Sighted in my Apex
12-28-2006, 02:33 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,149
Sighted in my Apex
I finally got some bullets and powder and sighted in my Winchester Apex. I started at 30 yards and sighted it 2 inches high. That took about 10 shots, and thenI cleaned the barrel.ThenI went to 100 yards to see where it would impact. I got like a 2 inch group but they were all low.I worked on it a bit untilI thought it was right on. I shot twice and hit an inch apart right by the bullseye. By thenI was feeling pretty confident so I decided it was done. I kept shooting and after some more shots it started shooting erratically. They weren't on target at all. I had noticed that the bullets were extremely hard to load soI decided to clean the bore again. After that it shot great, but started flying erratic after a couplemore shots. I didn't clean it this time and noticed they were flying low again and left. I adjusted the sights and shot once. It was way off. By then I had 2 bullets left so I went to 50 yards. The first shot was way high and right. I adjusted and then shot again. This was about a half inch to the right of the bullseye.I was out of bullets butI moved the sights just a tad bit left. It should now be right on at 50 yards and right back where it was before.
I was shooting 240 grain TC XTP Mag sabots, 100 grains Pyrodex powder, and Winchester Primers with open sights. I can tell the gun is accurate because I shot some great groups but I seem to throw some erratic bullets occasionally. I believe this is either because of the dirty bore or me, though. How would you sight it in? Dead on at 50 yards? I think I'll actually get it an inch high at 50. This should be about right on at 100 I would guess. I'll have to buy more bullets.
The gun's very easy to load and clean but after about a dozen shots it gets super hard to start the bullet. I have the busted up, bloody knuckles to prove it(bullet starter slipping and bashing my hand on the muzzle).
Thanks for any insight you care to share and if you still want an Apex you can go and get one in ss/black for $200atCabela's.
I was shooting 240 grain TC XTP Mag sabots, 100 grains Pyrodex powder, and Winchester Primers with open sights. I can tell the gun is accurate because I shot some great groups but I seem to throw some erratic bullets occasionally. I believe this is either because of the dirty bore or me, though. How would you sight it in? Dead on at 50 yards? I think I'll actually get it an inch high at 50. This should be about right on at 100 I would guess. I'll have to buy more bullets.
The gun's very easy to load and clean but after about a dozen shots it gets super hard to start the bullet. I have the busted up, bloody knuckles to prove it(bullet starter slipping and bashing my hand on the muzzle).
Thanks for any insight you care to share and if you still want an Apex you can go and get one in ss/black for $200atCabela's.
12-28-2006, 02:57 PM
#2
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location:
Posts: 5,180
RE: Sighted in my Apex
Sounds like the pyrodex helped you out this time. Does that mean you're not going to let me buy it? After 12 shots i'd expect it to start throwing bullets. Try swapped every 3 shots and see what kind of pattern you can hold it at. Atleast you dont have to deal that that crud ring right? Now supposedly i have someone else sending me paypal for those car parts. I gave up on the other douche bag when he emailed me and said, Whats the item number again, i missed placed it? Im like OMG im gonna hit this mofo so hard if i ever see him. He screwed around way to long and pissed me off way to much. Hopefully i can buy the apex and my piston but will have to see. Enjoy the rifle! Dont adjust your sights so much, If the patterns start opening, swab it out and take 2 or 3 shots and then swab again to keep it. You just need to break down some of the fowling.
12-28-2006, 03:38 PM
#3
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 554
RE: Sighted in my Apex
I am haveing the same problem.But after the 5th shot,,,I had to literally beat the ramrod with a block of wood to get it the last 4 inches... It is a real pain in the ass to do... I am useing .49 hornady balls and .010 patches... I am shooting low and to the left at 48 yrds..I adjusted the sights...Still hitting low and to the left..Is there a manual called,,Sighting in a ML for dummies...It is getting discourageing...If I shot at a deer I would blow it's legs off and then I would have to club it to death when I ran it down...
