Quote Originally Posted by Whynot View Post
Does the group change POI or just get tighter? Lots of rifles will "throw" the first shot-- and then an equal number of people will describe it as "cold shooter"....

The thing to do if you really want an answer is testing and keeping track of the results so you can see the pattern. Try not cleaning the rifle and see what it does on the first shots. Then you can see if it is a cold bore shift or a cold/clean bore shift. Also- is it repeatable? Does it always have the same shift or is it random?

Then add on the fact that some barrels don't seem to experience this (at least to the degree that it is noticed or falls outside of the usual precision of the gun). I'm of the opinion that you shouldn't clean your barrel all that often. A little attention to the neck/throat to make sure you're not getting a carbon ring and then a few passes every couple hundred rounds. Definitely not the guy that shoots a box of ammo and comes home and cleans the barrel.
The groups don`t really shift positions, just progressively tighten. I`ll just not clean the barrel this time and re-shoot and see what it does on first group. I have trouble NOT cleaning my guns after hunting or range sessions. It`s how i was raised. Dad always said, " You cleaned that gun yet, boy? Take care of your equipment and it`ll take care of you." I guess a couple of years in the Pacific during WWII would tend to influence thinking about certain things!