A Tale Of Two (Gun) Cultures

A couple thoughts are nudging my mind about what I read in your forum and what was written in your stories.

In the first story of the old Eland bull you talk of how the bull was shot by a bullet that passed through but did not create a large wound channel.    The unsatisfying knowledge that the animal was not dispatched in a quick and efficient manor.  Also the point is raised of how the exit wound was not sufficient to supply a good trail to track the animal or to bleed him out more quickly.

The second story was also ingrained with the issue of a bullet that penetrated through the animal only to travel beyond and kill an unintended victim.

This brings to mind how in your forum it is said a proper cartridge bullet should penetrate the animal and leave a 1 1/2 caliber exit wound.     Why would you advocate for complete penetration when you know that the bullet is still lethal beyond it's victim?   Also you can't really depend on knowing what is beyond your intended target even though that is exactly what we strive for.   Also, I am one of the people who consider that having a bullet leaving the targets body may not be ideal. Energy as well as diameter of a bullet wound helps kill an animal.  It is not the only factor for sure but it does play it's part.   You've mentioned that having a bullet fragment in the body is destructive to the meat around the wound channel.   I agree but it also adds to the blood loss of that animal and creates a quicker death.  I am not for fragmenting bullets on game animals but it is definitely good to have when having to deal with two legged problems.

My personal view to date has been that a bullet that will expand about double it's caliber hold itself together and expend it's energy inside the animal will create the quickest kill and cause the animal the least discomfort. Now you've said and I can readily believe that African game is more tenacious of life than animals found on the North American Continent.   Being able to break both shoulder and create a wound channel on both sides of the animal would bring them more effectively to the hunters table.  That scenario would also help alleviate the issue of animals trying to retaliate for being rudely attacked.   But you have to accept the negative results of that performance of a bullet if you are going to purposely create that scenario.

I mentioned that I have been using a neck shot to kill my animals and have accepted the fact that I do loose a bit of the neck meat. What I don't deal with is having to track an animal and I know they die quickly and because of the fact their spine has been severed they actually feel less than with a heart/lung shot. I also noticed that a head shot was considered a reasonable place to shoot an animal.   I would concur with that for the same reasons I gave for my using a neck shot.  In fact it may be a bit more humane.   It would require the hunter to be more careful and skillful with his firearm for sure. I have shot one animal out at 400 yards or so.   It was an Antelope that was out on a flat and I was on a hill overlooking that  pan. I had a rifle I was sure could make the shot but I was not accustomed to that range.   It took me three shots to kill that animal.  The first was about 10 inches in front of him as I misjudged his walking speed.  The second shot stopped him from running off as he had turned and started running the opposite direction he had been headed.   He turned ran again about 30 yards and stopped to see where the threat was coming from.  By the way the was a constant 8 mile an hour wind while I was doing this.   Anyway the third shot took him in the shoulder and stopped him standing in place.   That bullet was found in the far shoulder as I had picked the larger heart/lung area to shoot at for that instance.   I wasn't very pleased with myself as he was still standing and I had to shoot a fourth time to finish him more quickly.  The last bullet had penetrated through and I didn't retrieve it.  I had been rested on my back pack and so I had a steady shot.   I was just not good enough to make a one shot kill at that distance.   I've never shot that far again.   I'm only now even passively considering it because I've progressed a lot since then.  But because of getting older and my eyes not being as good anymore those thoughts are diminishing.

Valid observations, Michael.

As an overview let me say the two stories published in a local gun magazine at the time are true tales with a twist in the tail and some aspects which touch on my peoples' culture (hunting and otherwise) as well as hunter eduation. I accept one needs to be part of this specific culture to read everything else that is of a more subtle nature between the lines.

Before the day of the big bull eland that displayed the unusual tenacity of life I had not had the full understanding of what happens to an animal when being wounded as that was the first game, big or small that I did not kill with one shot immediately. It also was my first eland which turned out to be the Rhodesian record for weight at the time. Carcass weighed 1,568 lbs after removal of the stomach if I remember correctly .

Adrenaline affects the brain chemical balance and therefore the brain function so that some instinctive neuro sensors are blocked that otherwise would have shut down muscle behaviour, including that of the heart and limbs. Also my understanding of the physiology of heart function was not as clear as today, and neither was my understanding of the hydrostatic process of in-flesh bullet behaviour depending on its shape. (More about this aspect when I finalise the section on body-internal bullet behaviour in the Totally Technical category).

