Project Rifle in the Rock Pit
 

The rain has stopped for the weekend so I was able to get some shooting in this morning. Headed to Rock Pit about 9 this morning, I probably should have gone a little earlier, by the time I got there is was already warming up pretty good.

Got everything set up and the sun was beating down but I figured what the heck you are only going to shoot a few sabots anyway then move to sabotless. So the shoot was on...

Started the morning shooting some .452-250 grain Gold Dots, just to check the POI of this new to me rifle. The first three shots on paper were better than I expected with the rifle. The bore has light pitting from top to bottom, which I think will not really bother accuracy, it probably bothers me more than it effects the rifle.

After shooting the rifle today I really think it shows some promise. My first two shots on paper were great at 50 yards and then I felt so good about the shoot I had to go and screw #3 up, and I am sure it is all my fault. The hammer spring is weak in this rifle and it will not set the primer off on the first pull ( got new hammer springs coming). That really bugs me when you do not know if it is going to go bang or not. Even swapped out the nipple and put a new one in - no help.... :evil:

Anyway after insuring that I could get on paper at 50 and get some kind of group, I switched over to the Barnes .50-275 grain XPB's, with the same powder load and with out a wad or shot card - just the bare bullet sitting on top of the powder. While the elevation of the groups remained the same but the XPB's moved to the left and seemed to stay there through the rest of the paper shooting.

I also made a sight adjustment between group 2 and 3 to gain elevation

I am not real fond of the sight setup on this rifle, I would much prefer the Williams FP on the rear.



And on the front I would really like the this setup.



If the rifle continues to perform, I will probably switch over to them.

This is my paper target for today.



I was really happy with the sabotless shooting and see a lot of promise in that particular bullet.

My next outing - I plan on setting up the chrono and get some velocities of the sabotless with and without wads and comparing velocities with a sabotted bullet of the same weight.

I should also add that I did also shoot some 50 cal. x 275 grain Barnes Expanders that GM54-120 had sent me. The loaded equally well and busted the birds just fine... Either of these two bullets will work very well out of this bore. They might be just a little loose in a GM bore, but I believe knurling between two files will solve that problem.

This is another photo of todays activities...

There's nothing wrong with that, sabotloader. Nice shooting.

Really do like your Mk-85 with the laminate stock.

Paul

Very nice...Interesting that not many people would consider shooting full bore jacketed bullets out of muzzys. Most believe you can only shoot pure lead bullets for a good seal and accuracy.
Looking forward to additional posts on this.

Good shooting. I'm definitely interested in the sabotless shooting. I like the idea of sabotless and my goal is to eventually eliminate the need for them altogether, just haven't had the time to play with trying to get something close to fitting.
Well done.

Speaking of shooting full bore bullets, I wonder how this barrel would work for that.

http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/greenmo...wbreech-thread

45-70 barrel - that should shoot them just fine if you find the 458 that will fit it. And then the other option you can size them to fit.

How hard would it be for you to adapt that to your Swamp Dragon?

Not hard at all Sabotloader.

1. Buy a 3/4x16 bolt to fabricate a breech plug, a 3/8" bolt to fabricate a powder drum, an aluminum tube for the rear ramrod pipe/forend mount, and a coupling nut for the front ramrod pipe.

2. The cutting, drilling, tapping, and installing of those components would take three or four hours.

so would you be interested in doing that? It really could make for an excellent hunting rifle. Would it reduce the current weight of the rifle - never mind it is still a 1" barrel.

Just a follow up on this thread... The Barnes XPB and MZ Expanders fit this Wiseman barrel very well. but will basically drop to the bottom of the of the GM 50 cal bores or even the one Lothar Walters barrel that I have.

I really want these to work in the GM barrels - so this morning I ran out to the shop grabbed a couple of files and knurled the XPB.



It now feels like it will fit the GM barrels just fine, it remains to be seen how well it might shoot from them.

The advent of the 50 cal. pistol sure has an upside for 50 cal ML shooters that might want to venture into the sabotless area...

I just don't know if it would be worth it Sabotloader. The stubby little .50 caliber Green Mountain/Knight Rifle Cut-Off barrel shoots just fine.





Besides, I have a .45 GM/Knight Cut-Off barrel that I haven't mounted yet, plus a 20 GA shotgun barrel. So I already have enough projects on the shelf.