I recently traded my Omega for a Pro Hunter, and I shot it for the first time today. The first shot was a little high at 50 yards, but after making a couple adjustments on the Nikon Omega scope, I was able to get a pretty nice group. Bullets 4 & 5 are nearly the same hole, and 6 and 7 are pretty tight as well. I was pretty happy since this is the first time I've shot this gun. I never got these type of groups with my Omega.

After I shot for a while, I moved over to a 100 yards, and was all over the place. I decided to run a dry brush down the barrel, eventhough I had beenswobbing with pre-treated patches after every shot. This helped somewhat, because I started getting bullet holes together again, but then I would still get an occassional flier.

By the way, I am shooting 100 grains of pyrodex, andBarnes 250 TMZ. I know that when shooting sabots, after a while you will build-up a carbon ring, which can affect seating, but I wonder if I shouldn't be swobbing with something else besides pre-treated patches. I've heard of guys using windshield washer solvent and alcohol.

Any suggestions?

Something to watch with pretreated patches.. they are often times far too wet, which might be making your attempt at drying the bore not complete. Also a lot of times they solution they use has lots of water in it. While water works real well for swabbing, anyone that spit patches tell you, a little spit goes a long way. Water is the hardest of all solutions to remove from the barrel.

Next time you go to the range, get some Windex or makes some car windshield washer solution & isopropyl alcohol 50/50 solution. Spritz the patch lightly and swab with that in short strokes down the barrel. Then flip that and do it all over again. After that a couple dry patches, then load.

Also, try some 250 grain shockwaves and kick your pyrodex load after a couple shots with 100 grains to 120 grains of loose powder. And see what kind of groups that rifle will shoot with that.

You have a great rifle. And a good first range session. It looks like a little work and you will have a great rifle there.

Hey Cayugad,

Thanks for the helpful suggestions! I did try the shockwaves with my Omega, and I got pretty good groups, but I heard a lot of people complaining that the bullets didn't expand properly and also that they often fragmented due to the lead core. Not sure if that is true, because I never used them on game.

Thanks again for your help!

Well I never shot a deer with a shockwave either. Still a lot of deer have fallen to them. So they must do something right. I really think it boils down to shot placement. I do think the Shockwave is not meant for short range shooting. In cases where my shots were under 100 yards I would look at the Barnes, Nosler, Speer, even the XTP's. They are going to hit, expand, and should exit I hope.

Plus I tend to believe the trend these days is to design your rifle to shoot your projectiles. CVA/BPI for instance tout the advantages of powerbelts, and their rifles normally do shoot powerbelts very well. Knight talks about the RED HOTS which are Barnes bullets. So it would only make sense that Thompson Center might promote (Hornady created) a rifle that shoots some of their bullets well, and here come the Shockwaves.

I have been shooting some Nosler .451 diameterPartitian HG 260 grain out of a few of my inlines. My Knights love them and so do my Thompson Centers. These I think are a well made bullet. Sabotloader and others sure do appreciate them when hunting. Just another bullet to keep in mind.

Next week I will be testing some Parker Production 250 gr Ballistic Extreme in a couple rifles and see what kind of accuracy they will produce. I like the looks of the Parker. They look well made. So range time will tell.

I have and do use them in two of my guns, I shoot them between 1900 and 2100 feet per second and they have worked quite well. The people that have problems with them are the ones that seem to think what ever they want to shoot should work. I know one that was complaining about them was shooting them with a max load of smokless in a Savage 2400 + fps will blow them up was no suprise to me, I also heard of some one give the to his boy with 70 gr of RS they did not open up again no suprise. If you will check the thread on bullets that has been going the last week or so you can get a run down on a bunch of them including the one you are asking about some good pics to. Lee

Thanks once again Caygad, I will keep the Noslers in mind. I am always interested to learn more about blackpowder hunting, and sabots in particular.

Funny thing, I tried the Barnes Spit-Fire TMZ's in my Omega, and I couldn't get them down my barrel, neither could my nephew in his CVA, but since I already had an used pack (due to this problem) I decided to try them in my Pro Hunter, and they actually go down pretty smoothly.

All in all, I was pleased with the way the Barnes bullets did for the first time shooting this gun, but I will be taking your advice, and I believe swabbing with the solution, rather than the pre[treated patches will solve my issue.

I love this site..... its so cool to be able to share things like this and learn from eachother!

rcaddell

I would only suggest that you shoot it awhile before you get to concerned about groups... I really think it is important to break in a new barrel, @ least 100 rounds then start working for your desired goal. The other + about breaking the gun in you get to learn about the gun at the same time...

What are the pre-treated patches??? I hoping that they are not the T17 or even the the Knight pretreated patches...

I use windex patches prepared at home and used at the range... lots of people also use cayugad's 50/50 mix of windshield washer & alcohol...

I make mine from regular windex with ammonia - I prefer the metal cleaning of the ammonia to the other windex with vinegar..

rcaddell

The Omega's and most other newer ML's have a tighter bore than does Knights... you will probably have to use HPH-12's for sabots also vs the HPH-24 or any prepackaged TC bullet product.... SST's (not that I am fond of SST's) should work fine as they come with HPH-12's - do not get the Low Drag sabot as it will be to loose...

Yeah, the pre-treated patches were the T17's. But I will be using a homemade solution for all future trips to the range. I agree, barrels dotake timeto break in, and it does help you to get more familiar with the gun as well.

Today was only my first trip to the range with my Pro Hunter, and I believe I shot it about 24 times or so. All in all, I am really pleased with the gun. I am actually surprised by how much more I like this gun over the Omega, I am so glad I traded!

So far, I am pretty pleased with the Barnes TMZ's in the Pro Hunter,but they would notwork inthe Omega that I had, or my nephews CVA.

I appreciateyou guys taking time to share some info with me!