I am the person who said I wasn't a BR shooter. I would offer the suggestion that not "knowing nuthin" would actually put someone at an advantage in assessing the value of some treatment or intervention (in this case, the use of a tuner). In any research design where measurements are taken and then compared, one initially adopts the hypothesis that there is NO difference (Null Hypothesis in stats). The numbers then have to tell us whether the Null Hypothesis can be rejected. One cannot assume a meaningful difference based on assumption, belief, superstition, custom, it's what everybody else does, etc. But that is what, in fact, people do all the time.
Would you take a new medication for diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease, or attention deficit disorder if it was trialed on five people with "great" results? What about a new cardiac implant tested on five people? You don't have to be a diabetic or a doctor to be engaged in a process that would comprehensively determine the efficacy of a drug or surgical procedure. You would just have to have to have an acceptable research design that included proper sampling techniques. In a former life I did teach research design and statistics at the graduate school level. I can confidently say that conclusions based on 5-shot groups would yield every outcome you could imagine because the sample size is just totally inadequate, not to mention lack of control for many other variables and experimenter bias.
I don't mean to be boring and I don't want to step on any sacred cows. If somebody believes something is useful, it might make them feel good to use it regardless. However, some might want to know more details about the true effects of tools or strategies they are employing. Me - I want something that works. I don't even have to know why it works. Just that it does. It sort of comes down to faith or facts; take your choice. After all, look at the divide that comes up with evolution vs "creationism" (oh oh).
Back to rimfire, I just want to shoot my best. For point of reference, I have averaged 99.5% over my last three matches (480 shots). NRA requires 400 shots to be classed as Expert and 700 shots for Master each averaged over consecutively fired matches. (I wish it was just 5 shots period!!!) To get those last few tenths in my average and more X's, I want to spend money and time on a procedure that will yield success. Some people use tuners thus I am exploring this option.
Best regards - Dennis Lindenbaum
