ELK MOUND, WI – Precision rifle competitor Rex ‘The Virginian’ Harrison unveiled a radical new ballistic data methodology this past weekend at the Crucible Challenge National PRS Pro Series Match, an approach he meticulously termed ‘Virgin Bore DOPE.’ Harrison, campaigning a Defiance Ruckus action bedded into an MPA Competition Chassis, topped with a Leupold Mark 5HD 7-35x56 utilizing the PR-2 reticle, confidently articulated his theory: only the very first cold bore shot, fired after a thorough chamber and bore scrub, represents the rifle’s true ballistic potential, untainted by fouling or thermal expansion. All subsequent shots, he argued, introduce variables that corrupt pure data.
His ambitious strategy involved establishing a comprehensive DOPE card exclusively from these 'virgin bore' impacts, gathered across a precise range of distances from 100 to 1200 yards, each shot preceded by a meticulous cleaning protocol. Harrison believed this eliminated the "cold bore shift" entirely, as every shot was, by definition, a cold bore shot.
The results, however, proved challenging. Under the 20 MPH crosswinds and 80°F temperatures of the Crucible’s Stage 1, Harrison’s initial cold bore shot, aimed at a 10-inch plate at 650 yards, landed with startling precision – 0.3 MRAD high and 0.1 MRAD left of center. Confident in his trued ‘virgin bore’ data, he then attempted the remaining nine targets on the stage without re-cleaning. Unfortunately, every subsequent shot, including those at shorter distances like the 300-yard plate, resulted in a clean miss, consistently landing 0.7 to 1.2 MRAD low and varying wildly in windage.
Match Director Brenda Lee noted the competitor's meticulous pre-stage cleaning ritual, which left precious little time for actual shooting. Harrison's aggregate score for the day, comprised solely of that singular 650-yard hit, placed him 174th out of 175 competitors. When pressed for comment, Harrison reiterated his commitment to the "purity of the first shot," suggesting that future matches simply need more stages with only one target each, to truly validate his findings.
