First, everything was set up:  tent, tables, chronographs, chop saw, generator, et cetera.  We were shooting on private land out in the country, where there was no shelter or power.  We decided to use as a backstop an old cabin made from railroad ties.  Once everything was set up, and the ammo to be tested laid out, a series of three test shots would be made using a 6" Python .357, shooting .38 special ball ammo from one batch.  This gave us a benchmark which would indicate data drift due to atmospheric change or a problem with one or both chronographs.  Time and temperature would be noted, and we would begin.

Three shots would be made of a given ammo.  If consistent readings were made, then we would swab the barrel once with a Boresnake of the appropriate size, and the next ammo in that caliber would be tested.  Once all the ammo in a given caliber was tested, the barrel would be removed and a new barrel in another caliber would be mounted.  After removal, the barrel would be chopped one inch, using a metal cut-off saw.  Then the outside of the barrel would be dressed using a flat metal file, and the inside of the barrel dressed using first a rat-tail file and then a small buffing stone.  Once chopped, the barrel would be cleaned using three passes of a Boresnake of the appropriate size.

Typically, there were three of us involved at any given time.  One person would organize the ammo and record the data.  One person would handle the gun and do the actual shooting.  One person would aid with swabbing the gun, chopping barrels, et cetera.  We rotated positions frequently, so no one person got tired - right up to the end of the final day.  Then Steve wound up doing the bulk of the shooting for the final couple of barrel lengths in multiple calibers, because of a technical problem which came up.  (We’d lost our laser sight mounts - Steve had the greatest ability to still accurately shoot the T/C Encore even with minimal barrel lengths.)

The second sequence of tests in April of 2009 followed the same protocols, with one exception:  the addition to our team of Keith Kimball.  This made everything a little easier - having a fourth person to help with all the work - and was particularly critical when it came to dealing with a lot of the 'real world' guns, since Keith's experience as a firearms trainer and armorer for his police department meant that he had a solid working knowledge of some of the less common weapons we were testing.  It also meant that we had one additional person to share in the 'fun' of shooting some of the more abusive weapons (particularly the damned derringers!).