Thread: Some reasons why it often goes bad.

Originally Posted by Tussock

You guys are using the wrong definition of variable. It is anything that can change. There are a lot of them. Some are relevant, meaning the effect your desired outcome, some are not. Some can be controlled by the shooter, some need to be handloaded to where you want them. Variables are just all the things that are happening. Some can be eliminated, but the only way to get rid of all of them is to get rid of yourself and the rifle. Some of them you need.

@Micky Duck keeps explaining that the barrel and action should be attached to the stock, over and over and over and over. Yes it should. Bed the rifle, you don't want it to rattle.

You have now dealt with maybe 10% of the issue of harmonics in a rifle. Could everyone stop implying bedding "solves" harmonics. Bedding solves bedding. Bedding makes sure the rifle does not rattle. Good. Job done.

This is what I call a storm in a tea cup argument. You don't know the full picture, so you take a small part and make out it is everything.

The great myth repeated over and over is the rifle is jumping around like a mad woman. We have bedded the rifle, so it is no longer broken. Lets forget about when you were silly enough to shoot a rifle that rattled.

The rifle is still waving about, just not at random. If it is, it shoots very very very very very badly. You need to tune your loads to get it to a point where the vibrations are not random which is not that hard and true for most accurate rifles. Almost all rifles since maybe the mid 1800s are accurate.

Not all of them are precise and the definition of precise is what keeps people coming back to the internet.

To achieve the modern definition of precision you need to tune your rifle to an accuracy node, which is a harmonic sweet spot where everything is just so.

My Ruger is not precise, because Ruger do not make precise rifles (relative to others) but it is very very accurate. It does the same 1.5" group, day in day out, in any conditions. Some Rugers I have handloaded for, my brothers one for example, shoots the same 1.5" group all the way through load development. That rifle is a stone cold killer with a hell of a reputation out to 500m (re-barreled tang safety in 280 I built from scrap).

What the hell is the point in everyone shouting at each other, while everyone has a different definition of each word? I'm using the technical definition. I assume everyone else is going on what they think these words mean.

In science class the text book definition of accuracy and precision frequently uses shooting as an example.

Yes. Vibrations are movement and can be broken down into harmonics. If the vibrations in the barrelled action were truly random then load development could not do anything. But because they are not random a consistent load can be developed to minimise the effects by producing consistent harmonics. Good bedding CAN (but may not always) improve the consistency of the generated harmonics, along with pressure bedding a portion of barrel, which COULD provide dampening. This CAN improve precision.