Those bullets were a lightweight (235gr) of nickel clad, semi-round nose smooth-flow design at 2,900 ft/sec each which made a single hole through the lower (rear) chambers of the heart. Today I know to aim even further forward to take the upper chambers and pulsating nodes out for immediate heart stoppage.

The fact that the bull did not fall dead within the standard 40-50 yards of big game was mostly a function of the brain and not a shortcoming of the bullet. The lesson is that particularly big animals with even a flesh wound seem impervious to any follow-up shooting particularly when they have seen you as being the predator. I indeed noted in my article that the blood spoor was very evident indicating that the heart was pumping the body empty. Since then I know to aim for the top (forward part when side-on of the heart in order to cut the main arteries as well as the pulsating nodes.

The second eland story was to relate the unusual penetrating ability of the .375 H&H and why it is such a perfect performer on Cape buffalo and elephant. That bullet was a 300gr Hornady Interlock at 2,550 ft/sec and the performance was exactly perfect on that big eland - the first heart shot killed him as quickly within 40 yards as any other bullet would have done. Meat damage (which is a big thing with us) from the 300gr was almost non-existent. The cow in the background was too well camouflaged amongst the vegetation to see with the focus on the running bull at 80 yards.

What my article stressed was that the 300 H&H with 300gr bullets has such immense penetration ability that makes it a liability for also hitting something else on even the heaviest soft skinned game. The 1” thick skin of giraffe and Cape buffalo invariably stops the bullet on the opposite side.

270 grain expanding Peregrine, Rhino or GS Custom bullets are excellent for eland and if the rifle is not used for dangerous game that weight is the best choice for the cartridge. We tend to always shoot only one bullet weight in any calibre and learn the trajectory of that by heart for all distances where a heart shot will be a sure thing.

One of course always endeavours to ensure that no other animal is behind the one you shoot. Member frhunter13 from Louisiana can relate how blue wildebeest cows will congregate around the bulls when there is a threat.

I have conclusively observed that the least meat damage is caused when there is the least amount of bullet slow-down while passing through an animal while killing ability is not lessened at all. I use the .416 Rigby with 400gr Peregrine VRG-2 monolithic copper solids on everything in Mozambique from camp meat to whatever dangerous is hunted.

On the diminutive duiker and stodgy bush pig or a waterbuck shoulder it just zips through with an immediate fall down and quick death and no meat damage. There is only one reason for this heavy calibre out there: you dare not have any rifle with lesser than .375 H&H calibre 24/7 with you or within reach whether you are hunting for camp meat or enjoying what was hunted at the table.

Kudu sirloin being prepared in a marinade of worcestershire sauce and olive oil and the .416 at hand.

More later on the other comments.

I'd like to first speak to the idea of Kinetic energy as heat transferred from one object to another as they interact. This is indeed an accurate physics equatable reaction. Kinetic heat cannot occur unless a mass interacts with something outside the mass. Mass will not develop heat through movement alone (in a void) and cannot achieve movement unless effected by some sort of energy outside itself. When it comes to the American hunting community its meaning has been misrepresented and abused. There is in fact a Kinetic reaction when a bullet enters a solid mass. When it comes to a living organism it occurs as well but isn't the means for producing a shock wave through the wound channel.

Now, that said! Think of your science and anatomy courses. What is the main substance of a living organism on this planet? I've been taught that it's water. A human body is something like 97% water. What happen's when you try to compress water or any liquid in a sudden motion or even in a slow one. It create's a Hydraulic force if contained at all or is forced out into surrounding areas if it can be. If the liquid were contained it would cause a pressure build up that would either stop the object trying to compress it, or it would force the liquid in some other direction if there was a path of lesser resistance. What do you think happens when a bullet enters a living body and forces the Water (Blood) to move from it's confined vessels and arteries, heart into other parts of the body. It creates Hydraulic shock. That is what has been mistakenly called Kinetic energy by the hunting press in America. There is indeed a force that disrupts the body far beyond the wound channel when a bullet enters at speed, that force is Hydraulic.

