HatchieLuvr

I haven't messed with mzldrs that smoke since I bought my Savage ML-10ll over a decade ago, and really had no interest now, at least not until my youngest son asked to try his hand at mzloadn. So I dug out my 20some year old Knight Wolverine & decided to blow the cobwebs out of it. "Back in the day" I used 2 pyrodex pellets under 200grn red hots & kept the shots inside 120-130yds. I decided to try White Hots under some old 250SSTs I had lying around & fire was via Win-T7 209s. The combo was "ok" but I wasn't impressed.

So I bought a jug of Shockey's Gold (50grn stix, I loaded 2 per shot) & a box of 250grn Hornady GMX/sabots (essentially their Barnes copy) & those same Win-T7 209s I used with the WhiteHots. (I've shot 300 Barnes MLxpanders over 40someodd grains of N110 for years out of my Savage & know what smack it lays down! ) I've read PLENTY of horror stories & complaints about the Shockey Gold powder but I have ZERO complaints & it shoots GREAT out of my ol 22" Wolverine! (Just under 1.5" 'center2center' groups @ 100yds off sandbags) I also like the cleanliness of the powder. I ran a brass brush thru once after each shot & after 10 shots it still loaded & shot like the 1st.

Once done I did it exactly like I do my Savage, I ran a wet patch of brake cleaner thru the bore! Tho it dries instantly I still ran 2 clean patches thru just to see what was left. The 1st dry patch came out with 3-4 small dark streaks on it. I turned the patch over & re-ran it. That side was even cleaner. Honestly the 2nd dry patch was un-necessary but I was curious. Both sides of it were essentially spotless. The Win-T7 209s left much more crap & crud in the bolt/plug area than the powder did in the bore!

I doubt I'm "going back" to BP guns over my smokeless anytime soon but I MUST admit I'm surprised & honestly like the results I've seen with the S. Gold in the lil ol Knight. I remember the days of a black, greasy, STINKY mess with the old Pyro & T7 pellets!

cayugad

Well that is a good report. I never shot the sticks but have shot the loose. Also them Wolverines are great shooting rifles. Did you like the smoke again?

HatchieLuvr

Thanks Cay, & I must admit I DID get a kick out of the smoke at the range. In fact today at lunch as my bud & I were getn ready to head home, I told him that since the Wolvie was already dirty I wanted to load it up & touch it off just so he could see what a smoke pole looks like when fired. (He's only mzl loaded 2yrs now & he also has a smokeless Savage.) The weather here today was cold, rainy & foggy so it made for PERFECT smoke conditions when I torched off the lil Knight from the front porch. He laughed out loud & thought that was hysterical. I told him he really didn't have a clue since all he knew was his smokeless frontstuffer. He shot a 10pt this morning & watched it run a 15yd circle & go down. I described sometimes not even being able to tell WHAT HAPPENED to your deer after settin off a smoker. Again he thought that was hysterical.

But now I've STILL got to clean this ol Knight up so I'm NOT in danger of "switching back" anytime soon!