Testing out the knight 50

[Potato boy]

This winter I picked up my first inline, a Knight bighorn. I know little about plastic sabot and bullets. I sure learned a lot today, powders today were, 777, Swiss 1.5 f and pyrodex RS. Projectiles were, Hornady 452 XTP, Harvester 458 sabot with 458 Hornady FTX and Precision Rifles QT 235. All shot well with various powder charges, largest groups were around 2” at 100 yards, on the best side groups were hovering around an inch.

The clear winner was Pyrodex RS, 100 grains volume, Harvester 458/ FTX - 1.1 moa average fo 3, 3 shot groups
Second place went to the QT/235 ahead of 90 grains of 777 -1.3 moa average for 3, 3 shot groups
Both were close to 1 moa consistently, or slightly better.
Best average for the XTP was also 90 grains of 777, its average for 3, 3 shot groups was 1.8 moa

1.5 Swiss would not group at all with these projectiles. It is the #1 powder in my Sharps.

What I found interesting was the recovered slugs

XTP - zero recovered, disintegrated
QT - Bullets recovered had expanded, large expantion
FTX- Bullets recovered were intact although mangeled

if I use this rifle for elk or moose, the FTX will get the nod. All bullets preformed well, a gravel bank is a torture test for any projectile. I’ve no doubt any would take deer cleanly. By the way Idaho Louis, you were right, GOJO is awesome for cleaning muzzleloaders as is Vinegar Windex! Thanks for the tip!

Next time, I will be testing my Hawken Hunter, side lock

 

[Potato boy]

Here are the recovered slugs

 

[LarryBud]

Thanks for sharing the results. Question:

Was the .458 FTX the 325 with the soft tip? If so, did you recover any of those? I was told by Hornady that they would need 1600 + FPS to expand. If true, they may not be the best choice for a hunting bullet. They sure shoot nice though, thats a fact.

 

[dwm]

I have taken quite a few deer with that ftx 325 in a 52 knight, never lost one. don’t really know my fps but it was with 110 grains of 777.most of the shots were around 100 yards, i shot one a good 9 point at 155 and he fell in his tracks, hope that helps

 

[Potato boy]

Thanks for sharing the results. Question:

Was the .458 FTX the 325 with the soft tip? If so, did you recover any of those? I was told by Hornady that they would need 1600 + FPS to expand. If true, they may not be the best choice for a hunting bullet. They sure shoot nice though, thats a fact.

The pic on the right is the FTX 325 flex tip, they definitely expanded. The gravel bank is about 125 yards from my shooting position

They almost over expanded. I will crony those loads next time I’m out. I’m confident that they would expand to at least 150, probably further