I shot a little today and got some really none expected surprises. First off i was shooting the 240 grain flatnosed .44 bullets with knight .429 green sabots at 50 yards with 70 grains pyrodex rs and This time,Remington Kleanbore Primers. It almost shot over the target with those primers! It grouped good and i almost packed up untill i decided to go inside and get some cci primers. As you can see from the pic how much closer they grouped and nowhere near as high. If i used those kleanbore primers i'd be only 9" low at 200 yards with this load and that means, aim at the back and i got a dead animal. With the cci's im right around 11-12" low at 200 yards. Im still going to stick with the cci's with the 385 grain great plains bullet, the kleanbores throw those bullets all over the place. And boy i tried that windex with vineger today! I was done after only 2 patches. It cleaned out my breechplug area and threads in no time too. Really like that stuff. All todays shooting was off a couple logs i stacked up, it was a nice rest to shoot off of and did really good. I dont think this is a great pattern seeing how it was only 50 yards, 2 weeks ago i shot this kind of pattern with the 385 grain GP bullets at 100 yards. I still have some tinkering to do with these sabots with different powder charges and such. Fun bullets to use when you just want to go out and plink some targets and not waste that expensive lead that you use during hunting season. I also Love these targets, They are easy to see at 100 yards and put the orange dots to shame and it doesnt get blurry. Still want to try those tight loading 250 grain hornady sabots.
So what do you guys think? Add more powder and see if the groups tighten up? I know at 25 yards and off the bench these bullets pattern in 1 tight hole.
Why not? Use the CCI primers and go to 80gr, then 90gr etc. 'till they start to open up again. Also, I've "heard" you say you usually don't swab between shots. You might want to try that if you didn't with this group. It has made a big difference for me, for which I thank Cayugad.
I'll try swabbing between each shot tomorrow. You know i also forgot to mention that when i was using the kleanbore primers, when i would go to reload i found unburnt powder at the crown of the muzzle. All 6 shots were without swabbing so i'll give it a try tomorrow and see what happens.
Well today i swabbed between each shot and it helped a little. Not much but a little little. First shots were with 70 grains and 240 grain sabot and they pretty much shot the same as yesterday with very little noticeable difference. I upped my charge to 90 grains with the same sabot and then i really started to see them tighten up but i screwed up my third shot and forgot to aim low and so its a good 3 1/2" high. After i cleaned it up i went ahead and got those hornady 250 grain sabots, that load really tight and loaded them up with 90 grains powder and took 3 shots with them and really saw a big difference in groups. First 2 were an inch apart while the last was 1 1/4" , that was my fault do to me jumping the trigger before i was settled. So im thinking that the rifle likes the tighter fitting bullets. I found all the black sabots about 20 yards in front of me and they were all in good shape still and fully open. Im sure i can get these tighter once i get a bench rest but so far im having fun with these and they are doing a good job at the steel pig and ram targets at the NRA. i never saw a big target fly up in the air before lol. 9 shots total and im beat.
those groups look much better to me, save the one shot. You said "you failed to aim low" on that one. You may want to aim at the target bull on all shots, letting the gun, charge and bullet determine the point of impact. By removing that variable (your compensating for where you expect the bullet to strike) you'll get a more accurate idea of the impact of those elements you are tuning (bullet and charge).
i'll probably do more shooting tomorrow and see if i can find a steadier rest and like you said, aim at the bullseye. I just finished covering over the other shots with masting tape so how i dont have a problem finding the new shots. Thinking about pulling out the old shop vise and drop the rifle between the 2 jaws, along with a thick towel to shoot off of and lay down and shoot. I think i'll stick with the 90 grains powder. This is the most ive shot this gun since i bought it lol. You get to shoot more when you have bullets easily at hand.
If your looking for a good rest, may i sugest the Caldwell "Lead Sled" its roughly $90-$120 but its well worth it, then i bought 2-25lb lead shot bags to put in the tray for weight....NO RECOIL IMO it is well worth every penny, as it eliminates most human error when target shooting. you wont be wondering if that flyer was your fault or the gun/loads fault!
get you the shoulder guard rifle rest frommsn caseguard only 39.00 lay a couple bags of shot on it and it doesnt move and it has elevation adjustment its made of all plastic but works good
Well right now i have my eyes set on a foldable shooting table with 2 rests and seat for $100 so im getting that sometime. I did more shooting today, this time laying down and shook my head when i saw 3" groups. I went and cleaned it and loaded up 3 speed loaders and went back to shooting normally and shot 1/2" groups with one flyer. The first shots were with cci's and my last 3were with kleanbore primers thanks to me not checking my cci supply and finding that i was out. But i swear, those kleanbores are friggin horrible, I took the breechplug out and found a good amount of unburnt powder in there and had one slight delay which gave me the flyer. I'll use the rest for target practice but after that, i'll never buy them again.I found one of the chunks of lead on the ground and it was really messed up. No swabbing between shots today, i find it easier to load between shots and no real noticable difference between swabbing/not swabbing. Im betting there is once its past 100 yards but i'll worry about that once i get out there. i know the 385 grain great plains bullets will shoot 1" groups all day even after 14 shots . I like those bullets.
Feels good to go out every day and shoot. Still have a 50 pack of sabots left + a good 30 preloaded.
So its not the bullets or powder this time around, its shooter error. But hey, atleast my second go around shots were only 1/2" apart! If you dont count the flyer thanks to thecrappy primer. Im sticking with 90 grains pyro rs, has more of a kick but it will help me out at 200 yards.
FrontierG,
I found those rem klen bore primers to behorrible too. I tried 200 rds and about 1/2 had the centers blow out of the outer case. I didn't see any real diff. and I did a test in a clean bore w/ just a primer. The winchesters were cleaner than the kleanbore primers unless I'm whacked...
I saw a shooting table from one of the guys here and I'll bet w/ plywood and fold up legs you could make a sweet custom one.
LOL, SHills
Dang what a difference
IMO it is well worth every penny, as it eliminates most human error when target shooting. you wont be wondering if that flyer was your fault or the gun/loads fault!
. I like those bullets.
