SmallCaliberCentral

I'm wondering how long I should wait between shots and groups to allow the barrel to cool. I am fairly new to this target shooting and I'm pretty sure a little more patience would help my groups. The last two outings to shoot resulted in the best group being the first. Also while trying out a few loads with Reloader 10x the first group was much better than others, 24.0 grains vs 24.5 and 25.0, all with 39 grain Sierra BK's. Last group I tried,29.5gr BLC-2 with 39 gr Sierra BK's shot awful whereas the outing before the same load was my best. Next outing I will shoot the same loads in a different order to see how they stack up then. I know I should give more time between shots but finding free time to shoot is not easy.

As a rule of thumb, try a minute between shots and 5 minutes between groups. I use longer intervals with bigger cartridges that burn more powder. On a real hot day it takes longer to cool down than on a cool day.

I only shoot on the week ends, and it might take me 2hrs. to shoot 30 rounds. It never pays to get in a hurry when shooting for groups or even just doing a powder test. Take your time and have fun with it.

dd

You've been given some very good advice.

Personally I shoot mine fast and dirty because thats how I need mine to perform.
Theres a difference in load development for the two variations in style. Loads that work in a relatively clean cool barrel might fall apart when pushed fast through a hot dirty bore. Finding a load that can take the heat is a little harder.
Bore conditions change more frequently when you push em hot and fast. Finding the right powder/charge combo that can keep your bore condition consistent through rapid fire can be quite frustrating.
Consequently I chew up barrels and ammo faster than most also. Keep that in mind For simply shooting tight groups slow and cool will prevail.

10X is a relatively dirty powder. It might not be a surprise that your bore does not like that condition which might explain your first group being the best. I've always had similar results using it. One or two good groups of a consistent charge that lose accuracy as carbon builds up. Cleaning the bore might cure that but its not what I'm looking for.

If your mixing various powders in your bore without cleaning you'll be chasing your tail for quite some time. One powder at a time. Consistent bore condition matched to your barrels preferences is the key.JMHO

First, thanks for the replies. Today I went out and followed Hotshot's advice, 1 minute between shots 5 minutes between groups, usually longer. Same loads as yesterday but shot in different order. Cleaned gun after yesterdays shooting , made 3 fouling shots waited 1 hour to try loads. These were all 3 shot groups, so that I didn't get impatient after the waiting periods.
Results: 1st group today @ .6'' yesterday this was 2ndload @ 1.2".
2nd group today @ 3/4 '' yesterday this was 1st group @ 1/4''.
3rd group today @ 1'' yesterday this was 4th group @ 1.5''.
I eliminated the 3rd group from yesterday since it was not good at all, @ 3 ''.
I'm not through I'm gonna keep trying til I come up with something I feel good about. I think I can get the reloader 10x to do a little better with some adjustments. I'm not planning to shoot in competition just for fun mostly. No prairie dogs here in Ms.A few coyotes but it"s gonna be too hot to try them shortly. Next time I shoot I'm gonna run a patch after every shot to see if that helps. I don't want this to turn into something i dread to do or resemble work. I want to keep it fun and simple.

We're all different but running a patch after every shot sure seems dreadful and work like to me
I'd focus on todays second group and play around there a while. Just for fun And by all means keep it fun.
It seems to be the best out of your tests so far.
Off the top of my head the last time I played with 10X and 39bk's 24.6gns worked best for me. It wasn't all that long ago or my memory wouldn't retain it
I had them seated out pretty far so that could change things. Along with a million other variables.

I'm guessing this is a fairly new factory tube. More often than not they take a while to settle down.
10X is not a bad powder for running in a tube. The extra carbon helps keep copper fouling at bay.

Hey, And if you want to run a patch after every shot by all means do so. We learn by trying.

Hey doc,

I run a bore snake through twice after every 30 shots and do a thorough cleaning with brush and solent at about 150. I do use coated bullets. One of my three Savage 204's didn't really settle in and shoot good groups untill over 200 rounds. Now that rifle is my best shooter.Keep at it and you'll find a combination that works.
I will presume you did a barrel break in procedure.
When I do load testing I shoot three 3 shot groups. Then go to another load and do the same and so forth(usually only 3 or 4 loads in a session). When a load looks good I'll try some 5 shot groups and check velocity with the chrony. If the load will consistantly shoot nice round 5 shot groups at the acceptable speed it passes. At that point I try adjusting seating depth to fine tune. Load several hundred and go prairie dog shooting.

I use the hand to the barrel approch. If I can hold my hand on the barrel with out burning it for a few minutes then the barrel is not hot. I have laid my gun in the sun on a hot day (wisconsin hot -90 degrees) and not been able to touch the barrel without a round thru it. I do my load development for huntiung rounds and we hunt from 40 degrees to -40 degrees. so thats the temp I shoot at the range for load development. If its 40 and i can hold onto the barrel after a 5 shot group I feel i can shoot the next 5 rounds right now. I dont clean between shooting groups but I hang 5 targets for 5 new loads and shoot one round of a load at the #1 target then the next load at the #2 target and so on after 25 shots i have shot 5 five round groups at 5 different targets. hope this is clearer then mud.
sportingly
Cracker