Range Day Success

[Bratch]

Made it to the range today for the fourth time this year solely focused on muzzleloaders. If you remember any of my previous post I’ve had some trials and tribulations and questioned my idea to figure out this muzzleloader thing.

I ordered a new Traditions Vortek Vapr .50 with the 1:24 barrel that was delivered today. Luckily it came early and after a quick swab of the barrel I was able to take it with me to the range.

I plan to try and shoot .458 bullets with the 1:24 twist but I wanted to give the barrel a quick “break in” with cheaper components. The first three shots out of the rifle were a .430 300gr XTP in a green crush rib over 3 pellets of FireStar that I had sitting around from before I decided to go loose powder. The group was 1.34” edge to edge. My best group ever with a smoke pole.



I moved to a 325gr .458 FTX in orange crush rib over 100 gr FFF 777. Shots went into 1.99” edge to edge.




Last shots of the day were 300 gr TSX FP, that were all over the place. I’ll give them another chance in case it was a dirty gun problem. I’m impressed with how well the pellets shot, I’ll probably continue to play around with the FTX and loose powder but will fall back on the pellets if I have to in October. I want to try a couple full bore bullet options I have in the drawer in this as well.

I also took my old Optima that I have been learning on, it has shown a preference for .452 300gr XTP over 100gr of FFF 777 with a couple 2.5” groups. I decided to try 100gr of Pyrodex Select and FF 777 to see if a powder change would help any. The FF was another 2.5” group but the Pyrodex Select was magical, 1.05” edge to edge. I’ll probably do a little tweaking with 95gr and 105gr but I think this rifle is about done.


And finally I had a Traditions Vortek 45 with the 1:20 barrel. This is the one rifle I haven’t gotten a good group on yet. I’ve shot a lot of the 195gr Barnes in a blue HP sabot and they keep hovering at 2-2.5” with 90gr FFF 777. I tried blue crush ribs today and they went into 3.8”. I also tried 200gr SST in blue HP and were right at 3”. I’m thinking I’ll try the Pyrodex Select with the Barnes and SSTs. Any other suggestions or ideas to try with this rifle and hopefully get into the 1-1.5” range?

I’m reenergized to keep experimenting now that I’ve had a little success and know that I have a couple good options to fall back on if I don’t find anything else before October.

 

[illinoishunter]

I've always wondered if I made the right choice going with the optima lr over the traditions vapr for my first muzzy. So I'm a little jealous you've got a couple of them. Lol

Start with a lighter charge?
340eld-x see Ron Laughlin post
250gr sst's

Sorry not familiar with your previous tests. But keep at it. With some work, everything can shoot a good group and have fun doing it. Congrats on the progress thus far.

 

[Bratch]

I've always wondered if I made the right choice going with the optima lr over the traditions vapr for my first muzzy. So I'm a little jealous you've got a couple of them. Lol

Start with a lighter charge?
340eld-x see Ron Laughlin post
250gr sst's

Sorry not familiar with your previous tests. But keep at it. With some work, everything can shoot a good group and have fun doing it. Congrats on the progress thus far.

I’ve had some flash rust issues with the Vapr so I think the materials are a little cheaper than the CVA but I love the twist.

I normally do a 90/100/110 testing ladder to get started. I was shooting more today and my spotter (wife) was getting bored so I mainly shot 100s.

The ELD-X is one of the full bore bullets I want to try, I think I have some 250gr SST as well.

 

[edmehlig]

Looks like those labeled “E” are the way to go.

 

[X-ring]

Looks like those labeled “E” are the way to go.

The bullets on "D" are starting to wobble. X

 

[Bratch]

Made it back to the range on Monday, there was almost no wind which is a rare day in OK.

I’m continuing to see some success and now have a usable load with each rifle. Im going to continue playing around but feel confident with a fallback baseline now.

Logsheet for the day


Best group with that .50 Traditions Vortek 1:24 was with 100gr vol 777 FFF and Hornady ELDX. Right at 1.5” edge to edge. I’m going to play around with a couple other powders and volumes to see if I can shrink it down any but I can live with the 1.5” and plan to stick with the ELDX.



Best group with the old .50 Optima was 110gr volume of Pyrodex Select and a .452 300gr XTP in a black crush rib at 1.2” edge to edge. I’m going to play around a little with the 300gr PT Gold bullet but will probably stick with the XTP and under 150 yard shots with this rifle.

Finally the .45 Traditions Vortek 1:20 shot its best group with 100 gr vol Pyrodex Select and 195gr Barnes in Blue HP sabot at 1.4” edge to edge.


I was hoping to get a load developed for each rifle before the heat of the summer to be ready for season in October without too much stress. I’m calling that a success and will now take some time to fine tune and then start walking out past 100yds to see how they hold up. The private land I hunt is a 100yd max but we have some WMA that are BP only and could present a longer shot opportunity that I’d like to try this year.

 

[illinoishunter]

Nice job. You got some shooting in Monday. That had to feel good throwing that much lead down range. Did you swabbed the barrel between shots? Cool down time?

 

[Bratch]

Nice job. You got some shooting in Monday. That had to feel good throwing that much lead down range. Did you swabbed the barrel between shots? Cool down time?

One or two more range sessions like that and I’ll have a solid base line. My wife usually tags along to spot for me but she stayed home Monday so I was able to really stretch it out, she usually gets restless after a couple hours. We had a party that afternoon or I might not have ever left.

I swabbed with 91% alcohol and a dry patch between each shot and then a Butch’s bore bright patch after each group. At some point in the middle I removed the breech plugs and ran a brush down the barrel and knocked out a bunch of crud. After that I would pull the plug and run a brush after every group. I plan to continue that in the future and will probably run a Butch’s patch wrapped around the brush.

I didn’t have a preset cooling period. In the morning the time it took to mark the shot, run patches and reload kept the barrel close to ambient temperature. As the day got hotter I noticed the barrels staying hot. I started alternating rifles at that point, shoot one, swab it and set it aside while I shot the next one, that gave them a little extra time to cool. I do think a couple of my 195 Barnes groups were affected by hot barrels. One group in particular shot two was 3” from shot one but after an extended cooling period shot three was touching shot one. Cold barrel shots will be a focal point going forward.