too

Chris.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Standard Shiloh chamber too.

That should cause a good bit of head scratching...

The rifle was purposely built just for Paper Patch shooting also.

KW

[Don McDowell]

yeh that ain't even supposed to happen...

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Wet patching vrs Dry Patching. Then the fouling control issues, wipping is here to stay for BPTR. Mpro 7 or water soluble oil, and the mix, one uses, lastly bullet alloy, I bet Edwin Perry and Frank Hyde both are grinning, along with or friend Dan T.

Kenny Wasserburger

[gunlaker]

Once all of that has been solidified, I think the only big thing left to play with for paper patch shooting is the rifling itself. As in no sharp inside corners to collect fouling in.

I'm currently trying to work out the bugs on 15 lb Shiloh with Dan's .45-2.6" chamber. The one thing I've found right away is that 100gr of Swiss 1.5 sure pushes a 540gr Money bullet fast

Chris.

[BFD]

rifling is, indeed, an interesting area that needs more exploration but not for BPTR or BPCR so much. Both are easily shot while wiping and that removes the fouling issue. BTW, plain water works fine for that.

But in shooting dirty, Metford rifling might be interesting, as would polygonal and perhaps quite a few others. I have been shooting Pope rifling, but not dirty.

[bruce m]

krieger 5r rifling might be a bit like metford rifling.
7 r might be even better if available.
it has corners, but no square angles. i.e. it has canted lands.
it also has an odd number of lands and grooves, possibly a plus.
keep safe,
bruce.

[BFD]

Why would odd numbers of lands and grooves be a plus? I can't see how they would make the slightest difference.

[jackrabbit]

The idea is that it may be like comparing a three legged stool with a four legged one when trying to sit on it out in the yard. The three legged one will be stable on uneven ground while the four legged one will rock if the ground is not perfectly flat. In bullets, it doesn't seem like it would matter to me, but it is the hot thing in the Precision Rifle crowd right now. Everyone has to have a 5 rifling barrell..... They are doing some pretty amazing shooting with them, too.

[desert deuce]

I had an original Remington Hepburn here at home in 40-70 SS that had a 5 groove barrel 1-18 twist. It shot well.

[Orville]

Currently working with two original rifles both 40-90 BN one has a Davenport barrel, and a near as I can tell the other has an English barrel with 5 groove rifling, both have tight chambers with shallow leads. Both guns have a 1-20 twist. I'm loading a factory duplication load 90 gr. of Fg Swiss card wad, lube wad and a 370+ grain PP bullet, alloys tried 1-20 produced about a 20 inch group at 100 yards, 1-40 about a 7 inch group and 1-60 brought it down to a 2 inch group. The English barrel gun is going to have to wait a bit, it needs to have a new breech block fitted as the firing pin hole too cratered in the original block.