Finally, FINALLY got to shoot my new Mountaineer today after having it for a year. I had so-so results. Could definitely use any advice thrown at me.
I started off at 50 yards. Had several vials loaded with 90-100-110 grain BH209, but only had one kind of bullet/sabot, which are Barnes T-EZ 250 grain. For some reason, I didn’t load 80 grain vials. Not sure why.
What I did was set the target at 50 yards and did a 3-Shot group with each of the 3 charged. Of those 3, the 100 and 110 had the best groups. The 110 grain I only did a 2-Shot group (hard to explain why). Below are the groups. 90gr is bottom left. 100 is bottom center and 110 is top.
My initial thought is if a certain group shot the best at 50 it should more than likely shoot the best at 100? So I loaded up some 110 grain charges and shot. Got a small group, adjusted the scope (sighting in now at this point). Waited for barrel to cool. Shot again, not only was I too far to one way, but my groups opened way up. Obviously, they won’t be as tight as they were at 50, but still was expecting a “good” group.
I wondered, maybe I should drop to 100 grains since that grouped good at 50 also. Well, I got it close. Close enough where I was comfortable for hunting.
So I decided to check POI after cleaning. I ran one swab of Hoppes 3 times back and forth. Followed by dry patch. Followed by oil patch. Followed by dry patch. All this to replicate a clean gun. Also cleaned and checked Breech plug channel and hoe. I fired a primer before loading another 100 grains and the Barnes. To boost the frustration level up it was 5” high.
Now before anyone thinks it could be me, I’m not a marine sniper but I am a very good shot that can stay very still on target. So “me” usually is out of the equation.
I’m a little confused and frustrated, especially reading so many people on this site and others shooting 1” 3-Shot groups all day long.
What I did was ran one dry swab, fired primer, adjusted scope and hit right on the bottom right diamond, outside thick line (1.5” from bullseye?). Then I ran out of time like always.
I COMPLETELY understand that it may take more than JUST trying one size of one bullet/sabot to find that perfect combo, and I understand that muzzleloading is sometimes a project and one may not find success the first time out, but I at least thought since this is a reputable load configuration I would have done a little better. Also didn’t help there was a decent crosswind.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Not sure when I can make it out to range next.
Also wondering, since my last shot was as close as I got to the center after running one dry swab followed by primer, is it safe to just “clean” it with a dry patch? I proved that using solvent and oil my POI went way off.
(Learned real quick that one container of BH209 gets used up real fast )
Thanks everyone for any help u may have. I appreciate it
EDITED TO ADD: I was having almost a 100% failure to remove the spent primers too. Had to remove bolt every time and use a screwdriver. Using CCI209M. Upon further investigating, the primers seem to be fouled up pretty good, probably 75% of the time. Is this a sign of too much blowback? And could this contribute to loss of accuracy/consistency? If so, would switching to the Federal 209A or Win209 primers be better?
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I started off at 50 yards. Had several vials loaded with 90-100-110 grain BH209, but only had one kind of bullet/sabot, which are Barnes T-EZ 250 grain. For some reason, I didn’t load 80 grain vials. Not sure why.
What I did was set the target at 50 yards and did a 3-Shot group with each of the 3 charged. Of those 3, the 100 and 110 had the best groups. The 110 grain I only did a 2-Shot group (hard to explain why). Below are the groups. 90gr is bottom left. 100 is bottom center and 110 is top.
My initial thought is if a certain group shot the best at 50 it should more than likely shoot the best at 100? So I loaded up some 110 grain charges and shot. Got a small group, adjusted the scope (sighting in now at this point). Waited for barrel to cool. Shot again, not only was I too far to one way, but my groups opened way up. Obviously, they won’t be as tight as they were at 50, but still was expecting a “good” group.
I wondered, maybe I should drop to 100 grains since that grouped good at 50 also. Well, I got it close. Close enough where I was comfortable for hunting.
So I decided to check POI after cleaning. I ran one swab of Hoppes 3 times back and forth. Followed by dry patch. Followed by oil patch. Followed by dry patch. All this to replicate a clean gun. Also cleaned and checked Breech plug channel and hoe. I fired a primer before loading another 100 grains and the Barnes. To boost the frustration level up it was 5” high.
Now before anyone thinks it could be me, I’m not a marine sniper but I am a very good shot that can stay very still on target. So “me” usually is out of the equation.
I’m a little confused and frustrated, especially reading so many people on this site and others shooting 1” 3-Shot groups all day long.
What I did was ran one dry swab, fired primer, adjusted scope and hit right on the bottom right diamond, outside thick line (1.5” from bullseye?). Then I ran out of time like always.
I COMPLETELY understand that it may take more than JUST trying one size of one bullet/sabot to find that perfect combo, and I understand that muzzleloading is sometimes a project and one may not find success the first time out, but I at least thought since this is a reputable load configuration I would have done a little better. Also didn’t help there was a decent crosswind.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Not sure when I can make it out to range next.
Also wondering, since my last shot was as close as I got to the center after running one dry swab followed by primer, is it safe to just “clean” it with a dry patch? I proved that using solvent and oil my POI went way off.
(Learned real quick that one container of BH209 gets used up real fast )
Thanks everyone for any help u may have. I appreciate it
EDITED TO ADD: I was having almost a 100% failure to remove the spent primers too. Had to remove bolt every time and use a screwdriver. Using CCI209M. Upon further investigating, the primers seem to be fouled up pretty good, probably 75% of the time. Is this a sign of too much blowback? And could this contribute to loss of accuracy/consistency? If so, would switching to the Federal 209A or Win209 primers be better?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk