Traditions Strikerfire Vortek

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MLhobo

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Hi All!

Need some help with finding the right load for my Traditions Strikerfire Vortek. Love the gun but am having trouble finding the right load combination that the gun likes. I would really like to hear from some experts that have this gun drilling tacks as to what you have found success in. I have given up on the pyrodex pellets and have found the "decent" combination with 85 gr. by weight of Blackthorn 209 and the 250 TC Smackdown.

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
Welcome to the board. Good folks here.
I use 85 grains volume and my T/C and Knight are accurate.
Are all your shots 200+ yards? Find a lesser powder number that allows the gun to be a tack driver at 100 yards..... then tweak your powder charge. I'm guessing a good start and possibly good finish, might be 70 weight grains, which still kills deer well beyond 100 yards.

You should include at least one more bullet choice at the range. 200/250 Hornady SST-Shockwaves, 290 Barnes TEZ, 240/260 Harvester Scorpion PT Golds, 240/250/300gr Hornady XTPs with Harvester Crush Rib sabots are often used here, as are Knight Bloodlines in 200/250gr ... I think.
 
SmackDowns are rebranded Hornady SSTs with a MMP 3P-EZ sabot. Some of the early Traditions branded bullets were Parker BEs but i dont think they have sold those for many years.

According to what ive read, the newer Traditions products have very tight bores, so sabot choices will be somewhat limited.

What primer are you using?

How tight do the Smack Downs load with supplied sabot?

What do you mean by "decent"?

Did you scrub the heck out of the bore before ever shooting it?
 
GoexBlackhorn - Thanks for the advice, two bullets you mention below are on my list for the next trip to the range. Additionally, I am going to try the Federal Trophy Copper 270. No, my shots are not always out to 200 and I would love to have them always be 75 yrds and closer as I think everyone would, but I can frequently have shots in the 150-170 range hunting over food plots and if I could effectively shoot to 200 I would feel better about making those shots every time. Now when I do it I kind of feel like 150 is a "long shot" and should probably have better confidence in myself.

GM54 - I am using CCI 209 primers, seem to be working well and come out clean each time. Smackdowns are pretty tight when going down, I'm not killing myself but it is not exactly easy either (seems like a good fit). By decent I mean that the groups are about 2" groups at 100 yards, I had higher expectations of this gun and that is kind of why I feel like I have not found the right load combo just yet. Additionally, I think I have a zeroing issue with my scope which I am working through now. Each time I go to the range the gun is not where I last left it, I move the scope each time to get it back in the center and it will track. However, very frustrating leaving with the gun hitting center and coming back with it somewhere else on the target the next time. The scope is a Nikon Inline BDC, so I am working with Nikon on that issue now. I did not "scrub the heck out of the gun" before shooting. I did run a few Traditions EZ Clean patches down it followed by dry patches until the gun was dry, it appears from some other posts on here I probably should have done a little more than that.
 
Resolve the possible scope issue first. Dont forget the rings and base too. It could be as simple as a loose base or ring.

A sabot you might consider trying is the Harvester Black Crushrib although i doubt it will load any easier than the 3 petal sabot. It does tend to handle max loads better. This is one of those times a Lee .451 sizing die would come in handy. You would not gain much but it might be useful if you wanted to try other sabot options.
 
If your rifle came with a scope base mounted at the factory I would start there. In my experience they are often not installed with any thought to precision.

I'd pull the mount apart, clean every surface thoroughly, then re-torque with a torque wrench or screwdriver using Loc Tite on all fasteners.
 
If your rifle came with a scope base mounted at the factory I would start there. In my experience they are often not installed with any thought to precision.

That was the first thing i thought of when he mentioned a scope issue. Bases are seldom are installed correctly at the factory.
 
GM54-120 said:
If your rifle came with a scope base mounted at the factory I would start there. In my experience they are often not installed with any thought to precision.

That was the first thing i thought of when he mentioned a scope issue. Bases are seldom are installed correctly at the factory.

Yep. My Acura MR had 2 of the four screws sort of tight while the other two could be turned with two fingers on the driver. Additionally the area underneath the mount was covered in oil and factory crud. This isn't a slam on CVA, it's pretty much par for the course for most any factory produced rifle these days.
 
MLhobo said:
I did not "scrub the heck out of the gun" before shooting. I did run a few Traditions EZ Clean patches down it followed by dry patches until the gun was dry, it appears from some other posts on here I probably should have done a little more than that.

Yes, definitely a good idea. Use a good solvent like #9, saturate the bore, and hit it with a brush. I thought my factory barrel was fairly clean after a few solvent patches, but then I hit it with a brush and the next patch through was solid gunk.

You can also use a foaming bore cleaner and cut out some of the brushing.
 
Once you have your scope issues sorted out, I'd suggest trying same bullet/sabot combo with different powder weights.

If you check out the third picture in this post http://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=29123&start=25#p230368 there are two groups (tough to see because my target is a bit of a mess). One large three round group then a much more compact three round clover leaf inside it. The only difference between these two groups was the tighter group was 105 gr of BH209 instead of 100 gr for the bigger group. I was surprised how much difference 5% powder made in the accuracy.
 

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