Hot 45/70 barrel??

[burntmuch]

 Shot my 4570 Handi the other day. with me reloads .  After zeroing scope Shot 3  groups of 4  with some time in between. Ended up with 9 holes in or around 10 ring  4 inches overall.  Then about 6 inches low 3inches left. 3 holes 1 1/2 inch group. what do ya think Hot barrel or  Forend placement on bag?  Either the 4th round was coming from a hot barrel every time or I wasnt paying attention to forend on the bag.  Scope was rock solid What ya think???

[McLernon]

Handi's seem to shoot most consistently when supported under the hinge pin. Difficult to make the rifle steady but you will probably see an improvement if you do it that way.

Mc

[Dillohide]

It's hard to shoot the big bore enough to get the barrel that hot because of its diameter, recoil thump and bullet speed. It's probably normal barrel fouling. My 450 Marlin and 45/70 do about 1 1/2 to 2" groups at 100 yards and both tend to walk around a bit after 4 or 5 shots. Personally I want to know where mine is going to shoot under normal hunting situations so I always leave the rifle sling on and always rest it on the forend at the range. As far fouling, you got a choice ... sight it for a clean bore or sight it for a fouled bore. I prefer sighting for a clean, cold barrel so usually clean it after 3 shots and pay more attention to the first shot than the third.