Finding the barrel vibration sweet spot

[BFD]

Just whack'em with a 12# sledge and the barrel will let you know

[Geologist]

Has anyone compared the 'sweet spot' location of a rifle with out scope blocks to one with scope blocks and then to one with the scope attached? I think the location may change, although probably not much.

[BFD]

No, it won't change. Bullet and load won't change it either

[Jim Kidwell]

I think we might be over thinking this. I have never read or spoke with any past National Champion that thought this was the real deal. All stated it was trigger time that made the difference after a good load was developed. The target will always tell............

[BFD]

I think we might be over thinking this. I have never read or spoke with any past National Champion that thought this was the real deal. All stated it was trigger time that made the difference after a good load was developed. The target will always tell............

Ya think?!?

We REALLY need to get out and get some trigger time before someone starts thinking about harmonic mode for their buttstock (it has one) and where to rest their chin(s).

[Woody]

Our state semi-opened today, so nine of us assembled with proper social distancing and shot a 900 point .22 outdoor pistol match. 50 yard slow fire and 25 yard timed and rapid. I shot my personal best, 825.15/900. Came in second by 6 points. Now if we can only get the silhouette matches going again.

Woody

[Glen Ring]

I agree with Jim..... I think some folks that shoot BPCR over think a lot of things. I just want to shoot the breeze and eat good food while attempting to knock down some targets.

[mdeland]

That's whats so great about this sport , the diversity of interest, opinions and personalities that make conversation both engaging and enlightening. I enjoy the whole spectrum of people this fellowship attracts and would be long gone from boredom if every one agreed about everything. Now when it comes right down to it ain't having some one "spit in your mess kit" once in a while interesting to deal with?
It makes one reappraise what they think they know so progress can be made.

[SFogler]

OK I finally got my stethoscope. I had my wife hold the rifles like the guy in the above mentioned video while I hit the barrel with the edge of a rubber hammer and held the stethoscope on the barrel. I had previously found the null spot just like the video. Three of my rifles showed the null spot 2" farther down the barrel from the muzzle than my first try with no stethoscope. One of them was a half octagon. The other three I tried were exactly on the spot I found before - and one of those was a half octagon and one had a round barrel. Don't know why three were off and three were right on. The stethoscope does pick up the sound of the vibrations much better and that may be why I was off on the first three. I'll go with the stethoscope locations and see what happens.

[gunlaker]

If you hold the rifle in your hand, and use your fist to thump the barrel in various locations, you will actually feel the dead spots in the barrel. Much like when you hit a baseball with a bat. It's pretty easy to tell if you hit it with the right zone on the bat. The effect is a little more subtle when thumping on the barrel with your fist, but still quite noticeable. How you hold it in your hand will not affect the harmonics.

Chris.

[CaptnJack]

I guess it won't hurt to find the sweet spot on my 45-70 and 110 and mark them, what can it hurt? And just got done casting 200 PP 535 gr two diameter bullets from a very nice custom made Brooks mould. Just waiting on some patch paper to do some wrapping and loading.

[cw50-70]

All I can say is that I tapped the sweet spot and then tested it and 3/4 inch either side of it off sticks at 300 and there was a difference in the group sizes with the sweet spot winning.

[kwilliams]

I held my 32" Ballard vertical and starting tapping the barrel with my oak mold sprue dowel and was extremely surprised at the felt vibrations. The dead spot was readily apparent at 11 inches back from muzzle. Put a pc. of tape on the spot and starting shooting. Whether it was the test loads or the rest location, the 200 yd. group was very nice.
best
kw

[Coltsmoke]

We've all got em, just like a-holes, so here is mine. This sweet spot is just one step in a process to getting the most out of your rifle and load. It is just one of the steps that you need to do. You have a new rifle or new to you rifle in hand. Step one: glass bed the butt stock. Step two: relieve the forearm where it contacts the receiver. Excluding the Browning rifle, I don't own one so I can't speak about the forearm. You can make a small pad about a half inch square where the screws hold the forearm to the barrel. Make it out of glass bedding compound just slightly raised above the wood, this should keep the rest of the forearm off the barrel. There is a bedding grease that is black you can put a thin coat of it on the barrel and then place the forearm on the barrel and the black grease will be on the high spots on the inside of the forearm. If you have any high spots you can now relieve those to where the forearm is not touching the barrel. I hold my rifle over my bed and place the forearm on the barrel, turn it loose and it should fall off the barrel. Step three: do a chamber cast and start out with the right bullet for the rifle. Step four: now find the sweet spot on the barrel and work up your load shooting off that spot. If you are concerned enough to worry about shooting off the right place on the barrel you are concerned enough to take care of the other things mentioned above, if not, just shoot it, it's your score not mine.

A friend and competitor came to shoot with us and did not have the sweet spot on his barrel marked. He was just shooting off the barrel at a spot he had decided to use. He was doing O.K. but not that good. We found the sweet spot and the next relay he moved to it and shot worse. When I first started playing with the sweet spot on a barrel I had a load that was developed shooting on another spot on the barrel and then moved to the sweet spot on the barrel and had the same results, it shot a little worse than the spot where the load was developed. Once I started a load development on the sweet spot the end result was a different powder charge and a load that did shoot tighter groups, the end result was an increase in accuracy. I had to develop my load on the sweet spot to make the improvement. Some will have different results as already stated earlier.

Now you can move on to better fouling control, more consistent loading techniques, improving your cases, etc. etc...…………..

[Kurt]

OK I finally got my stethoscope. I had my wife hold the rifles like the guy in the above mentioned video while I hit the barrel with the edge of a rubber hammer and held the stethoscope on the barrel. I had previously found the null spot just like the video. Three of my rifles showed the null spot 2" farther down the barrel from the muzzle than my first try with no stethoscope. One of them was a half octagon. The other three I tried were exactly on the spot I found before - and one of those was a half octagon and one had a round barrel. Don't know why three were off and three were right on. The stethoscope does pick up the sound of the vibrations much better and that may be why I was off on the first three. I'll go with the stethoscope locations and see what happens.

Hold your stethoscope on the buttstock and not the barrel, try it to see if you still get the same results.

I think you would most likely get the best from the rifle dead spot or not if you place the barrel on the sticks at the same place no matter where the barrel.