Federal 50 caliber Copper Muzzleloading Bullet
 

This morning these 270g copper bullet were given a try. The rifle was the Omega Dream Season with a 4X scope mounted. The bullets loaded very easily. The first on a squeaky clean cold barrel, the next two on the lightly fouled cool barrel loaded about the same. One of the bullets was retrieved from a hole in the hill side behind the target. It weighs about 256g, with perhaps some dirt embedded. There was a swirly light breeze. Then a move was made to 200 yard. Up there on the ridge top, the wind was more pronounced with the vector coming from the right and behind. The elevation was dialed up 6 moa, and the first shot hit the paper some low and left. The second shot was taken in a stiffer breeze, and didn't hit the paper. The targets blew off the cardboard, so i came home.









The bullets come in handy 5 shot clips, which one can carry in one's pocket whilst hunting.

Good report Ron.

I'm glad I don't have to deal with the wind the way you guys have to.

Excellent report and very good shooting... as usual.

Quit it....

Heads up.........Cabelas has them in stock for $24.99

$25 for five of them? Thats $5 each in the ozarks!!! It will be awhile before I buy any.

Where did you see 5? There's 15 in a pack.

I sure hope these do well. They will put a huge hurt on PB sales if Federal can make them widely available and they shoot good.

I really want to see RWs test in the Savage too.

Yes, this will kill Powerbelt, and the high end Powerbelts are more expensive.

15 for $25?? That is better but still kind of expensive. Maybe they will come down some after the newness wears off.

I would like to see them cheaper but with PB AeroLite and Plats costing roughly the same, i dont see that happening anytime soon.

$22 at Midway, but they are backordered. Of course Cabelas offers free shipping for orders over $49, so two packs would get you free shipping, which knocks the cost down

wait if you can until cabelas sends you a rebate offer like 20 off 100 dollars or more and stock up that helps you save and i have my things shipped to store for free which helps the bottom line !!

What Did i Learn Today?
 

txhunter58 stirred me to wonder how the Dream Season would shoot other concicals. There was an opened box of Maxihunters on the shelf, with 6 bullets in it. Loaded the rifle with powder, and a maxihunter, and primed the rifle with Federal 215 large rifle magnum primer. The first shot at the middle target was taken at 93 yard; it missed everything. The target was moved closer into 56 yard, and the other 5 maxihunters were loaded, and shot at the middle target.









The breeze was light so it seemed it might be worth trying the Federal Bullet at 200 yard. The breeze on the ridge top where i set the target for a 200 yard shot wasn't too bad either, so 3 shots were taken at the top target. The breeze was right to left, so the aim was the right edge of the red circle, and the elevation dial was twisted up 7 moa.

Ron,

Was 90 of BH209 the load for the Maxi's? For some reason I thought BH 209 was not good for conicals. Something about not having a tight seal?

Yes, the Maxi were propelled by Blackhorn; perhaps you are on to something here. The Federal bullet loads easier than XTP, or Deep Curl do in a crush rib sabot. The Maxi loads easier than the Federal bullet. When the first bullet missed the paper, i assumed it was because of the QLA. However it greatly puzzled me when 3 of the shots hit in the center; i couldn't see how this could happen if the QLA was the issue. If inconsistent ignition is the problem, it kinda all makes a little sense. There certainly wasn't a tight seal with the maxi; the Federal has the scientific chingadero to achieve a seal, and it seemed to work good every shot.

I tried to shoot some loose fitting Thors with BH once. The powder wouldn't even fire with a CCI mag primer. The primer went off, and shot the Thor out about 20 ft. Guys at the range had a good laugh.

It seems a different powder could be tried, to see if inconsistent ignition is the problem.

I had decent luck in my Knight with no excuses and BH 209, so unless you were having slight hangfires, I doubt if that was a problem. That said, looks like your bullets are making nice crisp round holes. With my Omega, they would tumble and go through the target sideways. However, they would shoot the maxiballs with a wad pretty well until I got higher than 90 gr of powder. Only real difference there is that the no excuses were bigger (460 gr vs. 370). With the Omega, I was using 777 and pyrodex. I suspect that your QLA is cut better.

There were no hang fires. However, it seems the sound of the rifle firing was kinda subdued on some shots, but that may be my imagination. It doesn't seem the problem is the QLA, because there are 3 maxi holes in the center of the target nearly touching, which i cannot imagine happening if the QLA was the issue. My inclination is the ignition was erratic.

The first shot at 93 yard, missed everything. The second shot which was at 56 yard was high right. The next 4 shots weren't too bad. It could be as the barrel became more and more fouled, the ignition of the powder improved?

Now i am pondering the next step. My thoughts are.. Use a wad. Switch from the rifle primer to magnum shotgun primers. Modify a breech plug so it has a 5/32" flame channel, and a 0.035" flash hole. Start with a fouled barrel. Continue playing with Blackhorn powder. If the adjustments fail to produce consistent shooting, simply switch powder, and see what the results are.

It wouldn't bother me a bit to cut the QLA off, in order to shoot conical out of this rifle, but right now i don't think it will be necessary.