It finally cooled off around here and that means I can get some work done outside. I done that this morning when it was in the 60's. This afternoon I really wanted to shoot some of the new bullets I had got in. The temps were in the 70's with a slight breeze. Just real nice outside.

The bullet is a .40 caliber Harvester Scorpion 200 grain funnel tip bullet. I wanted to shoot them out of my .45 caliber GMB stainless that sits in a T/C Renegade stock.



The barrel is a Green Mountain .45 caliber 1-28 twist barrel. It is 28 inches long and percussion. The barrel has a Simmons 4x32mm Pro Diamond scope in some cheap Tradition quick release rings. So far these rings have worked perfect. The scope was $39.99 so its not top of the line by any means.

I had some high hopes for the new funnel nose bullets. the 200 grain XTP shoot real well out of this rifle, and I was hoping the funnel nose would do the same. I found an old target, and noted the old hits. Then put a new Birchwood Casey dot on the center of the box.

Since everyone swears these Scorpion Bullets want a lot of velocity, I use 110 grains of 3f Graf's & Sons black powder. Now I have no idea how fast that much powder would push these funnel nose, but I could guess around 1800 fps, maybe more. If you have a more accurate estimation it would be appreciated.

At the shooting bench I was shooting off a Caldwell bag. I have been practicing with that as it is what I will probably use in this new blind we build on a hay field. The shots there will be out to 150 yards, so I want a flat shooting rifle that hits hard. I figure this will be one of the rifles I will use, after a little scope adjustment and practice.

I shot a ten shot group at the dot. The last shot, #10 was off a dirty bore. I was surprised it jumped out of the group the way it did. The picture kind of tells it all.



I'd shot #1, then used alcohol to swab the bore. Shot #2 and again used alcohol to swab the bore. Now I realized I was out of alcohol. So I resorted to good old spit. After seeing them group from a spit swab, I might just keep on spitting. Could spit be a better swab in hot weather? Something to consider.

I was using the set trigger and I want to say.. with that trigger set, that rifle is touchy. You really need to be careful with it. But over all the rifle shot well. I need to move back now and set the scope up at 100 yards. Then I will be ready for field shooting.

Lot of potential there Cayugad. I hope it holds up at long range for you.

Now that alcohol vs. spit thing is interesting. I've been using alcohol exclusively for the last two years. So now you've got me thinking. I play around with the powder charge, different powders, powder compression, and different sabots when trying to get a bullet to shoot the way I think it should, and sometimes can't get there. But never even considered the bore swabbing medium. DANG! Another thing to add to the list.

Semisane... do you always shoot 3f out of the .45 caliber? I was thinking of backing off to 2f with the same powder charge. Just to see what it will do.

Good question Cayugad. I had to pull my folder of targets for the .45 GM/LRH Renegade to see what I've used (96 targets from 6/28/08 to 1/29/11).

It turns out that I've shot mostly GOEX FFFg. But I do have a few targets with T-7 FFG, Pyrodex RS, and Pyrodex P. None with GOEX FFg though. I'll have to try some next time I take that gun out.

I wonder how fast that 110 grain load of Grafs is pushing the Scorpion.

cayugad, you need to get you a mag spark adapter and shoot blackhorn in that thing!

OK Cayugad, I went through my target file and pulled all of the targets that I shot over a chronograph.

I found 21 with velocity data. The funny thing is, it seems I've never shot the 200 grain XTP over the chrono with GOEX.

Anyway, I put the data I did have in a table that I think you may find interesting.

Then my guess of 1800 would be close. That's some good information. I believe the stringing could be a 5 grain less or 5 grain more. I want to set some other targets out at 100 yards and see what this rifle will do. Thanks for that information Semisane.

Cayugad I've always shot FFFg Goex out of my 45s. Even some of my 50s. For a first outing with these bullets, they do show promise. When I shoot my GM LRH 45 with the blue Harvester CR sabots and 200 gr .400 XTPs it gets excellent accuracy with 80 gr of Pyrodex P.
Perhaps you may want to drop your charge down a bit and see if things improve.

Bronko I have shot the 200 grain XTP's out of this rifle with 85 grains of powder and got great accuracy. But while reading different discussions of the Scorpion funnel nose and PT bullets it was suggested that these need to be pushed to their limits to get the best accuracy.

As it was pointed out, many shoot 110 even 120 grains of powder with these specialty type bullets. While I personally felt this unnecessary, I am willing to try about anything. So I did what they suggest and really pushed them. BUT I found they were stringing. Normally that means you either have to increase or decrease the charge. I am going to try that next time out. I want a long range field rifle for deer, and this might just be the one.

How many actually believe that more powder is better?

Personally I feel a lot of guys use too much powder.
I am of the opininon that with a .50 cal, anything over 100 gr and with a .45 cal anything over 90 gr. is wasted (assuming a 28" or shorter barrel). I haven't decided on the .54 yet as I've not had enough experience with them. But I think about 120 gr would be the point of diminishing returns with a 32" bbl.
I know I am going to get a lot of flack on this because their rifle is rated to handle a 150 gr "magnum" charge. When I had my Optima Pro I talked to a couple techs at CVA about this and they basically said the same thing as I had thought. Quote: "Yes, your Optima Pro will take a 150 gr charge but you will be wasting powder. Stick to 100 gr or less."
At last count, I have 9 MLs (8 sidelocks and one inline). Of these only one rifle, a 50 cal flinter, likes a stiff charge of 100 gr of FFFg. The other 50s like charges in the 80 - 90 gr range and the 45s in the 70-80 gr range.