Shots fired .50 TC Renegade

[snapbang]

When I picked up my .50 Renegade the shop had some 385 Great Plains bullets on hand. So I bought a pack for "sighting in". I have my newly made skinner sight on it so was starting from scratch.

Load: 70g(v) 2F swiss, .50 great plains, RWS Primer #11.

1. First shot at 15 yards. Just low and a hair left ( almost hit orange) so I moved the target to 50 yards.
2. 50 yards is the hole low (about 5 inches) and left where it should be. Just increased my error at 15 yards 3 times. Remember I have no idea if this gun will even shoot this load accurately.
3. I made an adjustment to my home made skinner and shot 3 is about 2 12 inches high and a left 2 inches. So I thought I better check this load to see if I can sight in my skinner with it.
4. How disappointing it is to walk up to the target and not see a hole for number 4. Until you look at #3 and realize its in the same hole.
I know 50 yards is not 100 but I have a great start here.


Then it started raining so I packed it in the day. Needless to say Im a happy camper.




My new skinner. Its a little too beefy. I have to remove it to sight it in because I think it would rip the screws out if I tried. Still needs to be polished and dropped in dirty oil after heating to get a bluish color.

 

[kd8jgu]

are you trying different loads
My renegade likes to completely different loads depending on what I am shooting

 

[Matthew323]

If you decide to make another rear sight, try flipping it 180°. That's what Lowell Haarer does when he mounts one on one of the longrifles that he builds. Does the tang of the new rifle have the third factory hole drilled and tapped for a Lyman 57 receiver sight? If not, I would recommend drilling and tapping a third hole in the tang approximately midway between the original two holes.

That way when you make the U-bend in the sight's base, the top blade will extend forward about 1.5" before making the 90° bend that forms the lollipop. Then, you can drill a large enough hole in the top blade of the sight to allow access to the base with a screwdriver for mounting the sight to the tang.

An additional benefit will be that the lollipop, and the aperture in it, will be approximately 1.5" closer to your eye. Which should make it easier to acquire a sight picture, easier to see through, and hopefully, more accurate.

The only drawback I can see is that because of the curvature of the wrist & tang, the portion of the sight containing the lollipop will have to be longer in order to line up with the factory front sight. Either that, or install a much lower front sight.

If you make the above changes the aperture will be positioned, in relationship to your eye, approximately where a Lyman 57 receiver sight would be.

 

[snapbang]

I will try various versions of the skinner. Ill try the suggestions you say. Closer to the eye is better.

As for different loads. I have bulletss from mr hollowpoint I will try after I finish my shooting to 100 yards.

 

[deermanok]

Looking good. I like those Great Plains bullets but I never had any luck with them. For a conical bullet, I always had the best consistency with the TC maxi hunters in 275 grains.

 

[snapbang]

I forgot to add that the lube on the bullets was pretty well gone so I freshened it with a little NASA lube.

The bullet is a hollow base. Should I use a wad or cornmeal to seat the bullet on??

 

[deermanok]

Those hollow bases are supposed to expand to engage the rifling. So, I think that no you shouldn't need anything else.

 

[snapbang]

They shot accurate without the wad or cornmeal so I have to agree. But didn't know if maybe I just got lucky. I do have to say they need a little "persuasion" to get them started down the barrel. Not going to do it with my thumb. Takes a pretty good "rap" on the short starter to get it going.

 

[eekjellander]

They shot accurate without the wad or cornmeal so I have to agree. But didn't know if maybe I just got lucky. I do have to say they need a little "persuasion" to get them started down the barrel. Not going to do it with my thumb. Takes a pretty good "rap" on the short starter to get it going.

No wad needed/wanted with a hollow base as they tend to go along for the ride along with accuracy/Ed

 

[eekjellander]

Stick with a wad under the Plains ,mine shoot to 200 Scoped on paper (lyman Plains )50/54 cal/OE 2F/3F over 75-82 grains . The 50 is a 1-48 twist/54 is 1-56/Ed

 

[snapbang]

Thanks for the bullets Ed. I only asked for a few but you are very generous. Got your TC 54s yet. Got to be getting close.

 

[eekjellander]

Thanks for the bullets Ed. I only asked for a few but you are very generous. Got your TC 54s yet. Got to be getting close.

Nope but they promised they would get them sent this week ,not like I don"t have enough lead going down range .
3 days a week now with weather permitting ,nice having a private 800 yd range /Ed

 

[snapbang]

sweet.

