Sabot Comparision With JSG - More Questions Than Answers

[Semisane]

On the 6th of Oct. I shot one 50 yard target with100 grains volume Shockey's Gold & 300 grain Gold Dots & Harvester crush rib sabots and thought I may have found a golden combination. Got 1 a 1 3/8" group. Problem was, the velocity way lower than what I want to shoot.

In an earlier sabot experiment with T-7, I found that regular Harvester sabots shot better with the Gold Dots. So, on the 14th. of Oct. I figured I would try the JSG with those sabots. I shot at 100 yards with 95 grains weight/103 grains volume Shockey's Gold & 300 grain Gold Dots & Harvester short sabots, and got over 200 more f.p.s. with the tighter sabots - but the group spread out to 3 1/2".

So now I have questions that need answering with more shooting. What made the difference?

1. Was it simply a matter of 50 yards vs. 100 yards?
2. Was itthe sabots, and would crush ribs have held a tight group at 100 yards?
3. Was it that I wiped with one dry patch for the first group, and a wet & dry patch combo for the second group.
4. Did the velocity increase blow the group?
5. Can the shooter shoot any better at 100 yards, regardless of the gun and load ?

Here's the first target.

[Semisane]

Here's the second target.

[yeoman]

Semisane - me thinks you needs more targets. Sure looks like the gun prefers the JSG/Harvester CR sabots and the POI is certainly different with the sabot change. Not what I'd expect if you took the JSG/CR combo to 100. Were your 50 yard holes in the lower right quadrant when you shot the nice group with 777?

[Semisane]

Hey yeoman, didn't shoot the T-7 loads at 50 yards, only at 100. Best T-7group was 1 7/8" with 75 grains weight (about 87 grains volume) and the regular Harvesters@ 1667 fps.

Have changes the scope settings a few times since then when I was shooting conicals, so there's no comparison there.

[yeoman]

Semisane - in which quadrant did the 777 group fall at 100?

[wabi]

1 3/8 @ 50 = 2 3/4 @ 100, still a better group but only 3/4".
I'd try the crush ribs without swabbing at all.
My tests with JSG usually led to great groups one day and terrible the next. Seems like the higher the humidity the worse the groups for me. The ease of loading and easy cleanup makes JSG/APP a desirable alternative, but I've just never got consistant performance with it.

[sabotloader]

Semisane

I have not been following along to well on these expriments, but looking at your velocities - I would say they are way to low. Those velocities are barely up to 460 grain conical speed. Also might be why the crush ribs are working for you - not much pressure involved at those speeds.

If you look at the base of the gold do you will see that it is slightly con-caved - I have found, and this is just me, that if you choose to shoot them at extended ranges, you need to have the velocity to push them there. The aerodymanics of the base require that. I am shooting the 300 grain with a average velocity of 1775 fps with most shots being right at 1800 fpsand get really good groups but I am using the HPH-24. When using the Crush Rib I would loose about 400 fps at the muzzle - but that could be because my bore is a bit to large for the CR or the 3p

Just some thoughts from the peanut gallery...

[yeoman]

Man, I hadn't even noticed the velocities on the targets. Those are bizzare numbers for 100 and 95 grains with a 300 saboted bullet......assuming the chrono was near the muzzle and not in front of the target. I really wonder if you are getting full ignition with the JSG. Is it clumpy??