Kinetic energy would occur as it is part of physics but it does not play a part in killing an organism with a bullet. Have you ever taken a persons wrist in your hands and circled it with your fingers and then twisted your fingers around the wrist very hard and quickly? kinetic energy in the form of friction at play creates a rash/burn. The mass of your fingers moving at speed against the persons wrist creating heat that is transferred to the other persons wrist. I have no idea the mass or speed it would require to create enough kinetic energy by a bullet to create lethal damage or if it in fact could be accomplished.

Next I would like to mention a thought on the development of efficient pressure chambers in relation to cartridge case design. In America, again, the hunting press has tried to equate the development of a better designed case in terms of better accuracy. The intent of the designers of straight walled sharp shouldered cases was not related to accuracy but to create a better pressure chamber to fire off the gunpowder that pushes the bullet down the barrel and make the bullet travel faster with less powder consumed and consuming that powder more efficiently. The end results was a efficient pressure chamber/cartridge case. Now if accuracy was effected in a particular rifle with the better designed case I'm sure there were a multitude of reasons besides the new case design.

That said, you cannot discard the case dimensions effects on the bullet it is propelling. Any reloader knows the case does effect the trajectory of the bullet seated in it. If it didn't then competitive shooters would not check length, case mouth and shoulder uniformity, case weight, Neck thickness/concentric etc..

Another thought that I was interested in was the idea of harmonic energy and how it effects a rifle when shot. Or is that not what effects the rifle barrel. That depends on what you are defining as Harmonic Frequency (energy). If it is only the energy response that causes vibration once an object is in movement then the rest of this meandering thought is moot. If though you perceive Harmonic Frequency (movement) as the vibration of an object say a guitar string and that the movement starts at point of impact of energy on an object and spreads from there and will create a Harmonic Response of varied intensity then we have something to discuss. As we know the explosion that is the cartridge igniting and going off occurs very quickly relative to a persons perception. It does however have an immediate effect on the rifle and shooter holding said rifle. The burning question is how much of an effect is we have a difficult time perceiving it. The American Hunting community is told more of an effect that we might realize. What are these reactions that might disrupt the accuracy of our shooting? One is the barrel harmonics. There are two thoughts on this. One says the harmonics are only occurring after the bullet leave the barrel. The other says that the barrel is being effected the instant the cartridge goes off. If the barrel is effected immediately what would those effects be? Heat to the barrel. Pressure to the metal of the barrel. Movement? We know the barrel chamber swells by doing testing. We know the barrel moves back and forth if not seated perfectly and maybe a bit even when we think it is. The whole rifle certainly moves. Then there is the possibility of what is called barrel harmonics. We know the barrel will vibrate after the bullet leaves the barrel but what is happening when the bullet is traveling down the bore of the barrel. Have you ever felt a rail track when a train is on it? The rails vibrate. Is it only vibrating before and after the train passes or is the entire track vibrating. What brought about the concept of a bull (heavy large diameter barrel) for competition if the harmonics of the barrel did not effect accuracy? Have you ever talked to a gunsmith and discussed whether to free float a barrel or dampen it with say five pounds of upward pressure near the muzzle? If these things effect the accuracy of a barrel and how it shoots a bullet then how can we disregard the concept of harmonics having an effect on accuracy? Harmonics is after all vibration.

Michael I am still culling the corn from the chaff to keep the response to your previous post short and sweet. In the mean time here are some links:

Kinetic Energy: https://www.bullet-behavior.com/the-historical-myths

https://www.bullet-behavior.com/the-whole-9-yards-of-ke

Hydrostatic shock: https://www.bullet-behavior.com/hydrostatic-shock

Why would you advocate for complete penetration when you know that the bullet is still lethal beyond it's victim?   Also you can't really depend on knowing what is beyond your intended target even though that is exactly what we strive for.   Also, I am one of the people who consider that having a bullet leaving the targets body may not be ideal. Energy as well as diameter of a bullet wound helps kill an animal.  It is not the only factor for sure but it does play it's part.   You've mentioned that having a bullet fragment in the body is destructive to the meat around the wound channel.   I agree but it also adds to the blood loss of that animal and creates a quicker death.  I am not for fragmenting bullets on game animals but it is definitely good to have when having to deal with two legged problems.¨

While one can not see anything directly behind a kudu in the dense bush it is only really the .375 H&H and arguably the .338 Win Mag with heavy bullets (like the .35s an exceedingly rare cartridge here) that pose an over penetration threat. In my 55 years of big game hunting it only has happened to me once with the second eland. Mostly with the 12 elk size big game species here the bullet will be stuck against the opposite skin having broken both shoulders - which we tend to achieve in dense vegetation.

