Holding the rifle canted or off level??

[AHughes]

I have a question about holding a double rifle in a canted position And if it affects impact between the two barrels being regulated.... ?

Reason I'm asking is my Baikal sxs started shooting low right barrel last few times I shot her and my pops was watching me shoot and said I wasn't holding her level on the sticks , so I thought sure easy fix reloaded and held her flat as I could .... Still shooting 2" lower , darn near held her on her side it seemed (probably at a healthy 45* honestly) and to my dumbfounded surprise they still impacted almost identical... Now I think I've gone mad and before I got tweaking on the barrels is there something I'm missing ? I'm new to sxs rifles and this being a cheap rendition although fun to shoot I'm wondering if somethings off

All my loads are same brass, same , powder etc etc ... I even tried another load I worked up and same effect just more exaggerated with slower power level , then I tried jacketed vs lead and still same thing

I would have sworn holding the rifle canted position would have effected it too but I think I don't understand the physics

 

[Tom Leoni]

What caliber? What distance?

A 2" spread, unless it's at 10 yards, would not worry me for a "fun" double rifle like the Baikal. I say just enjoy it and don't give it another thought.

 

[AHughes]

It's the 45-70 version and I had it printing bullets almost touching at 45yrds now it's easy regulated left to right to make them print consistently but what I can't explain is why the barrel started dropping and it's accurate left and right hasn't moved just vertical and I took a feeler gauge cut it and inserted in the adjustable side as it is almost a floating right barrel and that made no difference or if any it's so insignificant I can't notice and I've shimmed it .016 so far I thought that would have really made a change so some of this I'm trying to figure out how harmonics between the two barrels work

 

[Tom Leoni]

With double rifles, all it takes is a microscopic change in the physics of the two barrels (and the soldering between them) to produce a rather substantial change in point of impact. A 2" spread at 45 yards is still a huge win in my book, especially for a rifle like the Baikal. Rifles costing $20,000 are considered acceptable with a spread between the barrels of 1"-1.5" at 50 yards, so I would call yours good.

As for what produced the change? Perhaps the rifle is just "settling."

 

[AHughes]

The settling aspect raises this question then .. the left barrel is not soldered in its pinned with two drift pins im now wondering if rotation around that barrel could effect it and if so I'm not a stranger to soldering sights ect on barrels I may see if that's a culprit and could solder that barrel and then regulate the other as the factory established

 

[AHughes]

I think I found my problem , the barrel just being pinned... with force applied can rotate ever so slightly around the barrels axis so I believe that to be what was causing my right barrel to drop out but it's still theory for but if anyone has regulated their own let me know if my thinking is on track I'm just trying to learn a little bit