When does a 3-shot group become 3 1-shot "groups" ?

[hemiford]

15 seconds ? 30 seconds ? 60 seconds ? (between shots)

Just curious.

One consideration for me is that I don't want to rapid-fire an "overbore"
cartridge, for the sake of barrel longevity.

Does distance come into play ? The farther the shot, the longer the
time to concentrate & shoot.

 

[FearNoWind]

IMO, using a typical 100 yard load test distance, 3 shots that don't touch may be considered a "crowd" but they are not yet a group. I don't see where the amount of time really matters. The cold bore shot has be the foundation of any subsequent shots to mimic or the "group" can't develop.
I'm not sure what you're asking when you refer to distance. Distance is always a factor and, if you're asking if it's wise to take more time to line up the shot as distance increases the answer would be yes. Getting off a quick shot at 100 yards and marking center on target is far less difficult than trying the same trick at 1000 yards.

 

[jrock]

With sporter barrels I find at least 3 minutes between shots are required to hold groupings. More on hot days. Always keep my barrels in the shade and when not in use, keep the barrels pointed up to speed cooling by convection.

 

[hemiford]

OK thanks guys.
Didn't appear to be a lot of interest in the question, so I let it go.

What I was getting at was whether there is an accepted/unspoken
time between shots for it to be called a "group".
Otherwise I could make one shot Monday, come back and shoot one
Tuesday, back again Wednesday, and then call it a "group".
At some point that don't seem right.

 

[pcmacd]

I've known people to shoot at the same target point of aim days running; I guess it depends on what you wish to learn.

I suppose it matters not as long as you describe the conditions of shooting on the target.

 

[cowboy]

OK thanks guys.
Didn't appear to be a lot of interest in the question, so I let it go.

What I was getting at was whether there is an accepted/unspoken
time between shots for it to be called a "group".
Otherwise I could make one shot Monday, come back and shoot one
Tuesday, back again Wednesday, and then call it a "group".
At some point that don't seem right.

I don't know if it's accepted/unspoken but this is the final step I take before considering load development done and say it's time to go hunting.

 

[HARPERC]

It depends on what game you play. I Googled bench rest time limits, a quick answer is 10 shots in 10 minutes. Feel free to to tell me that's wrong-didn't study it much.

A good cold bore group may be more meaningful to us, it could also be harder to achieve dependent on condition changes.

 

[FearNoWind]

OK thanks guys.
Didn't appear to be a lot of interest in the question ....
What I was getting at was whether there is an accepted/unspoken
time between shots for it to be called a "group".

Now that I bellieve I understand your question a little better, let me take another shot at it. (pun intended.... )
Those of us who focus on custom/competition rifles take a different view on what qualifies as a "group" than most hunters (of which I am one but I use a custom rifle) might rely upon. As pointed out previously, if you're developing loads to put through a sporter barrel it would probably (IMO) be fine to allow three to five minutes between shots and then, after perhaps five rounds, let it rest to cool completely to body temperature. With a sporter barreled rifle you may get off two succesive shots very quickly and the rifle then gets a week to cool down. It is unusual to have the opportunity to get off more than that (nor should it be necessary) in a hunting situation. So taking a cold bore shot and following up immediately with a second shot is not a bad idea. IMO, if you've got two consistently under 1 moa in that scenario you're probably just fine.

 

[FURMAN]

A group is a group. All the group is proving or disproving is the consistency of the rifle/load combination. There are many different levels of consistency. My rifles must perform over many different conditions and I feel the best way to prove it will is with a ladder test. The second part of that is cold bore consistency which is really what I believe you are asking. If a rifle would consistently throw cold bore shots, over many days, into a quarter inch group I would say you have a great setup.

 

[220s]

Interesting question, I don't know the answer or if there is one.
Obviously the longer between shots the more chance for conditions to change.
Testing in a similar way to how a rifle will be used in the field is what I try to do.

 

[johnnyk]

There's no time limit between shots in informal shooting or testing loads for a series of shots to be classified as a "group". Benchrest, F-class and other such competitions/disciplines are a different bird.

You determine the time limit based on your barrels condition (i.e. temperature, cleanliness, weather, etc.)

I have shot "groups", 3-shot, 5-shot and 10-shot, over hours and days to determine a rifle's consistency and load variations due to weather/temp. These are on the same "target" and are used by me to determine which direction to go, if any is needed, or to let a friend know what they have.

I think this is an area where you get to make and break the rules. JohnnyK.

 

[86alaskan]

I think I know what you're after. For a hunting rifle that I shoot, I shoot groups that consist of one magazine load plus a chambered round. I'll shoot at least one group like this as fast as I can accurately to judge my skill and the rifle's performance in a possible hunting scenario. Going after brown bears here in alaska, it is very feasible to have to dump a mag that fast on target and then reload for more. For deer hunting I'll run a mag load in 15sec to simulate the need for fast follow up. When developing, I shoot way slower, let the barrel cool to ambient temp between shots, however long that takes.