Yes, an exit hole via the heart is desirable as it assists in getting blood outside the body and not pooling inside. Personally I am not so much concerned about the blood spoor as a heartshot animal does not go very far and blood even from an entrance wound into the bottom chambers wil show very soon.

A distinct difference in the hunting culture here is that we do not plan for the animal to die from gradual blood loss - but by immediately cutting of the blood supply to the brain and ending brain function. The action for this is purely sword-like mechanical: look at the photo below of a perfect shot: gemsbok heart top chambers cut open by a 165 gr Federal Fusion out of a .308W from about 180 yards. The animal was dead before any blood was on the ground.

Both top chambers cut open as well as the pulsating node area and the main arteries

Entrance hole

Exit hole

I have hunted many small and big game animals with solid or full metal jacket bullets and there is exactly zero difference in the killing ability of those compared to an expanding bullet with heart shots. The animal dies just as quickly by either. In fact the photo below is of the locally made Impala brass solid which is a very popular bullet here and in Europe, particularly Scandinavia. Entrance and exit holes are calibre size and the internal wound channel is 4x calibre with absolute minimum meat damage.

They do not enjoy the same popularity in the USA as do Peregrine and GS Custom bullets do because the BATF regard them as being (body) armour piercing so no local distributor can get a bulk import licence. Many individual hunters import them from South Africa. They are lightweight, fast bullets (130gr at 3,000 ft/sec from my .303 Brit). They do not kill by ejecting kinetic energy, or by hydrostatic shock. They kill by mechanical cutting - and forcing a 4x calibre wound channel by the hydraulic shock wave carried into the flesh by the bullet's uniquely shaped air supersonic shock cone. It is a most excellent performer on big, medium, and small game with virtually zero meat spoilage.

The amount of minutely pulverised lead and copper deposits, apart from the many small but visible and mouth-detectable slivers in the body of an animal shot with Nosler or Winchester Ballistic Tip bullets must be observed on an X-Ray image to never ever again use these for hunting - that is if the sight of the often multiple times shot animal is not already enough to turn the stomach. Fragments of fragmented bullets assist the animal in dying in my experience but do not kill the animal outright - which is what we like to achieve with our bullet designs.

I guide out of state hunters in Colorado during mostly black powder and first and second rifle seasons and regularly take a look at the carcasses in the cool rooms of the butchers, and see much butchering by bullets that break up - all the lightweight Noslers and Remington CoreLokt results.

Yes - a sturdy bullet of the heavier weight in the calibre that does not shed weight and maintains a direct line of penetration and does not expand more than 1.5x calibre is what impresses the advocates of the hunting culture out here. So, this website and forum exists to expose both sides of the Atlantic and the Equator to the cultural beliefs that exist on either side of these. :-)

More later.

"Now you've said and I can readily believe that African game is more tenacious of life than animals found on the North American Continent.   Being able to break both shoulder and create a wound channel on both sides of the animal would bring them more effectively to the hunters table.  That scenario would also help alleviate the issue of animals trying to retaliate for being rudely attacked.   But you have to accept the negative results of that performance of a bullet if you are going to purposely create that scenario.

In fact I wrote that Africa animals are no more tough to kill than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts - little 6.5x55s, 7x57s and particularly the .308W kill them all the time with a single shot and a heavy bullet through the heart. On these creatures there are zero negative results of that bullet performance as that scenario has been purposely created since light weight meant a 7x57 with 175gr, a .303 with 215gr and a 8x57 with 225gr FMJ bullets.

I mentioned that I have been using a neck shot to kill my animals and have accepted the fact that I do loose a bit of the neck meat. What I don't deal with is having to track an animal and I know they die quickly and because of the fact their spine has been severed they actually feel less than with a heart/lung shot. I also noticed that a head shot was considered a reasonable place to shoot an animal.   I would concur with that for the same reasons I gave for my using a neck shot.  In fact it may be a bit more humane.   It would require the hunter to be more careful and skillful with his firearm for sure.