12-28-2006, 03:56 PM
#4
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,149
RE: Sighted in my Apex
Yeah, Smokeman we just gotta keep that barrel clean. I got too frustrated when it threw 'em off again so I adjusted the sights instead of cleaning the barrel. That's theproblem. I do wonder why all of those guns would throw them low and left though. I know it's capable of greatness, because I had some great groups but I think I screwed it up whenI moved the sights again. I'm gonna pick up more sabots and sight it one inch high at 50 yards and then not touch it if it doesn't shoot right at 100. It would have to be me or a dirty barrel if it didn't shoot on target then. By the way, I have trouble with the first 4 inches of barrel and the last 2 inches. When I'm getting it started with a dirty barrel, I lean over the barrel and push as hard as I can. It won't go and then suddenly slides down the barrel all at once, smacking my fingers on the barrel. I had a bad cut that kept bleeding and got blood on a lot of stuff. It suprises me how hard it is to load at first and at the end and how easy it is in the middle. You can literally load it with your pinky once you get 4 inches down. Good luck to you. I'll keep you posted whenI get it perfect.
Does anyone else have any ideas about this gun?
Does anyone else have any ideas about this gun?
12-28-2006, 05:15 PM
#5
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location:
Posts: 5,180
RE: Sighted in my Apex
its not the gun, if they load tight, they say you need thinner sabots. And smokeman, what the hell are you doing shooting patched round ball out of it for? That rifle is designed for conicals/sabots. You'll never get any accuracy out of it with a round ball. Im affraid to ask what kinda charge you were using. Try powerbelts if those sabots keep giving you a hard time. Or use what phil is using in his, 270 grain buffalo ballets.
12-28-2006, 05:23 PM
#6
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 21,193
RE: Sighted in my Apex
ORIGINAL: smokeman
I am haveing the same problem.But after the 5th shot,,,I had to literally beat the ramrod with a block of wood to get it the last 4 inches... It is a real pain in the ass to do... I am useing .49 hornady balls and .010 patches... I am shooting low and to the left at 48 yrds..I adjusted the sights...Still hitting low and to the left..Is there a manual called,,Sighting in a ML for dummies...It is getting discourageing...If I shot at a deer I would blow it's legs off and then I would have to club it to death when I ran it down...
I am haveing the same problem.But after the 5th shot,,,I had to literally beat the ramrod with a block of wood to get it the last 4 inches... It is a real pain in the ass to do... I am useing .49 hornady balls and .010 patches... I am shooting low and to the left at 48 yrds..I adjusted the sights...Still hitting low and to the left..Is there a manual called,,Sighting in a ML for dummies...It is getting discourageing...If I shot at a deer I would blow it's legs off and then I would have to club it to death when I ran it down...
As for the loading problem if you feel ANY friction when loading, be sure and swab the barrel next time. Also if these are new rifles, some of them have ruff bores, and can be a real bear to load. I would suggest taking some J-B Bore Paste and scrubbing the barrel from time to time and smooth that rifle out. Some people take 20 maxiball and they shoot them out of the new rifles to smooth them out. Just make sure to clean the barrel good after your shoot.
Also if you are swabbing with a patch, try swabbing with a bore brush and wrap your patch around that. Then swab with that brush. After that I like to run a second saturated patch and make sure as much of the fowling is out as possible. After that then I hit it with the dry patches until I can touch that patch and feel no moisture.
Today I was shooting a stainless steel fast twist barrel on my Renegade. And even though I was shooting Kik Black Powder, I had to swab the barrel to get the very best accuracy. Even though I could load up to four shots without problem.
12-28-2006, 06:13 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,470
RE: Sighted in my Apex
ORIGINAL: outdoorslover
I finally got some bullets and powder and sighted in my Winchester Apex. I started at 30 yards and sighted it 2 inches high. That took about 10 shots, and thenI cleaned the barrel.ThenI went to 100 yards to see where it would impact. I got like a 2 inch group but they were all low.I worked on it a bit untilI thought it was right on. I shot twice and hit an inch apart right by the bullseye. By thenI was feeling pretty confident so I decided it was done. I kept shooting and after some more shots it started shooting erratically. They weren't on target at all. I had noticed that the bullets were extremely hard to load soI decided to clean the bore again. After that it shot great, but started flying erratic after a couplemore shots. I didn't clean it this time and noticed they were flying low again and left. I adjusted the sights and shot once. It was way off. By then I had 2 bullets left so I went to 50 yards. The first shot was way high and right. I adjusted and then shot again. This was about a half inch to the right of the bullseye.I was out of bullets butI moved the sights just a tad bit left. It should now be right on at 50 yards and right back where it was before.
