sabotloader

It has really been tough getting through this hot really dry spell that we are locked into here in the Pacific Northwest. I really enjoy shooting for recreation and discovery and it really has been slow this summer. I spent about 30 years in the USFS not as a member of a 20 man crew or even an engine crew - but on a District you all automatically become part of the inventory. Initially, I really liked fire duty and in my time I got shipped around the west to fight fire. Today - I hate fires! Today we have fires all over the Northwest and I really do not want to be a part of them - and even more important I do not want to be responsible for starting one accidently. Shooting a ML is an excellent way to get a one going a delayed fire that is. The safest place around here for me to shoot is in the basalt rock pit - so as much as I do not like shooting there because of the trash (that I use to have to pick up all the time) the Pit is the best place.

I received my order of the Lehigh 40x215 CF's a week or so ago and really have been wanting to get out and prove to my self that his bullet is as good as I think it is. Today showed me that it is again! And to think the bullet really was not planned and probably would not have happened if it were not for a miscalculation in another bullet. Lehigh Dave is an artist and a perfectionist. One of the new bullets that he built with the CF nose was a 40x230 grain bullet. I never got any of these because at the time I didn't need them. I had a good supply of Bloodline 40x230's which shoot very well for me from a 1-20 45 cal. But the first tester to test the new CF reported that it would not maintain stability or accuracy. Because of this Dave went about building a whole new design for the bullet. He made it shorter be decreasing the length and the weight of the bullet. Then somewhere in his mind he completely re-designed the nose of the bullet closing the open hollow point a great deal and giving the bullet a much better symmetrical design.

Because of this re-design I believe he has surpassed himself and his other efforts in muzzleloader bullets. The new 215 offers a ML shooter the ability to shoot longer flatter than his other bullets and he dramatically increased the BC of the bullet.

This is a copy of the computed Ballistics Sheet - the bullet shoots!



So todays mission was to do some more testing - but the more I drove east the worse the smoke got - by the time I was in the rock pit it was really thick. But, since I was there I wanted to do something. Originally I wanted to shoot a paper target, but then I decided I would set up a rack of biodegradable clay pigeons. I set up a 1/2 rack on the basalt wall and began shooting. All went as planned 6 birds @ a 100 yards and 6 shots. I did switch sabots for the last three shots. A year or so ago I contacted Del at MMP and asked it he would be interested in producing a sabot strong enough and long enough to handle the new longer bullets being offered by Lehigh and Barnes. Del did some calculations and did produce a small pilot run of these read sabots. GM54-120, myself and a couple of others got the experimental sabots did some shooting with them and reported results back to MMP. The powder cup is a bit thin and my only concern. I still believe at some point MMP will take another run at producing the longer petal sabot.

Not much was accomplished at the shoot other than my satisfaction and even more my belief that this now 40x215 is great bullet maybe one of the best I have shot.

Here is a collection of pics from the shoot...



And the PacNorWest is really burning.

cayugad

I have been watching the news/weather about what's going on out there with the fires. Also talked to a very good friend of mine that lives in Washington outside of Seattle and they were telling me all the crazy things they are encountering. I feel so sorry for what the resources and the people of the western states are going through.

Is it true that the fire started in Washington from Lightening?

As for the bullet, it looks nice. Is that another rapid expander or does it do something special when it hits tissue?

super_hunt54

It's a controlled fracturing similar to the Bloodline. Operates on the same principles as the Bloodline. Just a little better design. This one kind of makes me want to have a .40cal barrel cut and sized to shoot this bullet full bore!

sabotloader

The big fires or the complex of fires in Washington and Idaho have all been lightening strikes. There have been a couple of incidents in the Spokane area that might have deliberate starts but they were quickly put out.

It works basically the same as all Lehigh/Bloodline bullets. The CF bullet might be even better than the original Lehigh's or the Lehigh Bloodlines in that nose of the bullet has slits along the edges of the petals. These slits allow the bullet to fully function at lower velocities than the previous bullets.

The new nose design, which at this point is unique to the 40x215 sets it apart from all the other bullets.

As I said, I believe this bullet will/could be the best ML bullet that Lehigh Dave has made - but to be point blank honest - I really do not know the whole story yet until I am able to harvest an animal with it. That will be the clincher - I really do expect it to do everything it is suppose to. To be honest, though, I do have a little bit of a concern about how closed the nose is. It really reminds me of the small nose Barnes bullets that can sometimes no do what they are suppose to do.

Take a look at this picture - you can see the nose and the slits cut on the edge of the petals. The picture also shows how anal I can get in that a petal of the sabot placed in the crown of the rifle always faces the ram rod and now I arrange the bullet so that that a petal aligns with the sabot petal as it faces the ram rod.



Dave check your PM's when you get a chance....

super_hunt54

Sabot, need me to send you some of my OCD meds? Mine really acts up at the reloading bench. Wife can tell when I've been reloading, the shops cleaned up

sabotloader

I am retired - what the heck is a clean shop? Mine is a mess but next week I will get it.