We are very loathe do do neck shots and therefor all young hunter education and the hunting rifle shooting competitions are for brain or heart shots. Spine shots are equally discouraged. Look at the photos below and find the neck vertebrae: Huge possibility of putting a bullet through the neck muscles above the neck vertebrae or through the throat. The hunter will never see that animal again except for maybe stumbling on a hunger-wasted carcass weeks later:

Trophy Blue Wildebeest bull. Brain shot: to the left of his highlighted left ear exactly on the highlighted spot below the left boss.

Heart shot: Move the crosshairs up behind his left knee and into the dark spot behind the shoulder where the highlight begins.

Young Blue Wildebeest bull. Heart shot: Move the crosshairs up the front edge of the inside leg to tight left of the shoulder bulge, halfway along the short diagonal stripe. NOT behind the shoulder! - there is NO vital organ there.

Too close for comfort so only a brain shot: Between her left eyeball and the white spot on the forehead.

Young gemsbok bull. Heart shot: Move the crosshairs up from the white spot on the inside leg the same distance as the black sock is.

Eland bull. Too late, he saw you - unless he is reacting to your bullet which must have been 3" left of the dark spot on his shoulder.

Sable. Heart shot: Move the crosshairs up the front edge of the leg to where the two dimples and the shadow of his ear meet.

Rowland Ward Nyala. Heart shot: Move the crosshairs up from the white spot on the leg to where the first vertical stripe starts.

Young kudu bull already 48". Heart shot: Tight behind the shoulder where the first vertical stripe starts.

Trophy gemsbok bull. Heart shot: Up between the front legs to just left of the light coloured blotch on the front part of the shoulder.

In all the photos above I know exactly where the brain and neck and heart is but the possibility of missing the neck vertebrae is too high due to it being at an angle. The visiting hunter who does not know the anatomy must without exeption aim for the heart and nothing else.

You have just made my point for me about Hydraulic shock in the comments above. Please do not confuse my earlier comments on Hydraulic shock with your issues with Hydrostatic shock. They are not the same and I have not suggested they are by not mentioning them together. Hydraulic shock is very real in the development of the wound channel as you yourself talk about when referring to the South African made solid metal bullet. It's design is such that it creates more Hydraulic shock as you said to make a larger wound channel. An expanding bullet will accomplish a greater hydraulic shock reaction by having a larger metflat once expanded. even a non-expanding bullet exerts Hydraulic shock if not as great..

The kinetic energy affects the bullet which effects the animal. The kinetic energy can only very slightly effect the animal as the bullet releases some of it's kinetic energy against the wound channel of the animal. If the energy is there as heat to create expansion of a metal object and strip it of it's lead core do you believe it won't release some of that energy into the surrounding environment(an animals body) ? This is slight indeed as I mentioned before but you can't put something with heat against another object and not get transference. It doesn't assist in killing the animal as I said.

My apologies for not being more clear on what I mean as a neck shot. I specifically am referring to a spine shot and not just placing a bullet into the neck in general. The spine resides inside the neck bones and by shattering the neck bones and severing the spine the animal looses motion and sensory to the rest of their body. It immediately immobilizes them and in my experience server the arteries to the head and stop blood to the brain.

Yes you do have to understand the anatomy of the animal your shooting at and how the spine sets in relation to it's shoulder as it passes rearward from the head. It is not a straight line but a curve that drops as it approaches the shoulder.

By your photos I understand your not wanting to take a neck shot. The closest animal that is similar in body shape to the ones you've shown would be an Bison in America. I agree I would take the heart Lung shot on a Bison. Then, I would do the same on a Grizzly unless confronted close quarters in an attack situation, then I would take a head shot.

The caveat of using heavy for caliber bullets in smaller caliber cartridges is a slide around the feeling that African game is more difficult to kill than American game. I have no difficulty of conscience using a 150 gr Nosler Partition on a Moose or Elk out of a 7x57 Mauser, I have taken four Elk and one Moose with one shot that way. My cartridge load chronographed 2950 FPS with the 150 gr. Partitions. All those animals were shot within 100 yds.

I will debate the instant death of an animal using the heart/lung shot placement. You yourself have talked repeatedly about tracking animals with a shot placed there. It will cut the blood to the brain but I believe it is not instantaneous. Adrenaline plays a part but is not the entire culprit to an animal being able to travel once it is shot through the heart.

