Shot Some More BH
 

A friend stopped over yesterday and we went out on the porch and did a bunch of shooting. Including my Knight LRH. I started out wih a 120 grain load of BH-209, a crushed rib sabot, and a 300 grain Deep Curl Bullet. I studied alot and this seemed to be a very credible load. So I started with it.

I shot the rifle at 100 yards and shot three groups of three shots. On separate targets.

The bullet hit exactly where I thought it would hit. Almost all shots were in the center ring at 100 yards. And the rifle shot MOA groups at 100 yards(plus maybe 1/4" additional). I was very happy with that.

I know alot of you guys say to try different components. But I know this load is going to perform perfectly to 200+ yards just by how it shot at 50 and 100 yards.

These groups are about as good as the rifle(or any other MZ I have had) has ever shot.

I know you guys like to experiment alot with different loads. but I prefer to practice in the woods, and stay off the bench.

The question is simple. What am I really going to gain by spending alot more time and money at the bench experimenting with other different loads and bullets??

The 300 grain Deep Curl will kill anything I want. The Leupold CDS worked perfect from 50 to 100 yarsds. And I am sure it is going to work to 200+. And the BH is so simple to clean and shoot. So why should I try anything else?? What am I really going to gain?? Nothing I can think of.

I am keeping track of how many shots my breech plug will last. Tom.

What am i going to gain you ask? Why that should be obvious. The fun and expense of shooting up hundreds of dollars in powder and bullets. Los and lots of fun. That's what you gain.

I understand that. I will shoot it a good bit. Just not off the bench. Once I decide on a load and sight my rifle in I don't shoot anymore from the bench. I take my rifles out in the woods and do alot of stump shooting. And any other target of opportunity, Kind of like my own little woods walk(ride in my circumstance). Shooting at targets of opportunities. Like stumps, mushrooms, rocks, and occasional live targets of opportunity. Tom.

Head you know you can get her off Carlos here for $27 shipped right?
http://frontiermuzzleloadin.powergui...khorn209-store

I bought two cannisters from him from your post awhile back. One cannister is about gone already. I think I will ask him about a 5#'er next time. I wonder if he can get those also?? I can get a 5#'er locally. But I need to give 3 to 4 weeks advance notice. I haven't priced it yet.

I just picked up two 5#'ers of Trail boss a couple of weeks ago. Thanks, Tom.

I see nothing to gain at all. The first load I tried with my Pursuit was almost perfect. I have tried other loads, just a few, and could not find any improvement. The load is a 240 grain XTP in a Thompson Center Mag Express sabot over 2 Fifty grain Pyrodex pellets. Everyone says use loose powder and I don't really like using the pellets but I can't find any reason to mess with a load the rifle seems to like. When I shot the 2 does I harvested this week, they were both at about 50 yards away. I never saw either one of them get hit because of the smoke from the shot. As I sat and waited to go check on the deer I pondered the possibilities of a miss. I recalled all the time I had spent on the range with the Pursuit shooting the exact same load I used to shoot at these 2 deer with and told myself there was no way I could have missed either shot. I was totally confident both shots, the frontal shot and the broadside shot were both good shots. The confidence I had from all of that range time was a good feeling. Unless I just want to have some fun, I will probably not take the pursuit to the range again, and the load will not change. It sits protected in a locking steel gun cabinet and I am confident that it will stay zeroed until the next time I take it out to hunt with it, this year or next.

We don't have a stump season here, so I hunt for coyotes.

That load would turn a yote inside out lol...all that would be left is crow bait, which is fine by me!i shoot yotes and cut there tails off and leave the rest for mother nature.:wink:

Thats what happened with my omega. I put in 100g of BH and it gave perfect groups at 100 yards and at 150 yards.

So here is another question. Do you experiment with 110g if you are doing great with 100g? Would you feel you are wasting powder?

I just think I am saving money by not going up. Plus, less recoil.

What would be the advantage of upping a load if lets say....your MZ shot good with 90g?


D

Look at how far your max shot would be then plug you load into a ballistics table and see if the estimated velocity and energy is acceptable at that range. Gernerally I would say that 90 or 100 grains of BH would be plenty acceptable out to 150 yards or more.

It seems to me you should please your self; that is all that matters.

Following is what i believe is the approximate result of using 100g of powder. You never wrote what bullet you are using, so i used a middle of the pack bullet for the calculation. The calculation shows that the bullet does not lack for energy nor ability to fly out to 150 yard.







Now, myself, i use 110g of powder mostly, and for other bullet 120g. My needs are probably different than yours. I use my muzzle loader during our rifle season and muzzle loader season. I never use a center fire rifle. I hunt in thick timber, open timber, marsh, and wide open prairie. Perhaps one day i will kill a deer at 275 yard. Thus far my longest shot is 230 yard. So far this year my longest shot is probably 175 yard or so. My shortest shot this year is about 55 yard. The powder charge used to make the 55 yard shot was 100g. This same powder charge was used to make a much longer shot at an unknown range, guessed at 150 yard, but seemingly longer.

It should be some obvious that large amounts of powder are not really really necessary.

My target velocity for the 300 grain Deep Curl was 1800-1900 fps. I have not shot through a chrono. yet with my load. But I believe I am achieving that velocity with 120 grains of BH. I wanted to stay above 1600 fps which is the approx. velocity of 90-100 grains of powder.

I realize 1600 fps is more than enough velocity. But I was looking fora bit more down range performance from the bullet. And those extra 200 fps help out a good bit at distances past 150. Tom.

Tom, this might give you some ideas about velocities...



Also, I do shoot 120 grains of T7-2f with the 300 grain bullets in my Knights and 110 grains in the TC Omega and Triumph. I am very comfortable with the 120 in the Knight and the results down range. I use the 300 grain bullets for hunting elk and the extra energy generated by the powder charge allows me more options when it comes to longer down range shots...