RE: Muzzelloader question?
Two weeks ago, I experimented with three different inline rifles. All of them used a 209 ignition. They were a Thompson Center Black Diamond XR, Knight Disc, and CVA Staghorn. All of them were given identical loads of 100 grains of Goex 2f and a 300 grain Hornady XTP.
I set them outside in my unheated wood working shop with the door open for the entire day. The temperature was approximately 34ºs that day most of the time. That night it got down to 18ºs. They were left in the same place, but the doors of the shop were closed.
I repeated this for three days. And on the third day, I put a new 209 primer in each rifle and they all fired perfect. I will admit, some of the hits were not quite where I expected them to be from the 50 yard line, but they were respectable in relation to the center mark. I then shot them off the rest of the day, testing that load. After a swabbing and reloading, they tuned right to the center mark again. That afternoon I cleaned them all as I normally would.
The following day, all three rifles were loaded again. They were again set out in the wood shop with the doors open the entire day. That evening, I brought them into the wood room off the house where it is a little warmer. It will often times be 50º+ in there. I repeated this same procedure for three days, outside in the cold all day and at night in the wood room.
The following day, new primers were put on the three rifles. The Knight fired and was almost one foot off the center mark. The Black Diamond fired and was about four inches off mark. The CVA did not fire on the first primer but the second one fired it fine, and actually of all rifles it was closest to the center mark. After swabbing and drying them I fired them all gain. They immediately, after being fired and swabbed tuned right into the center mark.
I really could not conclude a lot from the experiment but it did justify my past practice of starting each day with a fresh cleaned rifle. At least I know where that round will hit. With them being stored, there is a chance that some powder contamination did occur that might not hinder the firing of the rifle, but could effect the over all accuracy. For instance, four inches might not sound likea lot at 50 yards, but where do you think that would be at 100 or even 150 yards.
I will play it safe and just fire them off at night and reload them in the morning...
__________________
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
|
