I am planning a range session on Monday and if I have time I am going to do a little experiment.

My Magbolt has never had a problem with the dreaded 777 crud ring. I have shot as many as 10 consecutive shots without swabbing (depending on the bullet)before having trouble seating a bullet due to fouling, not crud ring. I also have shot upwards of 40 rounds without the breach plug getting stuck. My theory is that the breach plug design of the Magbolt, which allows a fair amount of blowback, may be the reason for the lack of a crud ring. My son's Optima gets a crud ring on every shot with 777. That breach plug has almost no blowback.

Over the past 2 weeks I've been in contact with BPI customer support on this matter and they sent me, free of charge, an Optima/Apex BP to try out in my Magbolt. The length and the threads and the face design are the same as the Magbolt's. The only real difference is the 209 socket is closed all the way around, i.e. no slot as the Magbolt has.

I plan on shooting the same load using both BP's and see if it makes a difference. I will also be noting how much fouling is getting back into the action and whether it gums up the bolt. If everything goes as planned, I will report back early next week.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.