Today was beautiful outside. A great day to work in the woods. So I decided to shoot instead. After all tomorrow is another day.
I looked at the rack and decided to use the rifle I hate the most and see if I could make it shoot. That had to be the CVA Tracker Carbine.
The CVA Tracker Carbine is a walking around rifle or a tree stand rifle. It has a 21 inch barrel and very nice sights actually. But to date I have yet to find something it shoots well. And today was no exception.
Rifle: CVA .50 caliber Tracker Carbine
Barrel: 1-32 twist 21 inch blued barrel. Open sights
Ignition: RWS #1075 Dynamite Noble Caps
Powder: Pyrodex RS 70 grains
Projectile: 250 grain Hornady XTP in an EZ load sabot
Distance: 25 yards
Weather: High 50s windy and blue sky
The hits in red are from the CVA Tracker Carbine. I tried three different powder charges, swabbed between shots, and even tried roundball. That was the best group it shot at 25 yards. The next time I get bored I will try some ball-ets and some powerbelts in it. I want to find something this rifle will shoot. If it were even accurate to 50 yards, what a great walking around rifle it would make for the thick stuff.
After trying many different loads and charges, I decided to heck with this rifle for the day. I then looked at the rack and decided to pick out the Thompson Center New Englander .50 caliber.
Rifle: T/C .50 caliber New Englander with a wood stock
Sights: they look home made (the front one).
Ignition: RWS 1075 caps
Projectile: 250 grain Hornady XTP in EZ load sabot & patched round ball
Powder: Pyrodex RS 70 grains
Projectile: 250 grain Hornady XTP in an EZ load sabot
Distance: 25 yards
Weather: High 50s windy and blue sky
This was the rifle I purchased from Corey. It had a wood stock I wanted. The front sight was homemade, and the barrel is not in good shape. Lots of exterior blemishes, and the interior had some pitting as well. I took this rifle and JB Bore Pasted the devil out of it. Last time I shot it with roundball it did well until it slipped off the shooting bench and the high front sight bent. So I straightened it, and decided to shoot it another day. Well today was the day.
I had the XTPs out there and figured I had nothing to loose. Loading 70 grains of Pyrodex RS it actually did a good job of grouping them. I was swabbing every other shot. I then changed over to roundball and shot at the first pictures bulls eye. Again, it did pretty good with roundball and 70 grains of Pyrodex RS. So I decided to end the day with some free hand practice.
What a difference. I was using sabot loader's method, and really the groups was not all that bad, but it moved to the right for some reason. The New Englander does balance nice, and it has a good trigger after I did some repair to it. I think I might put a 1x32mm scope on this rifle and get rid of those sights on it.
Other then that it was a lot more fun then working in the woods.
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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."
What a difference. I was using sabot loader's method, and really the groups was not all that bad, but it moved to the right for some reason. The New Englander does balance nice, and it has a good trigger after I did some repair to it. I think I might put a 1x32mm scope on this rifle and get rid of those sights on it.
Go back and look at my off-hand target... if you could call it a group where from the bull is it located?
We are both right handed trigger pullers and that little bit of extra right hand pressure from the off-hand position moves the POI to the right.
So now you and I have to learn to place the trigger finger on the trigger at the end of the finger and just under the tip of the nail with the first joint from the finger nail flexed so that we are applying pressure back on the trigger and not pulling it a bit to the side... That is why on my inlines I use a trigger shoe - it provides more equal pressure across the whole trigger...
Wish Nick was still around as a Marine Sniper he can splain it better than I...
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Keep on Shooting Muzzleloaders they are a Blast
maybe that is all its good for. But there must be something that shoots well out of it. I just have to find it, or sell it.
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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. If I had that little Tracker carbine with nothing else working, I think I would try some .451 185 grain or 200 grain XTPs/Gold Dots. Those short fat bullets might shoot in the 1:30 twist and would certainly do the job at tree stand distances.
At the other end of the spectrum, do you know if you've ever tried 385 grain Hornady Great Plains in that one?
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My wife says I'm totally nuts, but I think I'm Semisane.
Things I've Learned: (1) It's not possible to please everyone, but quite easy to piss everyone off. (2) If you love animals as I do, then you're not a vegetarian. (3) There's no need to act stupid, even if you're very good at it. (4) If you eat right and exercise, don't smoke or drink, you're going to die anyway.
I tried maxiball but never great plains bullets. Actually I have a second carbine made by CVA called the Stalker Carbine with just a little longer barrel. I have found few things that shoot well out of that also. It also has the 1-32 twist.
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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."
Just for fun day
