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- Aug 29, 2009
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It wasn't the greatest day to shoot with gusty winds and thunderstorms brewing, but overall, another good range session.
New items to try:
1. NFPJ Lehigh breech plug with removable Lehigh vent liner
2. Harvester smooth blue sabot
3. Knurling bullets for better sabot grip
4. 120gr Blackhorn 209
I wanted try each item separately but the sky was beginning to fill fast with cumulus clouds so I decided just to throw everything together and shoot.
I lightly knurled a Barnes 195gr expander, placed it in a Harvester smooth blue sabot, and seated it on top of 120gr of BH209. Primers were Winchester 209s. Recoil was stout but the Elite soaks it up fairly well. 3 shot group at 100yds measuring 1.5"
From what I have found researching the net, muzzle velocity is around 2200-2250 fps. Accuracy didn't seem to suffer from the 10gr increase in powder from my previous session. Someday, I may shoot from a lead sled just to see what kind of group this combo will produce. I do all my shooting holding the forend on top of a rest.
I saw a rainbow in the distance and thunder was starting to rumble but I had to shoot a group of 200gr knurled SSTs with the Harvester sabots before I left for the day. This group measured 3/4", not to shabby
My NFPJ Lehigh breech plug performed flawlessly with no blowback. Primers were spotless. The bolt was a little tight when extracting the spent primers but a gentle rap with my hand released the primer from the breech plug. I'll give it a few more times before I polish the primer pocket to see if a little more break-in is required.
The Harvester smooth blue sabots loaded easier than the MMP sabots that were supplied with the bullets. I thought accuracy might suffer from the looser fit but it appears to be better than with the MMPs, more range time is needed, especially at colder temps to see which sabot I want to hunt with.
I'll keep knurling all my bullets for now, more range time is needed but I know it didn't hurt anything.
New items to try:
1. NFPJ Lehigh breech plug with removable Lehigh vent liner
2. Harvester smooth blue sabot
3. Knurling bullets for better sabot grip
4. 120gr Blackhorn 209
I wanted try each item separately but the sky was beginning to fill fast with cumulus clouds so I decided just to throw everything together and shoot.
I lightly knurled a Barnes 195gr expander, placed it in a Harvester smooth blue sabot, and seated it on top of 120gr of BH209. Primers were Winchester 209s. Recoil was stout but the Elite soaks it up fairly well. 3 shot group at 100yds measuring 1.5"
From what I have found researching the net, muzzle velocity is around 2200-2250 fps. Accuracy didn't seem to suffer from the 10gr increase in powder from my previous session. Someday, I may shoot from a lead sled just to see what kind of group this combo will produce. I do all my shooting holding the forend on top of a rest.
I saw a rainbow in the distance and thunder was starting to rumble but I had to shoot a group of 200gr knurled SSTs with the Harvester sabots before I left for the day. This group measured 3/4", not to shabby
My NFPJ Lehigh breech plug performed flawlessly with no blowback. Primers were spotless. The bolt was a little tight when extracting the spent primers but a gentle rap with my hand released the primer from the breech plug. I'll give it a few more times before I polish the primer pocket to see if a little more break-in is required.
The Harvester smooth blue sabots loaded easier than the MMP sabots that were supplied with the bullets. I thought accuracy might suffer from the looser fit but it appears to be better than with the MMPs, more range time is needed, especially at colder temps to see which sabot I want to hunt with.
I'll keep knurling all my bullets for now, more range time is needed but I know it didn't hurt anything.