I sent my 50 cal barrel to TC service dept to fix the rear sights (they were not at 12 oclock) and they sent me a new barrel. And a new tang. Now I've got the 12 guage barrel (foxridge outfitters) ready for squirrel season on the 25th of this month here in TN.
I shot my 50 cal barrel this evening. The load: Nosler partition 240 gr., Crush Rib green sabot, 80 gr, of trip 7. Here are the results. There are 8 shots in this pattern. The middle cluster contains 4 of those. The vertical stringing is obvious, but mystifying. This group was shot from a bench at 40 yards. My theory on the vertical stringing: My forearm rested on a solid surface for each shot. (note: the barrel was allowed to cool between shots with the help of an ice cold towel)
My NewEnglander .50 likes 320 grainLee R.E.A.L. bullets. When it was new I got some very good groups with T/C break-o-way sabots & XTP pistol bullets, but prefer the simplicity of the conicals. Never got great groups with patched round ball loads out of it yet, though. Thinking of trying .454 balls in sabots next.
I started with the .50 NewEnglander then added a 12ga barrel from Fox Ridge, then somehow gained a spare tang & trigger from my dealings with T/C (I think it was on a trade of a damaged FireStorm stock). I added a camo stock from Fox Ridge, then picked up a used lock on eBay. Now I have 2 complete NewEnglanders (.50 & 12ga) and they are my favorite hunting guns.
Vertical stringing can be cause by a lot of things. The way the rifle is rested on the bench, especially if you rest it on the barrel only. I was told that is a big no no. Also are you swabbing the barrel between shots? Sometimes the normal fowling that occurs needs to be removed or it will change where the bullets hit. Also there is the idea that you might not be just perfect in the powder charge.
Next time out, try cutting back the powder charge a little and see if the stringing goes away. Or you could try boosting the charge a little and see if the stringing goes away. Since your shooting sabots all you can do is try.
Actually that is some very good shooting on your part for open sights at that distance. I would not be all that upset about it. Just start playing with powder charges a little and pay close attention to swabbing. Since it is a traditional rifle, swab with pure 91% isopropyl alcohol and then a couple dry patches. See if that does not help.
Yes indeed, I would not be too unhappy with a group like that out of my New Englander. Maybe I will break that out tomorrow and shoot it some.
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"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."
I like the fact that I can cool the barrel down quickly with towel that has been soaking in ice water. I'm careful not to let water drip towards the nipple. I take the barrel off the stock and cooling is accomplished quickly. I think I'll shoot again this evening. Y'all have a great day! Kevin
I like the fact that I can cool the barrel down quickly with towel that has been soaking in ice water. I'm careful not to let water drip towards the nipple. I take the barrel off the stock and cooling is accomplished quickly. I think I'll shoot again this evening. Y'all have a great day! Kevin
I take a couple rifles out at a time and when I get one heated up, I set that rifle in the shade and shoot the next one. My neighbor stopped over once and caught me with four rifles outside at on time. He had a heck of a laugh over that. He pointed out you can only shoot one at a time, so I told him I could load two of them and prove him wrong if he liked.
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"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."
Cayugad, from what I've been reading, you have a great collection if muzzleloaders! There's something about muzzleloading that just gets in your blood doen't it! I've recently purchased a Savage ML and love it but I love shooting my New Englander as well. I love my DISC rifle too, but I got it up for sale. Kevin
I have a pretty good collection of rifles and muzzleloaders. I believe there are some on the forum that have a better collection then I do, and thats fine with me. No one is trying to compete.
I have considered a Savage. Some of the reports of their quality and accuracy is most impressive. I have a New Englander I just purchasedand a Disc rifle already. My new interest is the Knight rolling block, the T/C Triumph, and flintlocks. I really like shooting flintlocks.
__________________
"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."
If they are jpegs. Open them in Microsoft Paint, pull down image, stretch/skew, reduce verticle and horizal down from 100% (keep same ratio) click OK.
I then SAVE AS same name with sf for small file. gun.jpeg to gunsf.jpeg.
Regards,
Went shooting this afternoon and found the load this rifle loves. 85 gr triple 7 ffg and 250 grain xtp and hph24 with clipped petals. Group was shot at 40 yards with no vertical stringing. Shot from sandbags instead of hard rest. Group of three measures roughly inch and a half.
TC New Englander (updated)
