Deciding on muzzle weight?

[Sam Corlett]

I'm a mediocre silhouette shooter (air & smallbore rifle - AAA), trying to get good. I've picked up a new (to me) 54.18 MSR (1808 stock). I shot the rifle a month or so with no muzzle weights. It felt very light, pretty stable, but a little fast. I added the small 54 gram muzzle weight, not much difference, then I added the 180 gram as well and about 6 oz to the butt. It feels a little slower moving now, but I don't seem to be shooting tighter groups. My wobble might even be a little bigger.

I'm sure with more time on the rifle; I could shoot it either way. How do I determine the better configuration? Are there advantages to shooting the rifle without the weights? What configuration is better for me to work with for future improvement?

(That assumes I'll stay under the 10.2 lb limit and I'll always be competing outdoors, wind etc...)

Thanks for advice,

Sam

[pdeal]

Sam: of course silhouette is not our game here and I am certainly no expert. I have experimented some with a short barreled rifle in offhand though. I had an anschutz with a standard diameter barrel that was shortened to 18" or so. I made a bloop tube out of steel hydraulic tubing for this rifle that threaded onto the muzzle. The tube was about 10" long. My motive for the tube was getting a decent sight radius. I did experiment some shooting the thing offhand with and without the tube and noticed that the rifle was much more stable with the tube on. I have always had a theory that a small weight far out would do more to stabilize the rifle (maximize moment of inertia) than a larger weight close in. I mean to make a similar tube extension for my short barreled 2013 but have not gotten to it yet.

[lucho]

I am an avid silhouette shooter. Rather than discussing this topic here I will refer you to this forum.

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2 ... m.php?f=87

Some of the best silhouette shooters in the country post here and can give you more specific advice.

I feel most of the people in this forum can help a lot with basic technique and the mental aspect of shooting. However, thier technique and styes may be a little different because they wear shooting coats and pants and they don't shoot with scopes.

Lucho

[scorlett]

I figured most of the folks over there (maybe here too, LOL), talked a lot more than they shot! But thanks, since the shooters forum on smallbore silhouette died, I haven't been following a silhouette only forum. I signed up yesterday.

I'm still curious as to the current philosophy regarding rifle weight and balance. It would seem at first the heavier the better. But I'm wondering what considerations there are...

[Adam]

I am a firm believer in just trying things out. Play around with different weights and see what works for you. Go buy a couple of rolls of solid core solder and wrap them on your rifle where you want the weight. My air rifle is about 5.4 KG (Limit is 5.5 so this gives me some playing room). After I have the solder wrapped on where I want it, I take black electrical tape and cover it all up. That way it doesn't move around, plus it makes people wonder what the heck I have done :)