hubby11

Went to the range this past Monday with my almost new Omega X7 with the goal of trying to nail down what load will shoot best for hunting.Where I hunt in Northern Virginia, the terrain is hilly (having lived on the West Coast I have a hard time calling anything less than 5000’ a mountain) and heavy cover. Some hunting in tree stands and some still hunting. Most of my shots will be well inside of 100 yards. I am planning on using the peep sight, assuming I can consistently hit what I'm aiming at.

Before heading to the range I loaded up 15 of Lane’s tubes with 90gr of BH209. I planned on shooting 300gr Gold Dot Hollow Points, with Harvester sabots, both the crush ribs and the EZ load shorts, to see which worked the best. I also had some 300gr XTPs to try out. CCI 209m primers.

I set up my target at 25 yds. From my last shooting session I know that my rifle’s peeps shoot quite low so I adjusted the rear ramp as high as possible. Trying to ignore the guys on either side of me with the automatic rifles, I took my time with my shots. I know that with the BH 209 you don’t need to swab between shots, but I did anyway, just once with a dry patch after each shot. I figure it couldn’t’ hurt and it allowed more time for the barrel to cool. A fair amount of soot on the patches each time – I don’t know if it’s from the hot primer or the BH.

My results:

5 shots with the 300gr GDHP, Harvester CR sabots – about 3” groups, one flyer. All shot between 3.5 – 5.5 inches low.

5 shots the 300gr GDHP, Harvester short black sabots – about the same groupings, also low. Some a bit right, some left.

3 shots with the 300gr XTP, Harvester CR sabots – Pretty much the same.

2 shots with the 300gr XTP, Harvester short blacks – Pretty much the same.

Conclusions:

1. Basically, at 25yds, I did not see much of a difference between the Harvester short black or crush ribbed sabots, nor the Gold Dots or XTPs regarding accuracy. The CRs did load a little easier but the short blacks were not too difficult to get down the barrel. No short starter needed. Nor was there much difference between the Gold Dots and XTPs as when loading with either sabot.

2. I was not exactly driving tacks, especially at 25yds. I don’t know whether the marginal accuracy is because I need quite a bit more experimenting with my loads (likely) or need a LOT more practice shooting with the peep sight (even more likely). I will plan on trying some lighter bullets and may pick up a bottle of T7 to see if my X7 likes it better.

3. My sights definitely shoot low, at least at 25yds. I will be calling T/C so see if they can send me a lower sight. I did take a couple of shots at 50 yards just to see if I could hit the paper and was surprised that they did not seem to hit as low, although I was 5” to the right on one shot. I blame it on the barrel starting to heat up.

My plans:

Back to the range to try some 250gr XTPs or Gold Dots, assuming I can find any in stock. I may get some T7 powder. Although I like the idea of the BH being less corrosive, it still took some time to clean my barrel and breach plug. Swabbing between shots just gives me something to do while the barrel cools.

I picked up a decent 4x scope and will mount it for my next range session. If I can reduce “operator error” in my shots, it should be easier to fine tune the load. Then I can go back to the peep to PRACTICE.

One last thing. When I was cleaning the rifle at home, I noticed that the front recoil lug was a little loose. Just enough play to “click” if I tried to wiggle it. Tightened up easily enough with a T8 driver but I wonder how much that could effect accuracy?

I do like shooting the X7 though. Nice little gun!

ronlaughlin

A loose lug should definitely affect accuracy; your rifle should shoot better now. When i was looking for a hunting load for my X7, i was dissatisfied using the peep sight even though i knew i had to use it during our hunting season. I did the same thing you are planning, and mounted a scope to use whilst developing loads. It worked well for me, and i ended up with several good working hunting loads. I was able to fill my tags using the peep sight, partially because of the confidence i had in my scope developed loads.

My X7 shoots quite well with 105g BH209, crush rib sabot, Winchester 209 primer, and 45 caliber Gold Dot, xtp, partition. It shoots 44 caliber bullets even better with the same components.

Semisane

When cleaning myX7 after the last range sessionI noticed that my front lug had a little click/wiggle also. The funny thing is, the groups on my last two targets is that sessionwerelarger than on the first three targets. At the range I wrote that off to the barrel getting pretty hot. I'm now convinced that loose lug was a factor also. I don't know why TC didn't put a tack weld on that sucker, butthe difference inmetalsbetween the stainless barrel and non-stainless lug may be a welding problem.

