My slightly used SMI 50 barrel has arrived .

Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Nov 14, 2010
Messages
15
Reaction score
15
So my 50 cal SMI barrel is here , and only 1 day late , not bad these day's . Did a quick check on it , looks good . Managed to mount scope and basic sight in . I have a limited supply of suitable powders and bullets . For powders I have 1/2 lb. of IMR 4198 , about the same of H4198 the powders I was planning to use . Not good when powders are hard to find . So I did a inventory of my powder supply and found a forgotten 1 lb. of 5744 , oh happy day .
I have a bullet sizer and some Fury bullets on order . My plan is to use sabot less bullets in the range of 250gr -300gr ,I'm open to any suggestions . I haven't found a lot of options for 50cal bullets yet .
Just for basic sight in so far I have used Federal 270 gr B.O.R Lock's and 58 grs IMR4198 actually that looks ok.
Really wind today but just tried a few shots of the same bullet and 43grs. of 5744 looks like they shoot close to the same POI .
With my limited supply of powders I am waiting for the sizer and bullets before doing much more shooting , well I'll try not to shoot whole lot 😉
I'm open to any suggestions on other powders and bullets to be on the look out for !

Forgot to add it uses 209 primers . Would like to change to LRP someday , anyone know of any options for having a breech plug made or converted ?
 
Last edited:
What is the twist of the SMI barrel and what rifle? I know they use a slower twist Douglas on the conversions they offered. Fury Custom Bullet offers a few 50cal bullets intended for sabotless. The lighter ones should stabilize even in the 1-32 Douglas.
 
What is the twist of the SMI barrel and what rifle? I know they use a slower twist Douglas on the conversions they offered. Fury Custom Bullet offers a few 50cal bullets intended for sabotless. The lighter ones should stabilize even in the 1-32 Douglas.

The barrel is for a Encore , 28 " and it has a 1-32 twist . I already have ordered some 275gr Fury bullets ordered and the sizing die is on it's way . I also have some Thor 250 gr bullets on hand that I plan on trying to size for my SMI barrel .
The former owner used 250 gr Barnes sabot's with H4198 . He was very happy with that load and was the only load he used . I plan to get away from sabot loads if I can .
The Fed 275 gr B.O.R. Lock bullets that I tried did stabilize just want to wait until I get some sabotless bullets before I start a serious load work up . With the limited powder available now days I don't want to waste my supply of 4198 .
 
Got in some limited trigger time in . Received the 50 cal bullet resizing die and some Fury 275 gr bullets . Tried some different powders , IMR4227 , IMR4198 and H4198 . I had just a few 250gr Thor bullets that shoot respectable groups with IMR4227 just not enough bullets to work up a load . I really like the resizing die , used it on the Thor and the Fury bullets , worked like a charm .
Really wanted to try IMR4198 and H4198 powder with the Fury 275 gr bullets . My main problem I have a very limited supply of powder , I know what else is new . I found out my SMI liked the 275 gr Fury bullets with a veg fiber wad and IMR4198 a lot . According to my Magneto Speed it shot right around 2354 F/S with 60grs IMR4198 and very tight groups . At the same load the H4198 came in second , slower F/S and larger groups . Not enough powder to work up anything with H4198 . Only have enough IMR4198 for 8-10 loads left if that .
I am happy with 2354 F/S with IMR4198 and the 275 gr Fury bullets , now all I need is for the powder supply to make a come back ! Veg fiber wads did make a difference with the resized Fury bullets . The Thor 250gr bullets didn't need any wad from my limited test . I was using Winchester 209 primer as I have more for them than Fed 209 .
I do have more IMR4227 and 5744 that I could try but with the price of bullets and the fact that it likes IMR4198 that may wait for awhile .
 
About 2gr less 4227 should make about the speed of the 4198.
 
I'm curious about the size of the veggie wads. Do you over size them like you would for wool wads? I've been shooting the 310 gr. Fury bullets in my .45, and really like them.
 
Veggie wads are slightly oversized, caliber specific. Otherwise buy 50 cal veggie wads for 50 cal rifle. Same for the poly wads.
 
