Earlier this week i was getting a rifle ready for our first muzzy season in October. It has been shot a couple more times, and does seem ready to hunt. The hunt will take place about 200 mile from home, so it seems prudent to take a back-up rifle. As i finished up the testing of rifle one, i began bringing rifle two along, and shooting it as well. This year for the first time, i have mounted a harris bipod to each of the rifles. The previous shooting of rifle two was done with magnified optics, which cannot be used during our muzzle loader seasons. Today i only brought rifle two with a 1X scope mounted for the first time. Shot it first at about 30 yard, and made an adjustment, and shot it again at 30 yard. It was deemed close enough for a move to 100 yard, where it was shot from a portable work bench. Several shots and adjustments were made shooting from the bench, and it went real well, so i finished up shooting on the ground, as i would when hunting.

The load was 270g Deep Curl, 90g Blackhorn powder, green crush rib sabot, and W209 primer.









Rifle two hasn't been shot at 200 yard yet, but will be soon, perhaps tomorrow. If it works at 200 yard, it will probably be the starter, and rifle one will be made the back-up. The recoil from 90g of powder is noticeably less than that from 110g of powder. Whether it is the rifle, or the load, or both, rifle two seems more accurate than rifle one.

you shoot very well in prone. I will guess that is the preferred style of shooting in the field for long shots.

How it is when hunting pronghorn, is one is many times on one's belly crawling to get ever so closer for the shot.

That looks pretty good for 100 yards, but I imagine a 200 yard shot would not be unusual for pronghorn.

Excellent shooting, Ron. I have an Omega and really do like it. Good luck on your upcoming hunt.

A 100 yard shot at pronghorn would be unusual, but happens. A 300 yard shot is far more common. Last year my antelope shot was a bit over 300 yard using a 45 caliber Omega, and that worked well. On that day there was no breeze, so the smoker was up to the task. Any kind of breeze at all, makes killing with a smoker difficult, iffy, at them longer ranges.

Neither of these 50 Omega, are reliable at that range, and neither will be called upon to make a shot much over 200 yard, if that.

It is far more likely there is a breeze, than not, out on the prairie. Because chances are more likely there will be a breeze when hunting them pronghorn, this year i will be carrying a breech loader, if the state draws my name. The small, long 6.5 bullet with a high ballistic coefficient, flies so much better than any bullet i use in my muzzle loaders.

This morning my wish was to see how this rifle would shoot the first shot from a cold clean barrel. Another thing i was curious about was how it would shoot at 200 yard. Wife said it rained all night, but we only had a little less than 1/4" in the rain gage this morning. With the impression that it didn't rain much last night, i headed out to shoot. When i left the highway, i was shocked at how wet, and slimy the road was. Evidently it rained a lot more up there, than it did at the house. As soon as there was a kinda gravelly spot in the road, i got out and locked the hubs. The truck was kinda slipping, and twisting, so it was put into 4 wheel drive. Upon leaving the 'main' road, things really got slimy. Following is a photo of my tracks coming in, taken as i was driving out.









On the way in, the truck slipped into the rut, but forward motion never stopped.

My desire was to shoot prone, but everything was wet and muddy, so i was glad i thought to bring the 'bench'. Here it is set at 200 yard.









When i arrived up there, there was little breeze, but NOAA had announced a high wind warning for today, so i figured the calm was brief.

Recently i have experienced a lot of frustration with the first shot. The first shot from a cold clean barrel, in the past, had kinda always grouped close to the second shot, however here lately the first shot seems to have a place of it's own, and doesn't hit any where near the following shots. The following photo show the issue.












Knowing this, from the previous few days, i popped 3 primers before i loaded the rifle, hoping the primer residue would fool the first shot into thinking it wasn't the first shot. The rifle was loaded with 90g Blackhorn powder, 270g Deep Curl bullet, green crush rib sabot, and W209 primer.

Well i was quite apprehensive when i made the first shot, and was quite pleased with the result. The first 2 shots were made from 100 yard, when there was very little breeze. Before the third shot was loaded, the breeze picked up. It seemed to me there was no use to continue shooting, and considered going home. However i had a very strong desire to try shooting from 200 yard so as to get an idea. Using the driest path, a move was made to 200 yard. Guessing, i turned the elevation up 7 moa, and pulled the trigger on shot 3. The breeze was significant, but i kinda died down for shot 4. Then the elevation dial was turned down to 6 moa, and shots 5, and 6 were taken










Then the breeze quit just for a bit, and allowed shots 7 and 8. The wind was quite significant when we headed for home. As i was driving home, i day dreamed about how this rifle might be a great help toward filling wife' freezer.

Must have been a great day. You got out of the truck to shoot.

Yes, you are correct, it was a great day. However, just so you know, with the mounted Harris bipod, the rifle kinda doesn't work good, shooting from inside the truck. The Harris bipod is what forces me outside, which is not a bad thing, because i can shoot better outside than inside. Yes, yes, it was a great day; wishing for you a great day.

Good luck on your antelope hunt Ron. I enjoy going after those critters. It is a real fun hunt.