I've only shot two three-shot groups out of mine with BH and 300 grain Gold Dots. That was back in January and I used 95 grains volume out of a TC U-View measure. The groups werelarger than what I was getting with T7 during the same range session, but I didn't play around with different charges of BHthe way I did with the T7. If you want to shoot BH I suspect you'll find a load that satisfies you. (But it's not going to be cheap finding it. )

Buck Hunter 1

Semisane, I am not on you guy's caliber in shooting times or testing . But in sighting in my Pro Hunter that I got better groups w/ BH209 the hotter i loaded the gun. I started at 95 grains TC U View and ended at 110 grains. I watched the group get smaller. I was sighting in a 200 grain XTP/Mag. Again if you look back over the different threads it seems BH209 likes or performs better when loaded over 100 measured grains. I never got into the weighing side of it. If I do it again (and I will w/a heavier bullet this year) I will start at 100 grains and move up from there of BH209. JMO!

hubby11

Just as an FYI, I called up TC customer service about the sight issue. A lower front sight is on the way!

Thanks for the comments/advice. I'll be fitting the scope as soon as I find some rings I like. I made the mistake of purchasing some "high" quad lock rings when I likely need something lower since my scope is a 4 x 32.

lemoyne

The loose lug will open your groups right up and may affect the POI.
You need to raise the back sight or lower the front sight to raise the point of impact.
While a lot of the bullets I have tried worked best with the Short Black the GDHP worked best with the long Black
Pm me with your address and I will send you a hand full to check out if that's what your gun likes. Lee

spaniel

I have always wanted one of these for my X7:
http://www.eabco.com/Muzzleloader03.htm

Sight in and test loads with a scope mounted, then pull it off to hunt with the peep. Otherwise you have to remove and re-mount the peep every time. This and some Warne quick-release rings should work quite nicely.

The loose recoil lug could make a substantial difference in accuracy.

Shooting open sights well is an acquired skill. How you set up your sight picture makes a ton of difference. I see a lot of STUPID books telling you to cover the intended target with the front bead or sit the bullseye on top of the post like a pumpkin. That's great if you only shoot at one size bullseye at a set range, but it's crap for hunting. I sight my guns in so I center the globe in the center of the sight (your eye should reflexively do this anyways) and then sight in so that the bullet impacts at 100 yards right where the very highest point of the curvature on the globe sits. That way I have the most precise aiming point possible with the sight, and it works for all distances and target types. I have no issues shooting good groups to 200 yards with this strategy with my X7.

Keep experimenting with the loads if the scope doesn't show it to be operator error or a result of the loose lug. The gun should be capable of much better than that.

johnnydialtone

I mounted a Williams peep on my Omega and had to get a shorter front sight as well. Went to the sandpit the other day and got it dialed in at 85 yards as that is the max distance you can get out of that sand pit. Still have the peep mounted very high, sticking a little off the ramp a touchbut solid none the less.

I am surprised at how accurately I could shoot with the peep compared to the factory sights. I shoot with a peep on my bow as well and that probably has something to do with it. Had some 3 shot groups at 85 yards that were at least equal to what I can shoot with my 308 with the scope. First 3 shots were touching and 4 inches low just sitting in a plastic chair with my elbow on my knee. Scopes are illegal here during ML season but if I could use one there is a mount I saw on the web that allows you to leave the peep on while having a scope mounted on the gun. I think it was some sort of quick release mount for the scope.

My load was a 250 grain .452 XTP with crushed rib sabots and 100 grains of Pinnacle. When I run out ofPinnacle I might try the BH209 if I can find it locally for a decent price.

johnnydialtone

The link that spaniel posted is what I saw on the web. Looks nice and might get you into a more comfortable shooting position. My friend has an Optima and I like the shooting position better than my Omega. My head is more upright and comfortable.

hubby11

I've seen those as well. The problem is, I'm cheap and since the X7 already comes with a peep, I can't justify shelling out the extra bucks for the PeepRib Muzzleloader Peep Sight. I may regret my cheapness.


spaniel, I am not sure what you mean. I found an older post -
http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=3365939&mpage=1&key=open%2csight s&#3366454where Semisane attached a pic on different ways to sight in, with "H" refering to open sights.


I get that your method is different but am not sure what you mean when you refer to the "curvature of the globe." Is it what texhunter58 stated- "I use a peep sight, but don't do it as seen in H above. I use a front bead and center this front bead in my peep. then put the bullseye on top of that. So the bullseye is not centered, the front bead is."

Thanks,