Triumph BC LEMON?? (No just Fickle)
 

Wow did I have a bad day at the range.

Things went downhill fast even though it was a beautiful day. Sunny, light winds, mid 20's...nice.

I decided to shoot five 3-shot groups with different bullets that appeared to have promise at the 50 yard range.

Gun setup
Triumph Bone Collector Camo
Leupold 4-12 fine reticule with adjustable parallax
Leupold QR Base and Rings (Locktite used)



First group
285 Barnes Spitfire
with HPH-12 sabots
78 grains BH209 (weighed)
Federal 209A primers
Average velocity 1924fps
1.85" c-t-c (This was the good group)


Second group
300 Barnes MZ
with HPH-12
78 grains BH209 (weighed)
Federal 209A primers
Average velocity 1950 fps
2.9" c-t-c (disappointing)



Third group
250 Barnes MZ
with yellow hyper glide sabot
78 grains BH209 (weighed)
Federal 209A primers
Average velocity 1963fps
5.5" c-t-c (very very disappointing)


Fourth group
250 Barnes MZ
HPH-12 sabot
78 grains BH209 (weighed)
Federal 209A primers
Average Velocity 2018 fps
3.75" c-t-c


Fifth group
300 Shockwave
Hyper Glide sabots Yellow
78 grains BH209 (weighed)
Federal 209A primers
Average Velocity 1932 fps
7.5" c-t-c (HOLY CRAP!!)

I used this scope on my Knight ML's and I had no problems getting MOA groups.

Some groups with my Long Range Hunter


A nice group with my Disc Extreme with the same Leupold scope




I'm at a loss right now. In my mind a ML that shoots 3" to 7" groups on the bench is of no use to me. Yes I checked bases to make sure they were tight.

I used the same scope to shoot this group with my 22-250


I'm going to try it one more time then it's going to make a trip to T/C.

I see your sticking with same amount of powder, you will have to try adjusting that up or down, you should be vine. My b/c likes that barnes 250mz with 100gr of BH with supplied sabot (little tight) and reg. cci 209 primmer. Try that and see if it works.
GOOD LUCK

Im not saying this is the case, but mabey (UP) your load of BH and see what happens. And you cant go by what one ML likes to another, it just does'nt happen that way. Good Luck and let us know how you make out.
(BP)

Don't have a Triumph... have an T/C Omega. I also had no luck with the Barnes 250 MZ & 285 MZ with BH209. If you want to stay with Barnes offerings... I had good groups with the following in my Omega and my buddy's Encore with 90 - 100grs of BH209:

1. 245 Barnes Spit-Fire MZ with supplied yellow sabot or Harvester yellow sabot for boat tails.

2. 250 Barnes TMZ (the flat based bullet.. not the boat tail) and discard the EZ-load sabot it comes with... and use your HPH-12 instead.

Keep shooting...I think you just haven't found the right combo yet....

Good luck... Rob

I'm not giving up yet!!! However, I think it's a long shot that this gun will shoot 1.5" groups consistantly. I have never seen a gun go from shooting 5" to 7" groups down to 1".

Usually with my Knights I would get 1.75" to 2" groups and then I would tweek it down to a 1" MOA, by changing up primers, sabots, and powder charges.

BP: The 78 grain weighed is the same as 110 volume measured. This 78 grain load is sort of the bread and butter load for five of my ML's. So I thought it was a good starting point. Your point is well taken though.

I may try some Triple 7 powder and see how this shoots.

I would suggest trying different powders and maybe different charges, but I don't have a Triumph so I am not of much help. Just keep trying different things and something will work.

OK...life is getting better, my Triumph isn't a tomato stake it appears to be fickle.

I thought about it for awhile and measured up some more Blackhorn 209 loads.

75 grains, 85 grains, and a couple 90 grains. (weighed not volume)

After digging around in my containers I found some Barnes 250 grain boattail blue tip with yellow sabots. I discounted them earlier because they measured 0.504" in diameter and I didn't think I could get them down the barrel. Also they didn't shoot worth beans in my Knight ML's so I wasn't too excited about them.

Group 1 (50 yards)
Barnes 250 TMZ blue tip with HPH-12 sabot
90 grains of Blackhorn
Federal 209A primers
Average Velocity 2162 fps
Measured 1.6" c-t-c

Group 2 (50 yards)
285 Barnes Spitfire with HPH-12 sabot
85 grains of Blackhorn
Federal 209A primers
Measured 2" c-t-c

Because these were loading up so well I thought I would try loading up the 250 grain with the yellow sabot that measured 0.504" in diameter.

Group 3 (50 yards)
Barnes 250 TMZ blue tip with yellow sabot
90 grains of Blackhorn
Federal 209A primers
Measured 0.75" c-t-c (We are moving in the right direction)


Group 4 (50 yards)
Barnes 250 TMZ blue tip with yellow sabot
75 grains of Blackhorn
Federal 209A primers
Measured 0.50" c-t-c (Now I'm a happy camper)



My chony took a crap on me after the first group so I don't have velocities for the other three groups.

Anyway, I'm happy again and I'll try the remaining 250 boattail's out at 100 yards and report back.

Make sure you try diferent sabots. Usually Blackhorn likes a tight fitting sabot. My Endeavor really likes a 250 gr. shockwave with a Harvester short black sabot and 77 gr. weighed of BH209. Give this a try and see how this does. This load is usuall very accurate in most T/C's. (Omega, Encore, Triumph.

+1 on switching up powders and powder charges. I have a ML that when I first bought it shot 6 - 8" "groups" (if you can call them that) with T7 pellets. I switched to T7 FFG loose and immediately the groups shrunk to about 4". Switched to T7 FFFG loose and played around with the powder charges, and now it shoots 1.5". Some rifles just don't like a certain powder or a certain charge- you need to experiment more before you junk it....

You must have been typing at the same time I was. I just read your new post. The .504 Sabot/Bullet combo is exactly what my Endeavor likes. That's what the Shockwave with the Harvester Short Black sabot measures. Congratulations on finding something that works. I have heard the Triumph is a great gun and usually very accurate when you find the right load.