 

[idahoron]

I used to shoot the Hornady 410 gr 50 cal back about 15 years ago. The 410 was a solid flat nose. It appeared to be a great ML bullet. It was really accurate. I shot one 3 shot group that measured .404, but after some close calls almost losing a few deer I changed my mind.
The bullets I am going to post almost lost me a couple deer. In my opinion they over expand and reduce penetration. The 385 shot very well too but because of the hollow point I could not recommend this bullet.

 

[eekjellander]

I used to shoot the Hornady 410 gr 50 cal back about 15 years ago. The 410 was a solid flat nose. It appeared to be a great ML bullet. It was really accurate. I shot one 3 shot group that measured .404, but after some close calls almost losing a few deer I changed my mind.
The bullets I am going to post almost lost me a couple deer. In my opinion they over expand and reduce penetration. The 385 shot very well too but because of the hollow point I could not recommend this bullet.

In regards to the Hornady I assume you were using pure ,what if you went to a harder BHN 40-1/30-1 ? Would that not increase penetration while taking advantage of that performance ?

 

[idahoron]

In regards to the Hornady I assume you were using pure ,what if you went to a harder BHN 40-1/30-1 ? Would that not increase penetration while taking advantage of that performance ?

The Hornady is a factory bullet. No way to increase the hardness of a factory bullet.
When I started to use the Lee 500 S&W paper patched I did a ton of tests on hardness. I tested hardness in accuracy and on game. I settled on between 6 and 7 BHN. That is .038 to .041 on my cabine tree tester.
That hardness excelled as a big game bullet. They punch through everything smaller than elk. Last year I was able to take a bull elk at 248 yards with that bullet. I held for a high shoulder shot and broke his shoulder and crushed the spine. The bullet went from 458 grains to 454. Expansion and weight retention are off the chart.
So to answer the question yes. Hardening bullets can help penetration. But I also think that bullet shape has a great deal imput on effectiveness on game.
The Hornady bullets in my opinion can not be trusted as a game bullet.

 

[eekjellander]

The Hornady is a factory bullet. No way to increase the hardness of a factory bullet.
When I started to use the Lee 500 S&W paper patched I did a ton of tests on hardness. I tested hardness in accuracy and on game. I settled on between 6 and 7 BHN. That is .038 to .041 on my cabine tree tester.
That hardness excelled as a big game bullet. They punch through everything smaller than elk. Last year I was able to take a bull elk at 248 yards with that bullet. I held for a high shoulder shot and broke his shoulder and crushed the spine. The bullet went from 458 grains to 454. Expansion and weight retention are off the chart.
So to answer the question yes. Hardening bullets can help penetration. But I also think that bullet shape has a great deal imput on effectiveness on game.
The Hornady bullets in my opinion can not be trusted as a game bullet.

I should have known but didn"t as I assumed you were casting . Sounds like you got it covered ,I still use that Lee 500 when using the 50 although I am using the Lyman Plains more for hunting the last couple seasons /Ed

 

[Russ4iam]

Thanks for that info Ron. Just the numbers I was looking for. That saved me a lot of time and experimenting!

 

[Bad Karma]

The Hornady is a factory bullet. No way to increase the hardness of a factory bullet.
When I started to use the Lee 500 S&W paper patched I did a ton of tests on hardness. I tested hardness in accuracy and on game. I settled on between 6 and 7 BHN. That is .038 to .041 on my cabine tree tester.
That hardness excelled as a big game bullet. They punch through everything smaller than elk. Last year I was able to take a bull elk at 248 yards with that bullet. I held for a high shoulder shot and broke his shoulder and crushed the spine. The bullet went from 458 grains to 454. Expansion and weight retention are off the chart.
So to answer the question yes. Hardening bullets can help penetration. But I also think that bullet shape has a great deal imput on effectiveness on game.
The Hornady bullets in my opinion can not be trusted as a game bullet.

The flat nosed bullets are excellent game bullets and don’t really even require expansion to do the job. I used to do much of my elk and deer hunting with either a Bisley Blackhawk or Bisley Vaquero, both in .45 Colt. A wide flat nosed 325 grain bullet driven 12-1300 fps is a deadly killer for any thin skinned North American game animal. I also have a small stash of .22 CCI ammunition loaded with the excellent flat nosed SGB (small game bullet) and the performance of that bullet is much better than any hollow point I have personally used.

 

[idahoron]

I should have known but didn"t as I assumed you were casting . Sounds like you got it covered ,I still use that Lee 500 when using the 50 although I am using the Lyman Plains more for hunting the last couple seasons /Ed

I do cast my Lee bullets. I also harden the bullets to the hardness specified.