I was curious to see what the effect was on the rifle accuracy and point of impact when a torch was attached, so tried it off a bench at the range last Sunday (was looking for an excuse to go down the range

).

This is the set-up that I use (these are not photos from my range trip, but an earlier hunting trip):

I fired 3 x 10 shot groups and 1 x 5 shot group at 50yards for each arrangement:
- without torch fitted (35 shots total),
- with torch attached (35 shots total), as shown in the photos.

I mixed the target positions so that each arrangement was fired in the same position as each other, and I took the torch off once and then put it back on. The sequence was:

- 10 shots position 1 - no torch;
- 10 shots position 2 - with torch;
- 10 shots position 3 - with torch;
- 10 shots position 1 - with torch;
- 10 shots position 2 - no torch;
- 10 shots position 3 - no torch;
- 5 shots position 1 - with torch;
- 5 shots position 2 - no torch.

Fortunately the wind was consistent - it normally picks up in the afternoon but didn't this time.

I did seem to get more fliers without the torch, oddly enough, but, either with them counted or discounted, accuracy was similar (they weren't bad fliers).

There was a trend, that surprised me, for the rifle to shoot slightly more to the right (3mm average) and slightly higher (7mm) with the torch fitted. This is largely insignificant but the trend was obvious even by looking at the target by eye. Not sure how this happens - maybe if I had fired many more rounds, the average points of impact would have coincided?