cayugad

Today I took a shovel and moved a snow bank. I got an old card table and my portable bench and actually got back to the 50 yard line and could still see the target. My intention was to try some of the Pyrodex 50 grain pellets I purchased. I decided to use the Black Diamond XR for a rifle, Remington Kleenbore Primers, and I started shooting 200 grain Shockwaves. I did swab between shots. I used 100 grains worth.

The ignition time with the pellets and the Kleenbore Primers was excellent. Also the Kleenbore primers lack of fowling the breech was real good. Since this was Pyrodex I did not suspect a hard fowling in the barrel and was not disappointed.

The grouping with the 200 grain Shockwaves was very good. Also the recoil from the pellets was very controllable. They hit a little higher then I expected but thats just a matter of scope adjustment. I fired an eight shot group with them.

I then got out some 375 grain Buffalo Bullet SSB's and shot them with the same 100 grains worth of pellets. I shot a five shot group with them. The recoil was a little more apparent I am guessing from the added weight of the projectile, but again, I was more then pleased with the group.

I guess I can see what the appeal is with pellets. I want to test the same projectiles next time using loose powder and see if they shoot better or worse..

dmurphy317

Not bad there Cayugad, with a little work you might have a tight group . No really, it looks great. I have a load or two that works with the pellets also, but it sure gets expensive when you shoot a lot.

Have a great day.

cayugad

Well at the end of the close out season, Wal Mart had them on sale. So I finally broke down and bought some. They are easy to use and the shot to shot consistancy seems real good...

Pglasgow

Cayugad,

Great groups!

Happy Hunting, Phil

ENCOREMAN

Cayugad,
Nice groups from both projectiles, but I like the shockwave group the bestI'd like to see a 100yd.group from the 200gr.shockwaves now.
Keep us posted with your results.

PA Spike King

Very nice shooting thereCayugad but I think PA and I will stick to lose powder.

m.t.hands

well i have mentioned here before about my experience with the pellets and the shape of my breech plug on my encore (deep concave, and the pellets would crush and fall apart[:@]), one thing i have never really felt comfortable with on the pellets is what i would consider a "air gap" i know with loose it has been stressed for years not to leave any air/extra spacebetween the powder and projectile, most state to make sure the projectile is firmly seated against the powder, not saying anything bad against the pellets, just wondering why it is ok to have a little air/space around the pellets but not loose, BTW i'm sticking with loose on all my front stuffers, i do agree the pellets are nice and handy especially for hunting though, just unsure about using them, you guys have a good'un

jaybe

Hey Cayugad - I can't believe this is the first time you've tried pellets! I probably would have picked up on that if I paid more careful attention to your posted loads - - but I never noticed it. I just figured that a guy who shoots as much as you do would have tried them before this.
Anyway - looks like you had pretty good results. I'll also be interested to see how they stack up (no pun intended) against a similar charge of loose at 100 yds (that's a LOT of snow to move, right?)
Question - When you hunt, do you carry pre-measured charges in "speed loaders"? If so, what kind do you prefer? I've been using little glass bottles with screw caps, since they are non-static and the powder doesn't stick to them; but the loaders whch hold both powder and bullet also look good. Any advice?

IM jaybe

cayugad

Friends have been over to the house that shot pellets and I took a couple shots with their pellets andrifles but always refused to pay the big money and buy them for myself. Finally the price was what I felt was fair. Actually when figuring shot for shot the cost of the pellets at this price was about 50 shots instead of the normal 65 shots I would get out of a pound of powder.

When I hunt I have three .54 caliber plastic speed loaders I carry and then I have two clear plastic 35mm film containers I carry. So I have a loaded rifle and five extra shots. I carry the sabots and projectiles in an Altoids tin. Or in the case of roundball hunting I carry the patch and ball in the Altoids tin. Come hunting season I have all sort of little tins around the house marked with masking tape telling me what projectiles are inside. I just grab a tin and head out...

I forget which poster told me, but they use medicine pill bottles with the screw tops. The off color protects the powder from harmful light rays, and the bottles are water proof and come in all sizes. Next time I go to Wal Mart I am going to ask them to see if they have any I can get my hands on....

cayugad

I decided to conduct idential powder tests with the same bullets and also use one control load that I know to usually be very accurate. I used the same rifle, the Black Diamond XR, the same primers.. the Remington Kleenbore, but used 100 grains of loose Pyrodex RS for the 200 grain Shockwaves and 375 grain Buffalo Bullet SSB sabots. I shot the 200 grain Shockwaves first, then the Buffalo Bullets. After that I did a field cleaning of the rifle, pulling the breech plug and cleaning that, and shot the 250 grain Shockwaves. This rifle will normally shoot outstanding groups with this and 110 grains of Goex, but I used Pyrodex RS since it was out on the table.

It was 30 degrees approximately, and lightly snowing. Very overcast outside. I also changed the color of the target to make it a little different.

As for the difference in accuracy, the loose powder might actually win. At least with the Buffalo Bullets. All of these are five shot groups. I figured that would give me the opportunity for a flyer. I would sure hate to live on the difference in accuracy between pellets and loose powder. I do see that for some reason, the rifle seems to have moved a touch to the left in its shooting.

The other shocker is how much higher the 200 grain shoot compared to the others. They are supposed to hit about an inch above the bulls eye at this distance and then I find them right on at 100 yards.