How Can This Be????
 

We have a Hawkins MZ in .50 cal. We are shooting 385grn Great Plains Hornady Bullets. Now according to the stats if you sight in at 100yds with 100grns of powder to dead on you should drop 9" at 150yds & 25" at 200yds. We are shooting 110grns of powder instead. It's dead on at 100yds open sights. It is still dead on at 150 yds & only drops off 6" at 200yds. Don't see how it can maintain such velocity. But we've shot it many times & it's always the same! Good thing too, otherwise we would've went by the statistics, which aren't even close!

ElkNut1

RE: How Can This Be????
 

The only answer to your problem is that it is still rising at 100 and is leveling out between 100 and 150. I shot the 385 (now shooting the 460) with 80 grs and never got that performance. I will have to up my load and check it out. With the peep I probably can not shoot that good.

Eric

RE: How Can This Be????
 

Thank You for the response! We were shooting off a rest & could easily hit a pie plate in a 5"x5" square at 150yds. I guess what really bewilders me is the stats that are put out for that bullet & load. We only elk hunt with them here so we use no less than 100grns of powder, it's hogdons 777. I never considered the bullet may be rising at the 100yd distance but that makes sense! Give it a try with 110grns of powder, I think you'll be amazed! (grin)

ElkNut1

RE: How Can This Be????
 

Elknut1,
What type of sight are you using on the rifle? I've tried running some numbers to see if anything reasonably matches your results and the closest I could find was with a see through scope mount 2.5" above the bore and 2000fps (higher than I would expect your load to be) which puts you on at 100, -3 at 150 and -9 at 200. It may be that the barrel on that gun shoots the bullet at a strange angle that causes it to do what it does. A friend of mine has one that shoots like a knuckle ball with the projectile flying in a cork screw pattern as it goes down range. Nobody seems to know why it does this but he shot it at several different distances (short intervals) and it had a round pattern around the POA, very strange.

RE: How Can This Be????
 

David, Well now you can see why we were a bit confused over the results! The sights are just plain open sights found on a Hawkins .50cal. MZ. The gun is 2 years old, it has a pivot type hammer that is required for MZ Seasons out here in ID. Not sure of the riflings or exact barrel length as it's at my sons house. But, we have shot many rounds through it & it doesn't differ! It must still be rising at a 100yds as the other gentleman mentioned. It's right in there at both 100yds & 150yds, that I can tell you. Never shot it at 125yds, but my guess would be that it's a couple inches high? Thanks!

ElkNut1