Oh, I perfectly understood that you aim for the neck vertebrae - I simply say we discourage it for the risk of missing the narrow target and have the bullet through the muscle or throat. I always say to a hunter who proposes a neck shot that if he is capable of that accurate placement then he should go for the brain.

Apart from that one eland (which was a bottom of the heart shot) I have yet to see the Africa animal that will go further than 60 yards when shot through the top of the heart - mostly not more than 20 - and in the deer varieties they just fall down dead. These things out here are real sissies when it comes to a heart shot.

Very informative discussion. One of the reasons why I Ieft the other forum was the lack of ability or wish for civilised debate, and the compulsion for aggression and insults against anyone who expresses a view opposite to that of the poster.

Thank you for the chance to discuss the difference in hunting techniques.

The only reason a head shot is not my preferred target is that on some species a head shot can have issues with horn/antler coverage. I personally have never used the head as a target. I was in fact taught to use the Heart/Lung as a proper place to shoot an animal. The heart is not a large target though either. I am also very motivated to have my firearms shoot as accurately as I am able to make them. I am a hunter. Which to my ethos means that you learn about the animals life style and habitat and make every effort to approach as closely and quietly as possible. I have had experiences where I was within a foot of my pray and not harmed them. It was more exciting to me to be able to be that close and they not know I was there. My older brother and I spent many years tracking game for the fun of that alone. Learn their habits and habitat and you can kill game. Learn to be close to them and you learn to appreciate them for themselves and not just as a meal. I have only the greatest respect for the game I hunt and as I've gotten older I'm not so sure I really want to hunt them as much any more. I do so like the quality and flavor of game meat over domestic though, that I will probably continue to harvest an animal once in awhile.

The main reason I left the other forum was for the collective lack of ability to discuss and share, and the compulsion to belittle and insult the individual who dared to offer and prove something that is opposite to the belief the aggressive anti-new knowledge crowd had.

I do like to have what I call a discussion. To honestly debate an idea and look at it from all sides. That way you get the greatest amount of information to then use to make an informed decision or opinion about something. As it has been said by others more learned than me. "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."

True. The ability for independent thinking seems to be either disappearing or forced out of our faculties by some amorphous thought police. "This is what you need to know" is a favourite statement in the media. What they are saying is "This is what we shall allow you to know.", which is nonsense - I need to know EVERYTHING there is to know about any subject my mind wants to focus on.

Just a quick response:

"Have you ever talked to a gunsmith and discussed whether to free float a barrel or dampen it with say five pounds of upward pressure near the muzzle? If these things effect the accuracy of a barrel and how it shoots a bullet then how can we disregard the concept of harmonics having an effect on accuracy? Harmonics is after all vibration."

Most European-made and all Musgrave rifles have the up-pressure cork and are not free-floated. A controlled force on the barrel, or preventing a possibility of uncontrolled contact are used to limit or control the bullet-in-barrel whip-torque pattern or to let it be what it will be while the bullet travels down the bore. As an aside - both upward pressure and free floating are equally effective to ensure repeated muzzle position at the moment of bullet departure.

That is the displacement part of the barrel by the bullet' s passing - the strike on the one prong of the tuning fork (displacing it from its position of rest). The bullet's torqueing action whips the muzzle around. Then the bullet is out and gone. This whipping action has been accurately measured by laser and using high speed videography in the Somchem laboratory for internal and intermediate ballistics. This input displacement must be as constant as possible of course.

Post bore-manufacturing (no matter whether it is hammer forging (Truvello), drilling and button rifling (Musgrave) or cutting, all leave random stresses in the barrel which makes for differing displacement as the bullet whips down the bore. All South African made barrels and those from Austria, Belgium and most Scandinavian manufacturers are stress relieved and will always be about 1/2 MOA shooters off the shelf.

Vibration and harmonics: After the strike (the displacing force) on one prong of a tuning fork has been completed that prong will vibrate at a certain frequency. This is vibration and not harmonics yet. That vibration now sets up a harmonic response in the other prong which then harmoniously vibrates with the first prong because both have the same harmonic response.

Therefor the concept of harmonics is not even present in single barrel firearms - it certainly is a factor in the multi-barrel Vulcan aircraft cannon.

