16 twist 45 caliber remigton 700

[Ga.Smokey]

So enough was enough after yesterday's painful lesson.
Of I'm going to shoot fir groups I needed a grounded platform ti build my position on.
It really didnt do me much good shooting from the rickety plastic table it served its purposes ti get me on paper to zero at 200 yds
I was at Lowes at 630 am when they opened the doors
Picked up 8 timbers a sheet of 3/4 presure treated plywood and timberlock screws.
Had decking screws already
Everything is sunck 18 inches into the ground and concreated in place
It ain't going anywhere.

 

[phalanx]

Awesome bench!

 

[ENCORE50A]

Great job!

Nothing like having something overhead too.

NOW we'll see some tight groups.

 

[Ga.Smokey]

The hard work is starting to really pay off with this gun.The16 twist really likes plastic I think I've figured out a loading routine for this rifle.
I was going to take a break but ya know I earned at least one group.
Cleaned the gun and fired 2 fouling shots.
I added swabing the barrel after each shot.
Not as good as the 225 fury star tip group but after yesterday's debacle I'll take it.
I've learned so much doing this project about muzzleloading.
I've learned about myself and my range set up.
Hats off to the guys that shoot the amazing groups on a regular basis
The dedication to the rebuilding of the position after each and every shot takes you back to the basics. I've had to roll the clock back to the beginning. Shooting centerfire will spoil you. Shooting for speed will make you sloppy
This makes you precise. Laying a solid foundation of shooting fundamentals that I've never seen exposed in such a harsh manner. You just don't have the luxury of soft Shooting guns this has forced me to really focus on the 3 things in a more demanding way. Sight picture/ trigger press/ and follow thru.

 

[ENCORE50A]

Outside ring is 5 7/8"
Rings are spaced 1/2"
10 ring is 7/8"
X is 3/8"

 

[Decay]

So enough was enough after yesterday's painful lesson.
Of I'm going to shoot fir groups I needed a grounded platform ti build my position on.
It really didnt do me much good shooting from the rickety plastic table it served its purposes ti get me on paper to zero at 200 yds
I was at Lowes at 630 am when they opened the doors
Picked up 8 timbers a sheet of 3/4 presure treated plywood and timberlock screws.
Had decking screws already
Everything is sunck 18 inches into the ground and concreated in place
It ain't going anywhere.
View attachment 42571View attachment 42572View attachment 42573

I'll also recommend a coat of Thompsons Water Seal.

 

[Ga.Smokey]

I'll also recommend a coat of Thompsons Water Seal.

Yep need to let the pressure treatment
Run its course outside fir a few weeks.
It was pretty green

 

[Ga.Smokey]

Went out today it was cold here....40's
Loading was alot tougher way more than the 20 pnds I'd like to see clean was at 7 rounds from yesterday shots 8 9 10 were good
11 andx12 not where I exspected..
Hard to say if it was the bullet the load or the cold maybe the nut behindcthe trigger but the MOJO was off a touch

 

[Ga.Smokey]

So that concludes my sabot work with the 16 twist Walther Lothar barrel.
My thoughts are.
Yes the16 twist can shoot plastic.
I fired a total of 140 rounds of sabot loads
With 5 different bullets
The 180 grain pistol bullets showed life around 40 grains of imr4198 running 2000 feet sec at 57 cents a shot it deserves more work
The furry bullets liked 53.1 grains of IMR 4198
The stand out was the 225 star tip.at .275 moa
To be fare I shot over 100 finding out what this barrel liked so the load is tailored to thst bullet

Second was the 275 at .498 it deserves more work but I must press on.
Third was the 250 at 1.09 moa
I'm sure I just went out of the loads node with that weight a little more tweeking up or down it would shoot I believe.
And last was thr 401 ot
That barrel sabot combo just didn't jive.
I think if I knurled it up and sized it would come to life

Yall know I'm still lesrning a few things
1 is dealing with the recoil . so my results point the way to more testing.
I found 3 loadings that shot around 1 moa
Or better. Capable anyways
I found that this barrels best performances were on shots 3 thru about 10 or so.
That being said I think its performance
Is on par with other twist rates with sabots.
The interesting aspect ofcthrc16 is the added velocity with less powder than is seen in other barrels we shall see how it plays out with the next 16 barrel

I will go thru the gun after a life time of shooting in a few weeks and check everything again.
So I'll be doing that the next few days.

Be safe
Everyone.

 

[Ga.Smokey]

I would add that I think this twist is really going to shine bullet to bore.
That being said i wouldnt overlook it with sabots either.
Going to give alot of flexibility to a shooter
From 180 to who knows what???
I was able to find in short order a load that did well. Others now have a jumping off point.

 

[ElDiablo]

I'm sure I just went out of thrckoads nidecwith that weight a little more drvekoomentvsnd it would shoot

Speaking in tongues again? Lol

 

[Decay]

Wow I can't interpret that either.

 

[Ga.Smokey]

Speaking in tongues again? Lol

The loads nodes

 

[Ga.Smokey]

Speaking in tongues again? Lol

Well if you got that far you read it all!
That is encouraging buddy
I respect your thoughts and comments !

 

[Ga.Smokey]

Wow I can't interpret that either.

I fixed it
I get so into what I'm writing I don't proofread it. Glad I got folks heepin me out.

 

[Ga.Smokey]

I fixed it
I get so into what I'm writing I don't proofread it. Glad I got folks heepin me out.

I had to think about it myself.........

 

[Patrick McChristy]

Thanks for listing your findings - that was a lot of coverage. I hope to do some shooting this weekend myself.

 

[Ga.Smokey]

Ok so I went thru the gun today and checked everything.
Broke it down to the barreled action.
I've retorqed the barrel to action.
I normally use 50 ft / pnds on centerfire rifles.
But after 140 rounds of 3000 to 4000lbs of energy i did note a loss of torque.
So I've upped it to 70 ft pounds.
My steel base was tight
The aluminum rings were not so tight after around 50 rounds so I switched to mark 4 Leopold mill spec rings...
There tanks. Torqued to 50 inch pounds on thr cross bolt and 25inch pounds on thr scope connection
I don't want any scope slippage
The chassis held up and remained torqued to 60 inch pounds.
Breach plug is good. Although I've been monitoring it regularly and keeping the carbon taken care of.
I did note that I need a much larger bullet sizing to fit tightly in the barrel. When I first shot sized bullets in 40 degree temps I needed a. 4505 now at 70 degrees I need .4515
Intersting.
My sizing die was still set so I sized one and it about fell down the barrel.
Intersting to say the least.
Hopefully I'll get out tomorrow with some sized bullets to start testing

 

[Ninering62]

Speaking in tongues again? Lol

Sounds like somebody found my lost stash

 

[Ninering62]

I fixed it
I get so into what I'm writing I don't proofread it. Glad I got folks heepin me out.

I have to go back & re-read & edit my posts all the time, between typing like a sausage fingered redneck to auto correct makin me look even worse.