Hunting tip of the day: Fouling Shots Most of us are guilty of not doing it, but many of us dont understand the importance of what is called a fouling shot. Basically,a fouling shot is one of several rounds fired before a rifle match or hunting trip to warm the barrel and to furnish some fouling in order that the initial rounds of record fire pass through the bore under conditions similar to those obtaining for later rounds. This fouling makes for a slicker and more consistent wearing surface for the bullet. This slicker surface then, generally, will improve the accuracy of the rifle. How much? Take the pictures below for example. This target was shot from a Remington 700 in 270 AFTER having a fouling shot sent down range. After the initial fouling shot, the next two shot measured a group size of over 3.5 inches. NOT IMPRESSIVE. We began to hypothesize that the gun just didnt like that load, or there was an issue with stock screws or scope mounts... Which had all been checked before shooting. Undeterred, we decided to shoot another 3-shot group. Not only did we see a point-of-impact shift of almost 1 inch, the group size shrunk to just 0.245! Let me say that again, 0.245 INCHES! What does that mean? This rifle needs 3 fouling shots AT LEAST with this particular load, but then it will shoot phenomenally well! We now know that before attempting to shoot a group or take this rifle into a deer stand, we need to put a few shots through it to foul up the rifling. It should then be stated that even after allowing this rifle to cool, we got a cold bore group size of .482. In short, even a cold bore group out of this hunting rifle, as long as it is properly fouled, is less than 1/2 inch. It then produced an average group size of less than 1/3 MOA for the rest of the day. Lesson learned! Some rifles are less picky, and some are more dependent on fouling. Please, experiment with your rifle to know what it likes. It will probably take a few boxes of ammo to iron it out. However, once you know what your rifle likes, the confidence it will give you is outstanding! How many of you shoot fouling shots before taking your rifle hunting? Has anybody ever missed their prey after failing to shoot a fouling shot?
Posted on: Sat, 18 Oct 2014 13:30:12 +0000
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