KenL

I have a knight wolverine 50 cal. This past weekend I tried shooting the 385 gr. great plains bullets. I started with 85 gr. of pyrodex rs, and found that my shots were not consistant. My dad was along, and thought I was pulling off anticipating the recoil, there was and older guy with a flintlock next to me at the range. He said he had been watching me, and said he hadn't seen me flinch at all, then he suggested I try bumping my powder to 95 grains. I did, and my shots stablized. I was shooting 1/4 inch groups at 50 yards. That may not sound great, but from what I was getting, it is phenominal. Does anyone have any suggestion on improving on what I have now? I have only been shooting M/L for about 2 months, so I am a newby.

cayugad

are you sure you meant 1/4 inch groups? You're right, that is phenominal.

If the Great Plains Conical is flat based you could try a wonder wad under it and see if that does not give you more consistant groups. It has been so long since I shot Great Plains Conicals, I forgot if the base is hollow or not.

Something else to try since you live in Washington and it is my understanding that you can not shoot sabots when hunting (is that correct?) is you could try some .503 460 grain No Excuses Conicals. I shoot them out of my Wolverine with 85 grains of Triple Se7en or Goex 3f with outstanding accuracy.

Another conical that many shoot out of Knights are powerbelts. I have not tried to many of them in my Knight other then fooling around a little, but some people I talked to got outstanding accuracy with the powerbelts...

Good luck with the rifle.

roundball

KenL, I'm guessing the 1/4" group is a typo...maybe dropped a digit and it might have been 1+1/4", 2+1/4", etc...for example, the .50cal Great Plains bullet is a half inch wide by itself, so the smallest hole possible would be half inch...so for me, I'd need to know the correct size group you got before being able to comment on any possible actions you might want to take, if any

Tahquamenon

Just keep shooting. And verify the .25" groups.

I really like the Great Plains Conical's. They are dished on the bottom and although some folks don't, I still use a wonderwad with excellent results.

It's on my to do to get some No Excuse Conical's to try out. Cayugad has shot a bunch and has great feedback on them.

T/C Maxi-Hunter or Maxi-Ball's are not too shabby either.

Triple Se7en

Most bullets - even in an entry-level ML - with proper powder volume will shoot well enough to hunt at 50 yards. For an inline, that range is not difficult. The true test comes at 100 yards & my fast twist barrels do not shoot any sub-400 grain conical well at 100 yards. I tested 13 different conicals in two fast twist Mls from 245 grains to 385 grains with no hunting accuracy. I had to boost conical grain size to 420-460 grains for better success. Your Great Plains bullet in 385 grains was developed to perform best in slower 1-38/48" twists. Congrats on your 50-yard success.... but if that bullet fails at 100.... try a bigger conical.

newman1

Actually roundball it is entirely possible to shoot a 1/4" group if measured crrectlyFirst you need to measure to the O.D. of the two farthest bullets apart and then subtract 1 bullet diameter from that.that being said i don't really think there are any possible actions he should take except to back the target back and see how it shoots at a farther distance.Then maybe he should take some possible action

roundball

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Actually roundball it is entirely possible to shoot a 1/4" group if measured crrectlyFirst you need to measure to the O.D. of the two farthest bullets apart and then subtract 1 bullet diameter from that.that being said i don't really think there are any possible actions he should take except to back the target back and see how it shoots at a farther distance.Then maybe he should take some possible action
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If measured correctly? to each their own I guess...personally I'd view that measurement technique as one that would be misleading in the current world of shooters and typical measurement techniques, but that's only my view.
And if that's the way KenL was measuring his groups, IMO I doubt he'd be posting an assistance request to improve his groups, but that's only my view.
As I said, I'd really like to hear the details back from KenL...thanks

Turkeyhunter1

Kenl, i shoot the .385 grain HBHP in my Tradition Hawken's sidelock. It has a 1-48" twist. I shoot 80 gr. of Triple 7 FFFg. I don't use any type wads. It is very accurate out to 100 yards. It is very deadly on whitetails. Good Luck.........

newman1

ROUNDBALL,WHY WOULD THAT MEASUREMENT TECNIQUE BE MISLEADING IN THE CURRENT WORLD OF SHOOTERS AND TYPICAL MEASUREING TECHNIQUES?????????????? ARE YOU NOT MEASUREING POINT OF IMPACT????????IS NOT THE CENTER OF THE BULLET THE POINT OF IMPACT??????? MAYBE YOUR BULLETS ARE SHOOTING A BIT ASKEW

Tahquamenon

hmm, I have always measured POI Groups from the farthest point of one shot and measured from there to the farthest points of all other shots, subtracting the caliber size each measurement. Then add the total number measurements and divide by the number of measurements taken.

Perhaps KenL will elaborate a bit.

1/4" groups at 50 yards are superb and entirely possible.