Can mirage cause this much POI Shift?

[ryu_sekai]

I have a Remington 700 AAC SD with KRG stock shooting hand loads.

The rifle normally shoots in the .3x with no can.

Tried it with a Harvester today and this was the result, shots 1,2,3,5 is .54 MOA shot 4 opens it up to about an inch.
The fire cycle was shot 1 and 2 done with in 1 min, shot 3 i started to see heavy can mirage and it landed .5" high. I continued to shoot and it landed even higher with the mirage. I let the can cool for about 2 min and fired shot 5 which went into shot 4.

Is this what can mirage does?
The result is almost a perfect vertical string. Keep in mind the rifle normally shoots .3xx

 

[MoBoost]

Very simple, your rifle doesn't normally shoot .3s ....

If it does - do the challenge without the can - and then with the can - see how the averages compare.
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...-**round-4-5-**-100yard-20round-shootout.html

P.S. Don't forget, suppressor works by converting sound energy into heat, therefore if you don't have a suppressor wrap - get one, it will greatly reduce the mirage.

 

[Elite_KG]

I would think so, but it would still be strange to me that it is perfectly vertical. Mirage seems to blur for me and can shift impact up/down or left/right or both depending on how you see it. I would think your string may be more velocity related, but then again they are your loads, so you may know better. Any chance the can can affect velocity differently from shot to shot (assuming two rounds were identical)? I don't have suppressor experience.

 

[Willys46]

yes mirage will/can change of impact. in heavy mirage the light is bending and the target will start to dance around. So did the point of impact change or was the target not in the location it appeared? The light bends the light and the target will appear to be in one location but the bullet lands someplace different. Benchrest shooters learn where to shoot in certain mirage conditions to make the billets go in the same hole.

A boil is the perceived to be the hardest condition to shoot in because the target has no real consistent movement. I would suspect the conditions off the can was heavy boil mirage.

So yes it changes perceived impact.

 

[Lazer]

Mo is right your rifle doesn't normally shoot .300s. Especially 5 shot groups. But if you want to figure out what your problem is, get a suppressor wrap, shoot 3, 5 shot groups w the can and 3, 5 shot groups without the can post the picks and let's see. You can never come to any conclusion with 1 five shot group!