randyh

Re-posting this as I thought it might have been missed by many as it was in a reply on a post about shooting angles.

In my Traditions Pursuit LT, the .240 GR XTP MAG's I used on top of 2 - 50 gr. Pyrodex pellets, load so tightly I can't fathom "falling out". I'm sure I would have a serious problem trying to pull a bullet. But then I thought, since I have only worked with this one bullet, perhaps the loading should be easier than what I experienced. It takes a lot of force to get the bullet/sabot started and then seated. Without the "T" handle I have attached to the ramrod, I don't think you could get enough leverage to load the bullet. The load seems to work just fine in my gun; I guess the question iswhat is "normal" if there is such a thing, as far as the amount of force needed to load a projectile. And having just typed that last line, I'm sure the responses would be from one end of the scale to the other.

cayugad

It sounds like you need a different sabot which would make loading easier. Although, if your getting exceptional accuracy you hate to change a good thing.

Reference your question, there are some sabot combinations that I can push down with a firm steady pressure. There are others that I must almost lean on the ramrod to load. The ones that I have to pound down the barrel are not used.

randyh

cayugad - accuracy is fine; I am however planning to do a lot more experimenting with differentpowder/load combinations starting next spring. Relying on advice from a salesperson, I bought Hornady's that came with a black sabot. Box is marked "50 Caliber 45 240 XTP/MAG". The little information leaflet with the bullets also lists a "50 Caliber 44 240 XTP/MAG". These have a green sabot. Perhaps I will give them the first look when I start trying things out. The leaflet talks about pushing the sabot/bullet into the muzzle with thumb. I need a short starter just to get the load into the muzzle itself. I then need to 2 hands on the ramrod to get the load started, finishing with 1 hand and shoulder push.

The leaflet also says, quote: "These sabots will closely fit the bore of your rifle. Since there are no standards for muzzleloading firearms, you may encounter some tight fits. The use in firearms with bores significantly larger or smaller than the sabot diameter will hurt performance."

Triple Se7en

Hopefully you are using a bore brush... hopefully you got all the packing grease when the rifle was new. Traditions uses more than your T/C Omega since it deals with overseas shipments by boat mostly... involving salt water humidity.

Just because a patch is white after cleaning, doesn''t mean the bore is clean. My hunting partner thought his new Black Diamond was clean until I ran some real solvent down it. He thought T/C-13 was all he needed because it's a blackpowder cleaner for a blackpowder rifle. I showed him how wrong he was around 35 patches later.

If you still have grease buildup, that will hamper loading. So will not removing gun oils & lubes just prior to shooting at the range. Some oils & lubes are not water soluble - thus difficult to remove. It's possible that you simply need to change to Harvester plastic sabots to aid in loading those XTPs -- then again you may need to invest in a good bore brush & solvent.

For a trial run at-home with household ingredients that your wife or mother keeps laying around, wrap a few patches with eith full-strength Pine-Sol type cleaner or full-strength dishwasher solution... even try non-grit automotive hand cleaner for a cheap way to remove that packing grease. Then in the near future, buy a good gun solvent. One that removes all three major ML fouling (decently... not superbly) like plastic, copper & lead in one application is Birchwood-Casey 2 In 1 Bore Cleaner.

The superb cleaners are those that clean individually like Barnes CR-10 for copper.... Brownells Plastic Solvent... etc.
BTW... rinse those household cleaner leftovers in your bore real well with water - then dry well - then run two alcohol patches - then two dry patches before oiling for storage. The rubbing (isoprophyl) alcohol is a must for me when using water cleaning treatments. It absorbs water instantaneously so water remnants are not lefover in your rifling when oiling.

randyh

trile se7en - I have been using a bore brush as part of my cleaning regimen; also using windshield washer/isopropyl mixture. The black powder kit I had originally purchased had a product called Outers Black Powder Bore Cleaner Concentrate. I have been using that with patches on the bore brush. Pretty sure I have all vestiges of grease out of the firearm; also since I have put approx. 30 rounds thru the gun I don't know whether it's realistic to expect a buildup in the barrel? I have cleaned it carefully each time out. You mentioned Harvester sabots - who makes them and since you say I may just need to switch to them I take it they are slightly smaller than the Hornady's I'm using? I have seen mention made before of some of the other products you referred to - difficult finding them here in our part of Canada. I may be making a trip to Grand Forks, ND in the not too distant future so will investigate whether the Cabela's in the area has anything along the lines of what you suggest.

JoeG52

Harvester sabots.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0012633214555a&type=product&cm Cat=search&returnString=No=20&noImage=0&am p;Ntt=sabot&Ntk=Products&QueryText=sabot&a mp;Ntx=matchall&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=4887&Nt y=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fco mmon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.22&returnPage=search-results1.jsp