There is only a displacement in some spiral curve while the bullet passes - which is not even vibration (yet). The moment the bullet leaves the bore, now the barrel starts to vibrate for a while and then comes to rest - but this vibration has no effect on the bullet in any way. Also, in the physics definition of the term harmonic response or simply harmonics this vibratory pattern should in the final instance not be called harmonics at all as there is no secondary barrel that starts to vibrate in harmonious response to the first barrel that had some vibration after the bullet had left its bore.

Some gun writer somewhere had applied the term harmonics to the displacement phase of the bullet' s passing and another one picked up on it and repeated it; and another, and so - like the incorrect assumptions about kinetic energy and hydro-static shock it became dogma in the trinity dogmas of the gun religion.

I understand what you are saying about the harmonics being something other than vibration. Point taken. We have combined the meaning of one word (vibration) for both words. That could be confusing if you are used to using the correct definitions of words. I can see where it would muddy the waters in a technical conversation between two different cultured people.

I think you are correct in saying that some writer and or shooter switched the concept of vibration for Harmonics. That said, it is not the concept of a vibration occurring in the barrel when a cartridge is fired, but how much effect it has on the bullet as it travels down said barrel before it exits that is disputed. Then there is the debate as to which is a better path o take to create a consistent pattern to the effect of the vibration. That is where free floating the barrel or upward pressure being applied comes into play.

Between my close Cousin Greg and myself, we have examined the effect of both applications in about a dozen different rifles. We split evenly between us as to which is preferred. I follow the idea of free floating because when dealing with upward pressure we found that some rifles will react differently to different amounts of pressure. We believe the weight of the barrel (diameter) type of steel and length effects the outcome.

My Cousin Greg has found that if He carefully applies about 5 Lbs. of upward stress (He uses an actual 5lb. lead weight tied and suspended from the barrel at the muzzle as the rifle hangs barrel down. then applies an amount of glass bedding and lets it set. When He removes the weight there is exactly 5 lb, of stress being applied to the barrel) He gets his best accuracy on most rifles He's tried this with. It is the constancy of the vibration which is trying to be achieved with either method not to try and stop the vibration. Of course bedding the action plays a part in providing a more consistent vibration as well.

With barrels from SAKO, Austria, Belgium, South Africa (Musgrave, Truvello, Lyttleton Engineering) that do not need "breaking in", the up pressure indeed seems to work best for consistent accuracy. Some experience with the steel and profile is needed to identify the perfect position for the cork strip under the barrel.

The first time in my life I heard about "breaking in" of a barrel was in 2013 in Colorado.

I shall shortly in words describe the bullet displacement pattern as well as the post bullet vibration videography and measurements of the muzzle centre point of one of the many rifle barrels analysed by Somchem. This will describe the bullet-affecting displacement during bullet travel as well as the non bullet-affecting, post-bullet-departure vibrations.

Breaking in a barrel is hottly contested here in the US as well. aq goodly number of knowledgeable gun people like Gunsmiths and advanced shooters do not adhere to this practice. There is evidently a lot of power in the written word though as some manufacturer's are polishing their barrels internally, to use as a selling point to shooters who believe there is a need to break in a barrel.

I personally have never tried the process of breaking in a barrel and have never suffered for it. My rifles have all shot better than I am able to.

Observations of barrel flexing (the term we use for barrel displacement during the bore time of the bullet), and subsequent barrel vibrations after the bullet has left the muzzle. All plots are from the moment of peak pressure to the moment the bullet leaves the muzzle, and then for a set time during the vibratory phase.

In the Somchem laboratory for internal and intermediate ballistics the following is a typical laser plot of the muzzle centre point during a five shot strings.

Shot 1: Bullet in bore displacement (flexing): Immediately on the bullet fully engaged by the rifling, the muzzle was displaced to the left by about 1 micron, then down by about .75 micron, *then to the right by .75 micron and up by .5 micron, whipping up by another .5 micron and over to the left by 5.5 microns, then further to the left by .5 micron and down by. 5 micron. The bullet left the bore when the bore was flexed 7 micron to the left of and one micron below the static position.

Post-bullet vibration: The moment the bullet had left the barrel, the muzzle vibrated down by .5 micron, suddenly left by .5 micron, down a further .5 micron, to the right and up to settle in its original static position 7 microns to the right and one micron up with minute residual vibrations around the static position.

