Light weight charge - what bullet?
 

I had a guy pm me asking for some help. Hes shooting the V1 Accura and his son is doing a young hunter education challenge http://www.moyhec.com/

They limit them to 60 grains MAX of powder " Hes using BH209" and lead bullets " sabots are ok as long as they are lead"

With the 60 grain limit, my initial thinking was a big heavy conical in the 348+ range all the way up to 460 grain.

Max range they shoot is 75 yards.

Your thoughts?

They're shooting at targets. A heavy bullet isn't needed.

60 gr of BH 209 is plenty of power to keep a lighter bullet shooting flat, and he'll like the recoil better.

its not shooting flat i worry about, its grouping. Some of the lighter bullets just wont shoot with low powder charges. I think the heavier bullet would offer better accuracy with the lower powder charge.

Sorry but in the Accura manual it warns against full bore bullets that heavy :D

MD, my son shoots the .250 gr gold dots and the cheap lead .260 gr bullets that came with the lil wolverine with 65 gr with real good accuracy.i would suggest some .250 gr XTP's. a conical with it's recoil is not a good choice for a young shooter IMHO. RECOIL lol!

GM, when i was helping out a fellow so cal person learn the ropes of M/L. i read his manual and it indeed states no full bore lead over .400 gr. and 300 gr saboted. i really think that is meant when using max charges of BP subs. as you know i am not a CVA fan lol.. but i can't see any issues with heavier conicals and reasonable charges of powder.. Ray

I would bet that the 295 grain PB would shoot great out of that rifle with a light load. There is only one way to find out for sure.

builder459

I would take a guess that it is totally safe too. My comment was more in jest in this thread but getting it approved in writing from CVA would be interesting. Flounders suggestion is probably the best. That load should be fine and easy for a novice.

keep in mind that the 400gr limit is with 150gr pellet.

I just finished shooting the 295 - 60gr BH209 load at 50 yards and my 2-3-4 shot were under 7/8" center to center. SHot #1 i dont count on this rifle as it still uses oil in the bore to protect against rust.

Trying some 360 lee minies.

Could you please show me that in writing from CVA. My manual does not specify that nor does the new online manual. Better yet maybe a CVA rep can post it here so we read it directly from them.

I still think Flounders suggestion is correct and a good choice for a novice to learn.

heck i even seen dudley hunting in africa with his apex and shooting 100gr Whitehots with the 444 powerbelt LOL.

Then im sure he wouldn't mind coming here and give us all some advice on CVA's max load data, :D

Just finished shooting the 360 lee minies and i am glad to say that loaded a lot more consistent now that ive greased my mold. Group was not acceptable, i was hoping the 60gr load would do good but they like the heavier 90+ grain BH209 charge. Oh well!

I'll order some powerbelts and start working up some loads for his sons gun and see what i can come up with. If i were able to use my standard loads, he'd be able to thread bullets into the same hole out to 100 yards lol. Darn restrictions!

OK. i just can't see paying for PB'd when a .250 gr xtp/gold dot will do just as well with lite loads.. have at it lol Ray

i dont know how well those sabots will shoot with only 60 grains of BH209. His son is looking for a tight shooting load with 60 because of the restrictions they have in the shooting competition.

Plus they have to be lead, no copper coating allowed.

MD, i told you how they shoot lol. the wolverine came with .260 gr all lead bullets, that shot very well. hell some .250 gr cheap shots with a good sabot will shoot fine. but ok!! it doesn't take a lot of powder to push a saboted .250 gr bullet accurately.. Ray

I would keep it under 250 gr for that young man are go shot some yourself to see what they do keep it light for less recol

When i am shooting with the kids,I use a single Pyro pellet under a Hornady Cheap Shot. Easy to load,low recoil,accurate,and Cheap too.The kids have a blast.Round ball works well too,same charge.

Charlie

Exactly, but MD is stuck on expensive power belts and doesn't seem to think lighter saboted bullets with low powder charges will shoot accurately.. go figure!! Ray

i dont care what the kid shoots, as long as its accurate.

What lead is out there thats know to shoot tight groups with a low charge? He's buying the ammo, im just going to be working up loads for his sons accura until i find something shooting tight.

60 gr of BH isn't as low as you think. You're so used to max loads.

It's probably equal to 75 gr of real BP. That's a hunting load for many at 75 yds.

He's shooting BH ? 60 is plenty!

BH209 doesn't do as well with sub 80gr loads depending on bullet weight. With a heavier bullet its better than T7 and most other subs but try shooting a 180gr bullet with a 60gr load. I bet T7 or real Swiss bp give you more fps.

As you go up in sabotted bullet weight and powder charge BH209s fps lead gets larger.

Ah ok. I haven't fooled around with BH enough to know that.


FG..Why use it? Pyrodex works good at low loads, and has less recoil.

That's not my understanding from what i have read about BH at all.. the way i read it was it's about the same as 777 until you start using heavier, say 300 gr bullets and above. then you you can expect a FPS gain...either way he can obtain good groups with a 60 gr charge and .250 saboted bullets! Ray

I like shooting some pretty heavy sabot loads and BH209 is much easier to shoot all day and clean later. If you are shooting 300gr bullets in a 50cal then you may really like it if you are looking for good fps. Then you start needing less BH209 compared to T7 to get the same fps. It burns more progressively like a smokeless but not quite a smokeless. No other sub burns like BH209, so there is a learning curve.

Real Swiss though with a conical is hard to beat with just 60-80grs.

Thought about swiss with the wolverine and conicals, just can't get it here, unless i mail ordered it. so pyrodex and conicals it is lol. i found that scope base by the way and it's on the way.. Ray

Sabotloaders 45cal graphs have shown it many times. BH209 doesn't offer much fps advantage until the bullet gets heavier or the charge gets larger (near max+). In some cases T7 actually had a descent lead with light bullets and a light charge.

In a 50cal bullets under 250gr you might get more fps with 60gr of T7 than 60gr of BH209 but both should be pretty close and well into 44mag territory. Cheapshots might even work fine.

Pyro is fine with conicals. Doc White used it all the time and ive seen too many bug hole groups to argue it wont. :D

U bet, always did a fine job in the ole rene .54 and connies lol!