Emergency, idahoron 911

[idahoron]

Emergency
About a month ago I helped a man build a TC Hawken Green Mountain hybrid with a Lyman 57 SML peep and a Lyman 17 aml globe with Lee Shavers inserts.
I also set him up with paper patched 460 gr 500 S&W bullets. After putting the gun together he didn’t spend the time sighting in like he should. He used my outline I gave him for sighting in but he didn’t finish up. Well here he is 3 days before he is to leave to go to Colorado on a ML deer hunt. His gun is shooting 10” high and he can’t understand why.
He cam over tonight and we went to shoot at 100 yards. I shot the first shot and it hit high I thought it might do that. I moved the sight down, and that shot actually hit higher and that shocked me. As I was cleaning the gun I noticed that it felt like the patch would slide easy then hard easy then hard. I cleaned the gun real good this time. When I loaded it I used a little Hornady great plains lube on the paper. That bullet hit exactly the right elevation it was three inches to the right. I cleaned and changed the sight. The next shot was 2” to the left of center. The next one was ½” left of center. Then I shot two more for a sub 2” three shot group. He went from the depth of despair to the top of the mountain. We ran out of light but I think I have him on the right track. That GM barrel is a different barrel than any I have shot. If it were mine I would go after it with JB bore paste. He doesn’t have the time now. He needs to shoot a bit more. I will be interested to see if he works on the rifle after his hunt is over. Ron

[cayugad]

I took JB Bore paste to all my Green Mountain Barrels and they shoot really good.

Could you explain how you paper patch and with what. I paper patched Minnie balls once and it did help with the accuracy but I never knew if I was doing it right.

Those sound like some real interesting bullets you were using.

[idahoron]

The 500 S&W bullet I make is from the Lee Mould. One thing that I do different with the over powder wads is I use a over powder wad that is .62 to .64 when I push them into the barrel they tend to pucker a little as they go in. It makes for a tighter seal and I have found it makes a huge difference in accuracy.
I posted a couple of threads on paper patching here they are. Ron

http://huntingnet.com/forum/black-powder/310210-paper-patching-bullets-hunting-part-1-a.html

http://huntingnet.com/forum/black-powder/310211-paper-patching-bullets-hunting-part-2-a.html

[cayugad]

thanks Ron. I will have to experiment with that a little more.

[Semisane]

Ron to the rescue, huh? Way to go!

I go through something like that each year on the Friday afternoon before our Saturday morning opening of the prinitive season. There are two or three guys in our club that never shoot their muzzleloaders except on that day, or to shoot a deer durning the season. They always look for solutions from "the black powder guy". At least you weren't dealing with a gun that hadn't been cleaned since last year.

[idahoron]

That would have stunk. This guy is a ok guy but he has no idea how hard it is to get sub 2" groups. He has been shooting in a gun rest. So his gun wants lubed bullets and he switched to using his shoulder. Too many changes! I shot it very well but now he has to. I am thinking about telling him to use chap stick on the paper for lube in the field. I have never tried it but I think it would work. Ron

[Semisane]

Hey Ron, have you ever tried lubing the paper with Lee's Liquid Alox and letting it dry for a couple of days? It would likely still be a little on the sticky side, but might work well. I've lubed lee .458 405 grain conicals with the Alox and it worked fine. However, if you want a bullet that's not sticky to the touch you need to let them dry for a few weeks.

[idahoron]

Sticky paper would not be good. I have heard that car wax makes good paper lube. My 50 has a slick barrel and I don't need to lube like this guy. But if I found a lube that didn't soak into the paper I would try it. Ron