fillae

Well, I made it to the range on Saturday to shoot my week old Omega. My intentions were two-fold. First, I just wanted to shoot it and have some fun because I had never shot an inline before. Second, I wanted to start working on a good elk load for this fall. I was using 777 with 410 gr Great Plains conicals, and iron sights. I also cleaned with two no. 13 patches and one dry patch in between each shot. The only thing I varied is the charge size (and target distance). I started shooting at 30yds, with a 90 gr charge. I shot 4 times and had about a 4.5 in grouping. Next, I shot at 30yds with a 100 gr charge. I shot 4 rounds and this time had a 2 in grouping. I then shot 2 more 100 gr shots at the 100yd target. After that I went up to 110 grains and shot 2 more at the 100yd target. All four of those shots were on the paper with the farthest two being 13 in apart. I then shot another 4 with the 110 gr charge at 30 yds, keeping a 3.5 inch grouping. I am not an expert shot, but I was very happy with these results. I would have hit the vitals of any elk out to 100yds. The targets I were shooting at are 14w X 18h, so the sights pretty much take up the whole target at 100yds. Very difficult to put it on the same spot every time. Also, most of my shots were slightly high and slightly right, this being due to my "flinch" (more about this later).

Overall thoughts: I was very impressed with this gun. I could not believe how easy the GP conicals were to load. After smacking them in with a starter, I only had to use slight pressure with the rod to seat them. I was also impressed with the 777. There was a small crud ring on the plug, but it was a breeze to clean up. The only negative I have with this gun is the recoil pad. There was alot more felt recoil with this gun than there is with my 7mm mag. My shoulder is now bruised up pretty good. That is the main reason for my shots being high right (relatively speaking). I am buying a Limbsaver today to help remedy that problem.

Thanks to all those that helped me get set-up with a load to start with. I think I have something that will work. I'll start fine-tuning in a couple weeks when my shoulder feels better!

jaybe

Good shooting, fillae - sounds like you've got a keeper there.
From what I've read, you're doing the best thing for a new barrel - shooting conicals. They say that this will help smooth out and roughness that might be there from the machining process. You might see those groups begin to tighten up some as time goes by. Some guys find that by using a Wonderwad under the conical, it improves the groups as well. Too bad about the flinch thing. I know how that can be - and once you start, it's hard to stop. Kind of like "target panic" with a bow.
When you get that Limbsaver pad, you might want to drop your charge back even more, and just spendsome time shooting at the 30 yard distance. Have fun without the heavy recoil, and see how many bullets you can put in one ragged hole. (Maybe even get some ball-ets - I think they're a little cheaper, and will also offer a little less recoil. I think you can get them up to around 300 grains.) Then gradually increase your charge and distance - maybe that will help get past the flinching and break your barrel in at the same time.

IM jaybe

Omegalover

Sounds like you had a really fun day iwth your new toy,welcome to the addicting world of MLing!! Hope your shoulder is better soon.

God Bless!!

Triple Se7en

I would back-off and start all over using 70 grains. Don't be surprised to see your groups narrow all the way out to 100 yardswhile never exceeding 80 grains 777.

In the powder direction that you've been administering,you are looking for a cure-all that's common with slow twists using heavy conicals .... ie... 1-60" to 1-70" twist. Being yours is a fast 1-28" twist with shallower grooves than the slow twists, using less fast take-off powders like 777 usuallydelivers"gooder" [X(]results.

With 45-50 calrifles, the faster the twist - using 400+ gr. conicals, the less powder you need for grouping. As the caliber size grows & twist slows, more powder isneeded for stabilization.

Yeah... there are exceptions to this. Somebody will come on here & say they accomplished 1" groups using your method, but those folks/those fast twist guns/those 100+777 powder chargesare rare exceptions.

What's even nicer about the powder charges I am suggesting isyour rifle flinching-controlissues are eliminated - the need for Sims padsare eliminated & the wife goes near you again because you no longer smell like Ben-Gay...lol

cayugad

All I can say is OUCH! Some of those charges must have had to hurt when you were shooting. I'm not surprised you were flinching. Still overall, it sounds like you had a most enjoyable day. I would think that some of those loads are more then adequate for elk although I never had the pleasure of elk hunting with a muzzleloader.

I think Roskoe is the one who shoots the Great Plains Conicals a lot. I believe he puts a MMP sub base under them. You might also want to look at the 460 grain No Excuse Conicals. I shoot them out of my Black Diamond XR with 85 grains of Goex 3f, no wad, and the NE. The accuracy is exceptional and I feel this is more then enough for elk if I were to get close enough.

The recoil pad is not a bad idea. It does make for more comfortable shooting... Good luck with your testing.

Underclocked

Cayugad, I got a few samples of Bullshop's NEI mould #373 bullets this morning. Pretty good looking bullet (although I prefer the looks of the TooTall clone), measures .504 diameter and .984 length - western state legal at 500 grains.

fillae

Triple Se7en,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll drop the charge down next time I'm out. It will take some experimenting to get it dialed in. If I can get good groups at 50 yds I will be happy. I didn't have any noticable drop at 100yds with 100 gr. If I can drop down to 70-80 and still shoot flat, there will certainly be enough energy there to take down an elk.

Roskoe

If you are planning to limit your shots to 100 yards, a load of 70 to 80 grainsshould work wonderful. And not kick all that much either. I noticed the 410 Hornady starts to open up groups at charges beyond 100 grains. With the MMP sub base, I was able to maintain good groupings with 120 grains of 2F T7, as well as 130 grains of Pyrodex. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive; but I still prefer to do all myMZ range testing from the Caldwell Lead Sled. One or two shots per year on game under field conditions is all I really want to shoot loads at this recoil level.