NOTES (and note that a human hair diameter is about 75 microns!):

• This general pattern was repeated except that with each consecutive shot the flexing to the right in the * moment above became progressively wider as well as higher, indicating less rigidity due to heating.

• Similarly the post-bullet vibrations also increased in amplitude.

• The horisontal spread between the moments of bullet departure was 3 micron with shots 2 and 5 virtually identical and a .75 micron separation between 2/5, 1, and 4. Shot 3 was left of the 2/5 group by 3 microns.

• Vertical spreading between the five shots' moments of bullet departure was negligibly minute - less than .01 micron.

• The return-to-static vibrations as described above of course have no influence on the bullet, or on accuracy. The repeated flexing of the barrel by the moving bullet inside the bore of course has.

• In this instance the 100 yards distance between the extreme horisontal departure points of bullets #2/5 and bullet #3 relates to .16 mm. All that means is that this rifle has been perfectly relieved of post manufacture barrel stresses.

Interesting tests. I have not had access to this specific testing information before. It's good to have. I have seen other tests showing the barrel movement using cameras and with seismic graphing machinery to show a chart of the barrels movement in visible form.

Now back to the discussion. We do have flexing even from a cold barrel. When the heat from the cartridge firing and of the bullet going down the bore we have "slightly" more and variable flexing. If you are using an industrial grade rest that prohibits movement of the rifle then you would be getting one hole accuracy.

Now, add a human being controlling the firearm either on bags or just holding the firearm and you have added a plethora of variables. The person using the firearm is the major issue but every factor in regards to the rifle, whether barrel vibration, bedding of the action, stock warping, action screws tightened improperly etc. adds to the issue and are exasperated by the person shooting the rifle. Of course a person will not admit that they are the primary problem so they work on every other factor they can think of to warrant the cause of their firearm not shooting the way they think it should. Lets be kind though and also admit that manufacturers do not always accomplish good machining and manufacture which can escalate the issues I've mentioned and more.

Another question i have is what type of barrel design was used? Was it a commercial bull test barrel or a sport barrel or what? I would bet that a light weight barrel is going to vibrate more than a Bull barrel, but how much more? Also what happens out beyond 100 yds.? Does the spread change in an exponential geometry or does it stay consistent in ratio the farther it travels?

I'm not trying to be boorish in my questioning, I am truly interested in these processes. This is all part and parcel of shooting. The more you understand a function the better you can deal with it if need be. I'm not a machinist in any way nor am I a particularly good mathematician both of which would add to my better understanding of these things but I can ask questions of those who do understand the dynamics of these issues and tap into their knowledge if they are willing to assist. Thanks, this is great conversation!

Typically the tests done at the Somchem laboratory are for hunters who bring their new hunting rifles in for complete analyses because "it does not group well". My son's house looks down on the Somchem facility in the city of Somerset West. The talk there is that 88% of these rifles are returned to their owners with the note: "Congratulations sir, you have a very accurate rifle there!" 90% of inaccurate shooting is the shooter.

Mostly these flexing analyses are done to determine whether a barrel has residuals tresses or not,

and if so how much does it influence the point of bullet departure and after how many shots.

Apart from the 100% perfect concentricity and linear and vertical and lateral alignment of every mating surface in the barreled action and stock, the barrel flexing is a small part in accuracy. Crown concentricity has the biggest influence, followed by bolt face, throat and chamber and bore concentricity and linearity.

Folk out here are terribly unforgiving when it comes to firearms quality by local producers. Any local rifle manufacturer must just have one instance of quality lapse and he will regret it financially. Patriotism in the gun world means the manufacturer must proudly and consistently present a rifle to the buying public that conforms to the South African tradition of 100% reliable and accurate firearms. The local gun culture bottom line is that patriotism does not mean the buyer must and will buy a South African made rifle despite the fact it may need reworking just because it is South African made. It will be proudly owned only if it is up there with the best of Europe. As an example: having to bed any locally made rifle to make it shoot straight will be all over the gun forums. Metal on wood is the best bedding and that is the job of the manufacturer, so rifles off the shelf are invariably .5 MOA shooters.

A Musgrave Special Order rifle in .308W

"Exibition" model in .375 H&H

The entry level Field Model. Only difference is in the grade of Turkish walnut wood used

Michael, I enjoy your detailed, enquiring questions and observations and sharing of the ways things are done out there.