Camo tape wrap effecting accuracy.

[GQshayne]

I started using this stuff a while back, and I like it. My rifles have been restored with walnut re-done and, ceracoting to metalwork. So I thought a wrap would help prptect them when in the field. It certainly does that, and I also found it makes a great feel on sometimes other slippery surfaces. Cheap, and easy to put on and off as required.

However, we have just found a problem. Doing some load checking on a BLR that has a very short and light profile barrel, it was found to put the first two shots good enough for "minute of pig" and the third was way off. This was repeated a couple of times. Not rapid like you would after pigs, but 3 careful shots at a target with no real rush. After some discussion over the phone, dad told me the rifle had the wrap on it to the end of the barrel. We speculated it was keeping the heat in the .243 and not allowing it to dissapate. Removed the wrap, and three shots were on target.

Lesson learned.

[No1_49er]

The weight of the wrap, however small you might think it to be, is potentially altering the barrel harmonics.

[fussy]

Barrel is a tuning fork. Hollow, but it has certain vibrations, hence why load workup can make a huge difference, and why we free-float barrels.

[Fester]

You may get an idea if heat or harmonics are the culprits by just testing with a bit of tape at the crown end of the barrel.

Not handled a BLR, but those Hells Canyons are a very thin pencil barrel and would be 3 shots max to shoot a group.
The tape heat could easily make the 3rd shot start flying.

[GQshayne]

Either way, it seems to be have been the cause, but given that the first two shots were ok, it suggests heat. The BLR has a very slim barrel, so it heats up quick.