Quote Originally Posted by charlie b View Post
I never hunted as a kid so the first time I heard about 'cold bore' issues was when firing artillery. These days the ballistic computers handle any issues with tube conditions, from 'cold' to hot and everything in between. On tanks we had an active alignment system that compensated for barrel changes due to temperature and gravity. Don't know what the latest artillery uses.

PS there is also a difference between a cold bore and a fouled bore. You can have a cold, fouled bore or a cold, clean bore, etc.
Small bore shooters as a rule only clean the bore when the gun tells them it needs cleaning.
Then they will waste some ammo fouling the bore again before they begin shooting for score.
At least that was the old way, but maybe like many things thoughts on that have changed also.
We always shoot at least a few rounds each fall with the hunting guns for checking the zero and maybe shoot at a distant rock or 2.
Ive been known to do both at the same time.
Then we leave the bore dirty till the season is over.
Of coarse there is a difference in hitting a deer in the vitals at 500 yards with a first shot compared with scoring a 10 on a target.
A gun that wont send the first round at least very close to the point of aim on the first shot shouldnt be being used in the first place.
At 3000 fps and higher with heavy bullets there as a rule wont be much affect from the wind at 5 or 600 yards.
But of coarse tree branches at any longer distance could be another issue, since sight picture and trajectory path dont always match.
For shots longer than that depending on location and conditions, a sighter shot at a nearby object can be a wise move.
Fact is a sighter shot is always a wise move, but a first round miss can be used for that also, usually without it costing any points off your final score.
The rules are what ever works for each individual.