I got my 50 cal veg fiber wads from Fury Custom Bullets along with their 275gr 50 cal bullets I believe they are .060 thick . Wads are caliber specific .
Anyone have any suggestions for 275gr bullets with 5744 powder?
A few days ago I passed up a chance at some N120 , was very tempted but not familiar with it , probably will regret that . I did use N140 in a 243 win at one time but the dealer quit handling that brand , still not readily available brand in my area even though it was a good powder .
 
I managed to pickup some N120 to try with the 275 Fury bullets with veg wad . So far IMR 4227 has been the winner. Although I did have promising results with IMR 4198 , I didn't have enough powder to really work up anything with it . And haven't found any for sale yet . I had almost. a full LB of IMR 4227 so that is what I was able to work with . This morning it was mid 30's out so I tried out some N120 , kind of disappointing . And I tried a 3 shot group of 53gr IMR 4227 with the 275 Fury bullets with a wad . Only a 3 shot group with 2 in one hole and I did pull the 2nd shot to the left and it was still a 1" group . That is right along with what it was giving me on other load work up's with IMR 4227. I'll run it over a chrono when I git a chance but I think it should be around 2400 f/s . That is very acceptable for me . Looks like I will be looking for more IMR 4227 .
If and when I get some IMR 4198 I'll. give that a try but I can live with the 4227 results and be happy .
This smokeless muzzleloading is additive , already thinking about looking for a 45 cal barrel blank .
 
53gr of 4227 and a 275gr bullet in a 45 with 25" barrel gives me 2475fps mv. You may be a bit slower in a 50cal.
 
Ran 53gr of 4227 with 275 gr Fury over my chrono for 2381 f/s with 28" barrel . Also work up to 57gr of N120 with the same bullet , that really tightened up group compared to the other day . I wouldn't even call the other day's results with N120 a group more like a shotgun pattern . So I need to increase N120 to see if that will still tighten up it' groups , maybe get a cleaner burn too I hope . But first I have to wait for more bullets , that are already in the mail .
 
I tried sabotless in my SMI 50 cal. The experiment was cut sort because somone needed to own the barrel more than I did. I have a thread on here somewhere documenting my experience with sabotless. My gun shot tiny groups with mmp h24 sabots and a 300 grain .458 barnes original but man it was hard to load.
 
I got my 50 cal veg fiber wads from Fury Custom Bullets along with their 275gr 50 cal bullets I believe they are .060 thick . Wads are caliber specific .
Anyone have any suggestions for 275gr bullets with 5744 powder?
A few days ago I passed up a chance at some N120 , was very tempted but not familiar with it , probably will regret that . I did use N140 in a 243 win at one time but the dealer quit handling that brand , still not readily available brand in my area even though it was a good powder .
When i competed in benchrest & did much reloading with several calibers, i found that if a certain powder shot good, the vihtavuori would do better! If you run across any n powder, you should buy it,, you won't be disappointed. I shot various N powders in rifles from 6ppc to 300win mag & was never disappointed.
 
N120 is one of my favorite powders. Best powder ever for 275-300gr bullets in the old MLII and awesome for 45cal sabot loads if you want speed.
 
Been trying some different powders , 5744 very dirty makes loading hard and inconsistent pressure needed to load . N120 better but still more pressure to load , and could have better F/S . IMR 4198 and H 4198 , IMR seems to take less pressure to load than H 4198 , F/S is acceptable , accuracy in line with IMR 4227 . But the winner is still IMR 4227 , easiest most consistant loading pressure , good accuracy , highest F/S .
Changes I've made - added a 32 port Radial Brake and change from Winchester 209's because i was running low on them and found a brick of Remington 209 STS primers . The change in primer lead to the need to add a .002 shim to the firing pin bushing to head space the Rem primers . The change in primers seemed to add around 20 + F/S , last chrono was 2409 F/S , very happy with that .
So now I only have 9 measured tubes of IMR 4227 left , kind of limits any fine tuning load development until I find more powder . At least I know which powder I want .
Of course all this lead to the gathering of all the componants to build a 45 cal SML that will be based on a Savage action , waiting for the Brux barrel blank . Still deciding on which muzzlebrake to use . When complete that should give me a chance to use up the N120 I found a couple of weeks ago . Now I just need to find some IMR 4227 until then the 50 cal will be on hold .
 

Latest posts

Back
Top