[JCanfield]

I am new here and this is my first post, so hello to all.
My question is this. When sighting in do you want your barrel as cool as you can get it or is warm ok? When will you get your best accuracy (cold or warm)? This has always baffled me. Hope this makes enough sence to get me some knowledge to use in the future.

Thanks.

 

[hstout1143]

Welcome to TFF.

 

[Packrat76]

Welcome to the club, for sighting in I prefer a warm barrel. This gives me my best accuracy. After boresighting, I fire three rounds in the first minute and then one round a minute there after. This all depends on the outside temp. I go by barrel temp, warm not hot to the touch. Sometimes it takes awhile for the barrel to cool and you have to adjust; 2,3-5 minutes between shots. The key is to be consistent with the time between shots.

 

[Jim K]

It depends in part on the use anticipated. For example, most hunters will expect to fire one or two shots from a cold barrel, so they would not want to rate accuracy or sight in on the basis of 20 or 30 rounds. (No deer I ever saw would wait around for that!) But a match shooter might well be able to fire several warming shots before doing serious shooting, so would disregard at least the first shot and perhaps others as well.

Jim

 

[Bindernut]

Like the other guys have said, it depends on the type of shooting you're doing. And everyone's technique is different too, but if you find someone else's technique works for ya then by all means use it. If not you will eventually develop your own preference.

A lot of my rifle shooting is done for assorted game hunting. Varmints, furbearers, deer, etc.
Personally, for deer & coyote hunting I prefer to sight my rifle in for cold, fouled bore shots.
I'll fire a couple fouling shots. Then I'll do a rough zero. After that I'll let the barrel cool down and double check the zero and adjust as needed.
For varmints, I'll zero with a warm barrel although I'm hoping that my rifles don't shift POI very much as the barrel heats & cools. If they do, I usually start looking at ways to minimize it.

 

[goofy]

I like to site in my hunting gun clean it then when I get up the next morning(I get up every day around 4to5am) I take it out side and leave it to get it to the temp I will be hunting in then take a shot to see ware it is and adjust if necessary.
I will do this a few times to make sure it is hitting ware I want it to.
This way I know that it is sited in at the same conditions that I will be hunting in.
Mike

 

[carver]

My rifles are for hunting, so I like to zero with a cold, fouled, barrel.

 

[Big Chevy]

Welcome to TFF
I I will sight my hunting rifles in cold.