Mr. Longs optimum barrel time can be disproved by finding observations that disagree with the predictions of the theory. Accepting that it doesn’t works in some cases, it would have been nice if it was still useful as an aid in predicting accuracy nodes, but I have not found this to be the case. From the time the theory was first presented I have gone to some lengths to apply its predictions to my rifles & loads – including corresponding with the author to get clarification on the effects of barrel discontinuities, chamber length and the effect of this on the point of origin of the so-called shock wave - but when all was said and done I’ve never had any success in using it as a help in finding loads that shoot smaller groups. From the outset it seemed to me that if this approach was able to predict barrel behaviour, then it would be better applied in finding the barrel times to avoid than the opposite, but I haven’t found this to be true either.
QuickLOAD on the other hand is a wonderful thing that just has understandable modelling limitations.
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