I had some time today and went to the range and fired my CVA sidelock about 20 times.

I made the Windex WetPatches and left my bolt open to hear the air as Sabotloader advised. The Windex really gets a ton of soot out. I wet patched after each shot and followed the wet patch with a dry. IS THAT THE BEST PROCEDURE?

I shot all my .50 cal, 240 gr. Mag Sabots without bore butter on them this time. Absolutely no problem.

Our range is only 50 yards. I'm not a great shot, the rifle is scoped. My first 7 or 8 shootsgrouped at 3". But I ran out of Pyrodex and switched over to some Triple 7 I purchased. My next 5-6 shots didn't group as well. Maybe 5"? CAN A CHANGE IN POWDER MAKE THAT BIG OF AN EFFECT? I noticed the Triple 7 pellets looked smaller in diamter than the Pyrodex?

I broke my Bore Plug after 3 & 8 shots today. Plus, I only hand tightened it this time. No problem getting it out when I got home! Ive been using Miltec Grease. Seems to works fine.

Before shooting today, I notice little specks in my barrel. IS THIS RUST? After shooting last time, I used the copper brush, wet patched with Ed'd Red Bore Cleaner and laid up with wet patches of CLP.

Today.....I took everybody's advice and used the Plunger with hot soapy water followed by all the above. I'd hate to have rust in my barrel but this is a used ML and may have been there before? I couldn't for the life of me get those specks out.

Thanks for the help,

MCIM

run dry patches until you are sure the barrel is dry.. before loading. Especially with a sidelock. You can get hang fires and mis fires otherwise. yes changing a powder brand, even a new jar of the same powder brand can make an effect. How much is hard to say. But your results do not surprise me.

Some powders when they burn can leave a red looking finish on the metal. It is not rust. Especially in flintlocks. Normally a good gun oil will remove it. Then again, in your case it might be rust. Clean the area with a good solvent. And then oil it all back up at the end of the day.

A bore brush with solvent inside the barrel, a brass tooth brush with solvent outside the barrel will normally scrub those rust spots out.

does your rifle have plastic sights or is it scoped?

MissouriCrowinMass

You do not say what your powder charges were... but when you switch from a Pyro to T7 things are going to change. T7 is at least 10% hotter than the Pyro's and most people plan of 15%.... so if you stayed grain for grain after the switch it could really make a big difference... never mind.... I did not read well enough to see that you were shooting pellets... but there still is a possibility the switch could cause the opening of the group...

Your writing refer to a "wet" patch... I hope you were really refering to a "damp" patch.... if you were are to take the patch and ring any moisture out of it - it is to wet.... take a new clean patch put a little moisture on your toungue and dampen the patch with your tongue... match that dampness with the windex patch.... I will tell you dry patch until you are really confident you have a dry barrel and breech(breech being the most important on a sidelock) but being honest with you I do not use a dry swab any longer, with my prepared patches and the time that it takes me to get the powder ready the ammonia in the windex or even the alcohol in Cayugads solution will have dried.... just do not get the slolution in the breech plug

OK I am confused - you said CVA sidelock - what bore plug?

That kind of threw me as well, Sabotloader.. he was talking about a side lock and then a breech plug. Then leaving the bolt open, which I took for granted was the hammer. Perhaps he simply has a inline rifle instead of a side lock.

I was wondering if he had two different rifles as I know of no CVA traditional sidelock that uses a removable breech plug. Now Traditions does have a traditional rifle, the PA Pellet that you can remove the breech plug.

Thanks for the help. I did get the tip on "moist" patches and squeezed out the excess Windex pretty good. I have a BSA 4x32 Scope on the rifle. The fellow that sold me the rifle had it zero'd pretty good. It's a CVA Mag Hunter. I might be calling it by the wrong terminology. It has a bolt action.......don't know how to describe the Bore Plug except it shoots 209 primers?

I looked at my Targets, again. They're not really as different as I initially thought. Could well be my shooting.I'm going to adjust the windage a bit to the left and I think at 50 yards, I'd want to be hitting a bit high.

Right.. your Mag Hunter is an inline rifle. And your bore plug is a breech plug. As I kind of suspected.

That is not all that bad of shooting no matter which powder you choose. The Pyrodex group is very good actually with the one concentration of hits very tight. Fliers alway seem to happen. A little adjustment to the left and I think you will have a deer hunting machine there.

If you are shooting loose powder, try dropping the load down to 90 grains once.. just to see what happens. I have a CVA Staghorn Magnum that when loaded with 90 grains it is really accurate. With a number of different loads as well.

Good luck with your rifle.

MissouriCrowinMass

The world is right again... thanks for the explanation...

Those are really pretty decent targets for the beginning with a new rife... And as you say as you look at it now there really is not that much difference between the two powders on the two targets. The two different type pellets should be about the same power....

When you start feelng really confident about what you are doing, you might think about switching to T7-2f loose powder... it will offer you a little more versitility + plus it is a lot less expensive. But, do not be in a hurry, get comfortable with what you are doing.... there are so many varibles in shooting ML's....

Keep shooting and keep posting so we can follow along....

Good shooting. You want it 1" high @ 50 yards and it should be close to dead on @ 100.

Thanks guys! Didn't shoot the ML today. Mrs. MissouriCrowinMass agreed to go to the range and shoot her FIRST handgun. We had a great time shooting my .22 Ruger & 9mm Beretta. It was a perfect day. I introduced her to the FOUR Basic Rules of Firearms:

1. Always treat the firearm as if it were loaded.
2. All keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
3. Never put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
4. Don't believe anything you hear about me and last year's Office Holiday Party.

Mrs. MissouriCrowinMass shoots the .22very well....I'm on my best behavior!