new Omega barrel disappointment

[dragonfly]

I bought my 50cal Omega with an original Nikon Buckmasters 3x9 scope sometime back in the 90's and have taken many deer with it using 2 T7 pellets and a 240gr Shockwave. I wanted to switch to BH 209 and bought everything needed to do so. After inspecting the rifle, early summer, I noticed what appeared to be a seam opening at the crown. I gave TC a call and they asked me to send the gun back to them so they could take a look. I was very pleased to have the rifle returned to me a couple of weeks later with a brand new barrel installed at no charge. Kudos to TC.

I've now racked up over 16 hours and a jug and a half of BH 209 at the range in 4 sessions trying to work up a consistent load and bullet combo. So far I've tried;

300gr XTP's with Harvestor black crush rib sabot
240gr XTP's with supplied green sabot
250gr Barnes TEZ with supplied blue sabot
240gr Shockwave with supplied red sabot
240gr TC cheapshots with supplied blk sabots

All above bullets were shot at 80,90,100, and 110 gr by volume of BH209 using W209 primers searching for a good group. The W209 primers match up well to the Omega and most come out virtually clean with no blowback. The first range session was in August. The best group I got was with the 300gr XTP's at 100gr vol. The temperature was mid 80's. All shots were within 2in at 100yds...acceptable. My next plan was to wait for colder temps to verify POI. The next trips were 40 degrees or less...even frost. Now the group has opened up to 4 in. or more. I get 2 almost touching then WHAM...one way out. I then started over..80,90,100, and 110grs. No difference. Oddly, the groups remained at 4in or more no matter what the load. I replaced the Nikon scope with a high dollar Weaver thinking the scope was bad. No difference. I replaced myself with my cousin and shooting buddy as the shooter thinking it might be my poor marksmanship. My cousin and I are long range varmint hunters that have confirmed kills out to 1000yds so we know how to pull a trigger. He did no better. No difference. I've done the usual....tightened all mounting points to spec. cleaned out BP flash channel every 10 shots....no difference. I even tried 2 different powder measures. No difference.

Where I hunt, my shots are within 100yds mostly and can certainly kill a deer with 4in groups. It's just that I think this gun could and should do better. I'm at a loss to know what I should do next. It's getting late to try any other bullet/sabot combos. This is also getting expensive. Any ideas??

 

[HC]

My next step would be to bump the powder up. What lot # BH209 are you using?


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[dragonfly]

Right. I tried that. Went up to 110gr vol. No love. First jug is empty. Don't know what lot#. I'm now using lot# 70091729.
It seems that every now and again, I'm throwing a knuckle ball that spoils an otherwise nice group. Do you think a different sabot other than the blk crush rib might work?

 

[HC]

Different sabot might help? Make sure the barrel is cool to touch before loading the next shot, using sabots. 40 degrees cooler difference in temp and groups go to crap, I would try up to 120 volume of BH209. Good luck.


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[Dougs136Schwartz]

You may need to cut the QLA off

 

[dragonfly]

It was in the low 30's yesterday. I let the barrel sit for at least 5 min between shots. It didn't take long to cool off. I'll try 120gr but oh my, the recoil.
It was my understanding the QLA removal only improved full bore bullets. I shoot sabots. Harvester's sending me some short blacks and red crush ribs. Hopefully that'll help. This gun has to shoot better than 4in groups. Fingers crossed.

 

[WV Hunter]

I'm glad they took care of you, but man that stinks. And I feel like you are right, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Even if the ideal sabot isn't crush rib, you oughta been able to find a suitable load to at least give you a 2" group. I get good results in my omega using 100gr bh209, with .44/240gr speer deep curls, green crush rib.
Hopefully the sabot will make a difference for you. I'm with you on 120, not a big fan. Its fine when hunting, but I just don't enjoy shooting stiff loads on the bench these days. And I can usually get great performance in most of my rifles with less. Good luck, hope you get it figured out!

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

This all started with the new barrel? If it did, I'd send it back and tell them you got a dud.

Has the breech plug been replaced recently? If not, maybe your flash hole has eroded to the point of poor accuracy.

 

[dragonfly]

Brand new barrel. Brand new breech plug.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

Maybe it just doesn't like BH209?
If its 2 close and # 3 out consistently, sounds like barrel heat.

 

[dragonfly]

right, but sometimes it's #1 in #2 out #3 in. Also sometimes I can get 2 almost touching. Very frustrating. It was in the low 30's yesterday. I waited a minimum of 5min...sometimes 10min or more between shots. The barrel was cold to the touch.

 

[dbowling]

barrel to action fit, maybe something is out of whack causing it to be inconsistent.

right, but sometimes it's #1 in #2 out #3 in. Also sometimes I can get 2 almost touching. Very frustrating. It was in the low 30's yesterday. I waited a minimum of 5min...sometimes 10min or more between shots. The barrel was cold to the touch.

 

[dragonfly]

Nope. Nothing has changed in my setup except temperature. When it was 83 degrees, I could get 2in groups. Now temps are more like real hunting conditions (30's and 40's) and I'm lucky to get a 4in group. I'm gonna try a slightly larger sabot and see if that works.

 

[280Bravo]

Clean out your primer pocket with a drill bit you have carbon buildup in your plug.

 

[dragonfly]

Thanks for the reply but obviously you haven't read the entire thread. I cleaned the breech plug completely including the primer pocket using a drill bit after every ten shots. It's not the breech plug.

 

[jerseyjimk]

Have you check your scope mount, maybe the screws are a little to long for the new barrel. Count the turns going in, might be they bottom out and not tighten down your mount

 

[dragonfly]

The scope mount and screws came off the original barrel and were installed at the factory. I then torqued them to spec myself. All screws and mounting points were checked for tightness...twice.

 

[bestill]

Are mounting lugs to barrel tight?

 

[dragonfly]

yep. The barrel to stock lug screws were the first thing I checked

 

[fishhawk2700]

All barrels are not created equal. I had an Encore Endeavor barrel that had a QLA that was so far off the bore that it would not shoot any load accurately. I spent a year and a half and 300 bucks on different bullet/sabot/powder combos. It went off to Behlm for a trigger job, a 1x pin, trigger spring, blah, blah. Best I could get was 4 inch group at 50 yards I finally shipped it.
On the other hand, I have had a number of Omegas pass through my hands that were very accurate. Had some .45 Omegas that were unbelievably accurate.
I guess my point is there are barrels at both ends of the spectrum with the vast majority falling in the middle. Some times ya get one that just won't shoot, but it doesn't hurt to keep trying.