I was shooting 240 grain TC XTP Mag sabots, 100 grains Pyrodex powder, and Winchester Primers with open sights. I can tell the gun is accurate because I shot some great groups but I seem to throw some erratic bullets occasionally. I believe this is either because of the dirty bore or me, though. How would you sight it in? Dead on at 50 yards? I think I'll actually get it an inch high at 50. This should be about right on at 100 I would guess. I'll have to buy more bullets.
The gun's very easy to load and clean but after about a dozen shots it gets super hard to start the bullet. I have the busted up, bloody knuckles to prove it(bullet starter slipping and bashing my hand on the muzzle).
Thanks for any insight you care to share and if you still want an Apex you can go and get one in ss/black for $200atCabela's.
I finally got some bullets and powder and sighted in my Winchester Apex. I started at 30 yards and sighted it 2 inches high. That took about 10 shots, and thenI cleaned the barrel.ThenI went to 100 yards to see where it would impact. I got like a 2 inch group but they were all low.I worked on it a bit untilI thought it was right on. I shot twice and hit an inch apart right by the bullseye. By thenI was feeling pretty confident so I decided it was done. I kept shooting and after some more shots it started shooting erratically. They weren't on target at all. I had noticed that the bullets were extremely hard to load soI decided to clean the bore again. After that it shot great, but started flying erratic after a couplemore shots. I didn't clean it this time and noticed they were flying low again and left. I adjusted the sights and shot once. It was way off. By then I had 2 bullets left so I went to 50 yards. The first shot was way high and right. I adjusted and then shot again. This was about a half inch to the right of the bullseye.I was out of bullets butI moved the sights just a tad bit left. It should now be right on at 50 yards and right back where it was before.
I was shooting 240 grain TC XTP Mag sabots, 100 grains Pyrodex powder, and Winchester Primers with open sights. I can tell the gun is accurate because I shot some great groups but I seem to throw some erratic bullets occasionally. I believe this is either because of the dirty bore or me, though. How would you sight it in? Dead on at 50 yards? I think I'll actually get it an inch high at 50. This should be about right on at 100 I would guess. I'll have to buy more bullets.
The gun's very easy to load and clean but after about a dozen shots it gets super hard to start the bullet. I have the busted up, bloody knuckles to prove it(bullet starter slipping and bashing my hand on the muzzle).
Thanks for any insight you care to share and if you still want an Apex you can go and get one in ss/black for $200atCabela's.
I intend to get some bore size conicals for it and try my luck without swabbing using the techniques implemented by the White users like Underclocked and Cayugad. I should be getting my Scope soon, so a more detailed analysis of precision will be forthcoming.
One other thing. I think the bore size is a couplethousandths less than other rifles like T/C. So a thinner sabot may help with loading. Still I would swab between shots. If a sabot loads alottougher than the previous ones, its going to have a different POI than those previously loaded.
Also, the Buffalo SSBs load easily in my Apex with out a short starter.
12-28-2006, 07:21 PM
#8
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location:
Posts: 1,149
RE: Sighted in my Apex
The bullets only get hard to load after firing several times. The first times it is easy as cake to start. Swabbing is the key. So, once again I'll just swab every couple shotsand see what I can shoot. I'll adjust sights so it impacts 1 inch high at 50 yards. It should be a piece of heaven to shoot with swabbing. I couldn't possibly run into any more problems, could I?
12-28-2006, 08:51 PM
#9
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location:
Posts: 106
RE: Sighted in my Apex
For sighting in swab the bore after each shot get it shooting groups,then adjust the sights. After getting it zeroed where you want ,clean the bore for the next shot,THEN shoot it and watch the accuracy drop off,or how many shot you can take and still hit in the group. This will be your effective load range. It may be 2 shots,or as high as 5 shots,but clean it out each shot until you have it hitting where you want. Then go for the marathon!