Thread: Some reasons why it often goes bad.

This is math ok. It is hard science. It is the reason I enjoy shooting, so I can amuse myself with this all day.

Let me lay out what he actually says here.

When a rifle fires, its barreled action whips and vibrates all over
the place in every direction and various magnitudes. Such physical
trauma results in the receiver finally settling down in a microscopically
different place after each shot. After which it now gets to start
the vibrating and whipping all over again when the next shot is fired.

The barrel and action move chaotically "all over the place". This is in no way repeatable, it flies about at random and returns to a different spot.

But that microscopically different starting point causes the barreled
action to take off in a different direction and magnitude than before
when the next shot is fired. This just repeats for each and every shot.

Something that flies off at random, now flies off in a different dihis is what the barrel and action move chaotically "all over the place" means. If it moves off at random, the starting point is irrelevant. It does not matter where it came to rest, as the action of a barrel and action is random regardless

As the muzzle points in random places for each shot due to these whips
and vibrations, it will point at a different place relative to the line
of sight for each shot.

The movement of the barrel and action is still random at this point.

That is what causes groups (accuracy) to be
less than what makes smiley faces. Barrel weight doesn't reduce this
situation. Neither does handloads with extremely low velocity standard
deviations. It is further aggravated by out-of-square bolt faces and
locking lugs not making full contact. If the barrel touches part of
the forend, that adds another accuracy-degrading element to an already
bad situation. And the best cases, primers, powder and bullets so
darned perfectly assembled won't help either. If the barreled action
doesn't start from the same place for each shot, the bullets won't end
up in the same place later.

He has repeatedly said barrels and actions whip about randomly so it does not matter where the end up, their departure will be random

So, if the barreled action can be somehow returned to exactly the same
place in the stock for each and every shot, the magnitude of those
barrel whips and vibrations will be greatly reduced, if not practically
eliminated.

Now he is saying that if you can get the barrel and action to start and stop in the same place, the random whips and vibrations will get vastly smaller, or stop entirely, purely because it departs from the same place. Firing no longer makes the rifle vibrate, because the barrel and action always return to the same spot.

Then the only thing left is normal barreled action vibrations
at their resonant frequency, but this can't be eliminated although it
has virtually no effect on accuracy. Epoxy bedding was and is the
solution.

The resonance frequency goes from discordant to harmonic (and therefore repeatable) via the laborious process of load development.

What really happens is a rifle always vibrates and through load selection we get it to vibrate in a way that is conducive to accuracy and precision.

The "randomness" he refers to does not exist. The rifle does not vibrate randomly, or none of them will group, ever.

Surely just about everyone has taken a bedded rifle through load development? If all you had to do was bed it and it would miraculously cease to vibrate, why don't we just bed out rifles and go win benchrest contests?

Because those vibrations are chaotic and discordant and by changing powder types and projectile weights till we find a point where they are not and the departure from the barrel is repeatable and in the part of its movement we want.

Every time he talks about the barrel and action departing and returning, he must be referring to a rifle with the action screws undone. An unbedded rifle may rattle like fury and stuff up your harmonics, but still depart and return to the same spot.
For a bedded action this is all irrelevant because it never departs.

And again, bedding is relative. If the action is in the stock it is bedded, and where you want to go from there is up to you. Most hunting rifles are bedded to allow the action to move in the stock. Directly forward and backward. Don't ask me why, but the only time I did not do it I had to gouge it all out and start again and partially relieve the bedding lugs, because it shot like shit.