I am shooting the CVA V2 Nitride. Tried a new load today. 120gr BH209 with the 290gr TMZ. Shot 1.5 MOA at 200 yards, which I am happy with. It seems if I don’t clean the Bore after every shot, it wants to shoot more like 2.5 MOA, and wants to throw a “flyer”. I had good holds all morning. Is this normal?
Clean Bore/Dirty Bore
- Thread starter DesertBoy
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I think many/most M-L’s will have a slightly different point of impact, clean verses dirty bore. One should test themselves with their own gun, every gun may be different.
Most of my shots deer hunting are 50-75 yards. I don’t think I saw over 1.5” difference at 75 yards when I did casual testing. With that in mind, I just start the hunt with a clean bore, usually fire two primers.
That clean bore usually gets me a day or so into the hunt before the bore gets fouled, never been an issue. With B209 I can go a few days before cleaning, don’t want to go longer.
The key is to do the testing yourself(as you did) before hunting then decide what’s best.
Most of my shots deer hunting are 50-75 yards. I don’t think I saw over 1.5” difference at 75 yards when I did casual testing. With that in mind, I just start the hunt with a clean bore, usually fire two primers.
That clean bore usually gets me a day or so into the hunt before the bore gets fouled, never been an issue. With B209 I can go a few days before cleaning, don’t want to go longer.
The key is to do the testing yourself(as you did) before hunting then decide what’s best.
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Could be the bullet/sabot combo in that particular gun with the particular charge. What did the 200 yard groups look like with 110 grains and that bullet/sabot combo? We seldom see anyone using a charge over 110 grains [77 by weight] with bullets in the 250-300 grain range and getting very decent grouping at 200 yards without cleaning after each shot using the 209 powder. Maybe you're driving it too hard.
I never really worked with the 110gr load at past 100yds. Next trip I was planning on going to 300yds and seeing what the 120gr load would do. I figured if I could hold a good 3” group at 200yds, the gun/load may be capable of ethical hunting at 300yds. I verified velocity on 2 shots with 120gr, and they were at 2046fps, and 2053fps. If I can put them all in a 5” or so group at 300yds, I would feel comfortable. But if it’s not consistent at that range, I am going to invest in a Gunwerks long range ML. We found some big Muleys(180”class)on a general hunt this fall, and I want to hunt that area next year with the ML, as the tag number is lower, and the hunt comes in before the general season. But because of the nature of the country these deer hang out in, I really want to be able to get out there to 300yds. Even then it is going to be tough.
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Just reading...…. For the price of one of the Gunwerks rifles, boy oh boy could you have a dandy custom or even two.
Actually 300yds isn't out of the question with production muzzleloaders, but its dependent on shooting a great bullet with an accurate setup. There are a number of proven 300yd+ modern inline rifles, such as Knight, RUM, UF and the new Paramount to name a couple. Even if you change a few OEM parts on these rifles, they're all solid 300yd+ rifles and much less cost.
Leaves you a lot of money for optics and other accessories.
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Good luck with your quest.
FYI....…….. https://www.modernmuzzleloader.com/threads/bestill-creations-smokeless-knight-ultra-lite.34786/
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