Newbie Range Report

[Duhawki]

Yesterday, I finally got to the range with my H&R / 50 cal SMI. I have to say that I received a great variety of conflicting advice from numerous sources about loads for this barrel. So, in the end I punted and stuck with one of the SMI published loads: 65 grains of H4198 with a Fed 209A primer behind a MMP HPH12 sabot and a Barnes 45 cal 200 grain XPB. Of course, the bullet is an update of the now discontinued Barnes / Knight RedHot.

First, the GOOD NEWS: Fantastic 100 yard accuracy and very modest recoil.
Now, the BAD NEWS: Unbelievably dirty! I absolutely had to swab the bore between shots, or I couldn't reload. The primers crudded up the vent and the bore would turn both sides of a moist patch yucky black with a thick layer. Additionally, there was an astounding amount of unburned powder that could clearly be seen in original form as little extruded cylinders on each patch. The unburned powder is a classic sign of too slow a powder for such a light bullet. I would expect a heavier bullet to give a cleaner burn with H4198.

To tell you the truth, I'm sure I could hunt with it like it is, but I think of H4198 as better suited to a little higher pressure. Like for 270 grain bullets in my 444. Is there a cleaner powder for light bullets in an SMI? Are there cleaner primers than Fed 209A?

 

[SW]

Win209,CCIm
The powder is too slow IMO. I would want a heavier, higher BC'd bullet anyway. A nice 300g Barnes 458 FB or original or a 300SST/XTP would be my choices. 2015 is much cleaner. VV-120 would be cleaner with that light bullet. Maybe even starting with 40g VV-110 or 4759. Fed209As are too dirty for me also.

 

[Duhawki]

I very much like VV N-120 in my 444, and believe it should work fine in the SMI barrel, especially with heavy bullets.

Years ago when I got a T/C Encore 50 cal ML, I did try heavy bullets including 300 grain. With full house 150 grain (non-smokeless) loads, the recoil was pretty stout. That is what got me interested in lighter bullets. The Knight 200 grain RedHots worked so very well: flat shooting, accurate, less recoil and totally lethal on whitetails. I put one through a huge corn fed doe on the diagonal at 125 yards. Penetration would be measured in feet. So basically, heavy bullets will be second choice for me. I do have some 250 grain Barnes TMZs I will try, but the 200 grain XPBs are accurate and will certainly remain on my short list unless I find out they lack terminal effectiveness. So my current challenge is to find the best powder / primer combo for the 200s. Because some report success with VV N-110, I plan to try some. I have used it in 454 Casull.

I appreciate the suggestion of CCI primers. I like their caps for my sidelock. The reason I went with the Federals is that SMI listed them.

 

[encoreguy]

For some reason 300 grain bullets and 2015 left a lot of unburned powder for me in my SMI and that is not a light bullet. Not sure why? I prefer Win 209's and they shot better in my SMI than the Fed's. I think the Fed's are unnecessarily strong. But that is just my opinion. I would at least move up to 250 grain bullets with 4198 and if you use N120 I would use 300 grainers. Good luck!

 

[Duhawki]

Yesterday afternoon I did make it back to the range to experiment with powders / bullets in the 50 cal SMI. I started by loading 43 grains of VV N-110 behind the 200 grain XPBs. I used only CCI 209M primers. Although I did not chronograph anything, I'm sure 43 grains N-110 is a hotter load than 65 grains of H4198. Noticeably more recoil and the point of impact moved up several inches. I rezeroed and shot several inch groups. I was able to clean enough of the soot between shots with just a dry patch. At least that is what I thought. Loading did slowly increase in difficulty and accuracy eventually suffered. In the middle of that process, while accuracy was still not too bad, I did shoot a couple of Barnes 250 grain TMZs in their yellow sabots. They were about a foot lower than the 200s at 100 yds and nearly three inches apart. They were also more difficult to load. At the present time, I consider the VV N-110 to be a big step forward with the 200 grain XPBs, and the CCI primers seemed somewhat cleaner. I saw no unburned powder.

The whole experience was generally positive, but I feel like I should be managing the plastic fouling better at the range. I plan to experiment with a little bit of patch lube and bore cleaner next time. Suggestions?

 

[magnumpower]

range session

Duhawki, stay away fron the bore lubes------will gum up the smokeless powder and is not needed or recomened IMO. Secondly, use acetone on a slightly moistened patch placed over your 50 cal brush. You will not believe how much plastic fouling you will remove---do this after every 5 shots to maintain maximum accuracy levels. Follow up with dry patches followed by your bore solvent, then dry patch again. PITA, but it works well for me. I don't care for the Barnes TMZ'S but if they are hard to seat, wipe the outside of sabot with Armorall and it should be easier to seat.

 

[SW]

Acetone will clean the plastic fouling out well. No lub with sabots. Your powder choice is very good IMO. I lightly patch with either Rem ML bore cleaner or CVA ML cleaner(slightly damp patch) followed by dry patch between shots - keeps fouling consistent and light. An in -the-field reloading w/o cleaning with just 1 shot thru it affects the 2nd shot placement very little. Slow build up without cleaning just results in a barrel that is continually getting more fouled with each shot - not what I want. WWs seem to keep fouling easy to remove.

 

[BillinWV]

I learned the hard way with my Encore .50 SMI barrel. I started having accuracy issues with mine even after cleaning with Shooters Choice bore solvent and brushing. You have to accept no matter what accuracy load you arrive at, you still have to clean the sabot material out of your bore. I can get very good accuracy with mine for about 10-15 shots until my groups start opening up.(depending on powder cleanliness) After heeding "magnumpower's" advice using acetone/patch wrapped brush after conventional cleaning, my accuracy is right back.

By the way, I also like VV-110 and lighter bullets, but you need to try some 250's and 300 grainers as well. My rifle probably shoots the Barnes's 300 grain and MMP orange sabot/Accurate 2015(72-75 grains)/Win. 209 load consistantly the most accurate of any load I've tested to date. But make sure you have adequate eye relief (3.5 -4.0" minimum) on your scope and keep your head upright when shooting from the bench, as this load is a lot harder kicker than the fast powder/light bullet loads!

Bottom line, have fun experimenting with your new barrel, but be cautious, especially with the faster powders. Do not expect to be able to shoot the "max" Savage loads in your SMI barrel. You will eventually arrive at a favorite load and cleaning technique.

 

[Duhawki]

When the accuracy started to go south, at first I thought the scope had died or come loose. Later on at home I cleaned the bore with Birchwood Casey / acetone and Hoppe's Elite. One after the other. An amazing amount of crud came out of the barrel. I wrapped big square patches around a brush and went after that bore like the future of the free world depended on it. It was a tough fight, but good finally triumphed over evil.

Because the thing was so completely nasty with what was obviously plastic, I would think that a little bit of lube on just the sabot would be a good thing. Exactly what is the problem with that? Approximately 100% of you seem negative on the idea so far. Doesn't anybody use any kind of lube on sabots? One guy did mention Armor-All. Several other possibilities come to mind including solid lubes like tungsten disulfide. Works great on Pinewood Derby wheels.

 

[BillinWV]

Just like everything else in life there are tradeoffs. Unless you come up with something to "fireproof" your sabots with the hotter temperatures experienced shooting smokeless powders, this is the dilemma. In my humble opinion coatings are adding another variable which will be difficult to reproduce with each successive shot. Believe me, I'm not a fan of moly coating bullets, been that route with centerfires but that's for a different forum..... Good luck with your experimenting and keep us informed with results.