Optima pistol and 777

[UPtrapper]

Took my new optima pistol to the range yesterday. I shot 48 bullets 6 at 60 gr weighed BH209 just to get used to shooting it. 3 each with 44 cal 240 gr xtp with smooth green sabots from 60 to 66 gr weighed BH209 increasing by 1 gr. I did the same with 250 gr 45 cal xtp. The groups weren't good at all shooting at 50 yards (4-5") until I hit 64 grains at which point they tightened up to 1.5 to 2". I cleaned the breech plug every 3 shots and ran 1 dry patch down the barrel. The rest I brought didn't work well for me at all during the first 6 shots so I used my backpack and a rolled up blanket for all load testing. I was quite surprised at how the groups tightened up so dramatically at 64 grains compared to 60-63.

I only have another pound of BH209 and decided to make the switch to 777 for the range, and save the BH209 for hunting incase the price and availability don't get better. Anyone have a good starting load of 777 behind the 240 and 250 gr xtp? I figured I'd start off at about 68 gr weighed and work up to 75 gr. I do have a good supply of crushed rib black and green sabots, but in my rifles the smooth ones seem to shoot just a bit better. Should I try the crushed rib's with the 777? Should I be swabbing between shots or every few shots? Any other suggestions to try out? I don't have any low power primers, only winchester full strength 209's, hopefully this won't hurt my results.

The gun is really fun to shoot, and while there is no question if it went off or not, the recoil is very manageable, not nearly as bad as my 500 mag. The worst part was the walk through 3' of snow to get to the targets, otherwise I wish I'd have brought more powder. I ordered 4# of 777 FF from midsouth, I can't wait to start burning it up. Hopefully it will get delivered next week, that should give me time to figure out a better rest.

 

[MrTom]

Your T7 will just about perfectly mirror the BH209 loads so if you are finding tighter groups at 64 weighed grains of BH [roughly equivalent to 90 grains by volume] I'd start right at 90 grains of T7 by volume and work upward. Anything over 100 grains by volume will get you more recoil and more unburned powdered due to the shorter barrel.

Personally, I shoot 63 weighed grains of BH [hunting]or 90 grains by volume of T7 fffg [range], under a green sabot and a 225 grain Barnes XPB bullet. My gun puts five shots into a rough hole maybe an inch in diameter at 50 yards. On the bench the T7 actually shoots tighter than the BH. If you're shooting ffg T7 you might try the fffg to see if it gets you tighter groups. When I first began to hunt with the pistol I shot a 240 grain XTP in a green sabot using the same powder charge and I didn't have to adjust a thing to shoot the 225 grain Barnes when I went to using them. I also shot both 250 grain and 300 grain XTPs using black sabots and the same powder charge but my accuracy fell off using the larger diameter bullets. Other owners have had the opposite happen and found their best accuracy using the larger diameter pills. Every gun is different so playing with the various bullet diameters and weights is beneficial.

Your full power primers are what I'd recommend you sticking with.

One thing I noticed with my Optima pistol is that once I settled on the current charges and bullets, the more I shot it the more the grouping pulled together. I'm convinced that there was a break-in period for the barrel that took about 200 rounds thru it to really settle the gun in. It may be that it was just me becoming more and more familiar with the gun too, but I'm still convinced that there was a break-in period of quite a few rounds.

You do not indicate if your pistol is scoped or not. Mine carries a 2 X 7 Leapers long eye-relief and I love it.

 

[UPtrapper]

Mr Tom, thanks for your reply, the information you've already given me on previous posts has been very helpful. I was hoping you would reply to this one too. I tried the 240gr bullet on your recommendation, the tightest group was with the 240 gr, but 64 gr to 66 gr were all pretty close. I need to try that barnes you suggest Im just afraid I'll like it. I'll try some of the fff next time I come across some. I live in a small town in the UP so I don't have any options for picking up supplies locally. I'll be in Detroit next month so I should be able to find some down there. I have a whole pile of traditions 240 gr bullet/sabot combo I got on clearance years ago, come to find out they are 240gr xtp's with a unknown black sabot. I'll bring 50 of them to the range, along with my testing loads next time I go to help expedite the break in/learning curve. One thing that was very clear in the snow is the green sabots stay with the bullet about twice as far as the black sabots.

Mine is scoped, likely with the same scope, leapers UTG 2-7. It seems to work quite well for the optima.

 

[HC]

The green sabots are heavier than the black sabots, thus one would expect then to travel a little bit farther.

 

[bronko220002]

This thread reminds me: I got to pull out my Encore .50 cal pistol! I had a blast with it last time. I'll have to look at my log book to see what I was shooting in it. I'm pretty sure it was the 240 gr XTP and 60 gr of Alliant Black MZ.