Thanks for the info!

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treepotato

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I'm new here and haven't posted much, but do want to say thanks for the good repository of info. It has helped get me going. Over the past month I bought my first muzzleloader (Optima v2) and tried a few loads.

Today's range trip was fruitful. I tried 300 gr 44 cal Hornady XTPs in Harvester green crush rib sabots with mild charges of BH20O9, swabbing and cleaning the breach plug between 3 shot groups. 60 gr (w) seemed to have a little better accuracy of the loads I tried (56, 58, 60, 62 gr).

Before heading home I did a fast 3 shot 100 yard group on a fresh target to keep some notes on. For a warm barrel, in a crosswind, with a dirty gun and breach plug, I'll take it. I'll keep trying different things out, but at least I already know a combo that should work ok on deer from this gun.

The 300 gr 44 cal XTPs in green crush ribs seems to fit tighter than 240 gr 45 cal XTPs in black crush ribs in my gun, and the groups seem smaller overall with the 300 gr combo.
dcd6744273166cfda1f0403306dcd693.jpg
 
treepotato said:
I'm new here and haven't posted much, but do want to say thanks for the good repository of info. It has helped get me going. Over the past month I bought my first muzzleloader (Optima v2) and tried a few loads.

Welcome to the forum - the are lot of very knowledgeable people on this forum and there is a ton of information in all the different topics.

Today's range trip was fruitful. I tried 300 gr 44 cal Hornady XTPs in Harvester green crush rib sabots with mild charges of BH20O9, swabbing and cleaning the breach plug between 3 shot groups. 60 gr (w) seemed to have a little better accuracy of the loads I tried (56, 58, 60, 62 gr).

I am assuming your loads... 56,58... etc are by weight, actually weighed on a scale and not volume measurements. It might be an advantage to some if your method of getting your load were told. I really do not weigh charges any longer but I try to let you know the I am 120 gr. V - hopefully indicating by volume.

Normally, most would suggest to you that you do not to swab between shots when shooting BH209. Normally your accuracy will get better after a few shots. A problem you may have with breech plug in your rifle so your thought about cleaning the BP every few shots might be an asset. Normally the factory breech plug that comes with a new CVA is not the best BP for shooting BH209. If you look on the CVA wed site you will see they list a BH compliant breech plug that you can purchase to shoot BH then you will not have to clean the BP as often. Another thing you should know when shooting the flash channel in the BP will tend to fill with a hard carbon and you will need 'drill' this carbon residue out. Western Powders also sells a BH compliant breech plug for CVA's.

Here is a picture that attempts to explain it.

bp-diagram.jpg


I just make what I call a 'bit on a stick' to get this chore done.

Bit-on-a-Stick.jpg


I think your plug will need a 3mm drill bit - the new BH plug will take a larger bit.

Before heading home I did a fast 3 shot 100 yard group on a fresh target to keep some notes on. For a warm barrel, in a crosswind, with a dirty gun and breach plug, I'll take it. I'll keep trying different things out, but at least I already know a combo that should work ok on deer from this gun.

The 300 gr 44 cal XTPs in green crush ribs seems to fit tighter than 240 gr 45 cal XTPs in black crush ribs in my gun, and the groups seem smaller overall with the 300 gr combo.
dcd6744273166cfda1f0403306dcd693.jpg

That is a really good target for your first trip out there... gotta warn you though shooting ML's is really infectious!
 
sabotloader said:
Welcome to the forum - the are lot of very knowledgeable people on this forum and there is a ton of information in all the different topics.

Thanks, it's good to be here.

sabotloader said:
I am assuming your loads... 56,58... etc are by weight, actually weighed on a scale and not volume measurements. It might be an advantage to some if your method of getting your load were told. I really do not weigh charges any longer but I try to let you know the I am 120 gr. V - hopefully indicating by volume.

Yes, my loads were measured by weight on a reloading scale. For initial load testing I figured I would be as precise and consistent as I can; then I can swap to volume measurement later for field use if I want by finding out what setting I need on a volume measure to throw the same charge by weight. Today I weighed charges in my truck because the wind was causing the scale to jump around. I would dump to within about 1.0 gr direct from the BH209 powder jug (with funnel cap) into the scale then "trickled" the rest from a small brass powder measure by tapping it so a few granules would drop at a time to reach the full charge.

sabotloader said:
Normally, most would suggest to you that you do not to swab between shots when shooting BH209. Normally your accuracy will get better after a few shots. A problem you may have with breech plug in your rifle so your thought about cleaning the BP every few shots might be an asset. Normally the factory breech plug that comes with a new CVA is not the best BP for shooting BH209. If you look on the CVA wed site you will see they list a BH compliant breech plug that you can purchase to shoot BH then you will not have to clean the BP as often. Another thing you should know when shooting the flash channel in the BP will tend to fill with a hard carbon and you will need 'drill' this carbon residue out. Western Powders also sells a BH compliant breech plug for CVA's.

Here is a picture that attempts to explain it.

bp-diagram.jpg


I just make what I call a 'bit on a stick' to get this chore done.

Bit-on-a-Stick.jpg


I think your plug will need a 3mm drill bit - the new BH plug will take a larger bit.

I did get the CVA plug for BH, and found a drill bit to fit it. Since this will be a hunting gun I'm trying to replicate the condition the gun will be in when I take it hunting. So I started each group test by starting with a clean barrel, and clean breech plug. Then I fired two primers to ensure a dry gun and foul it slightly. Then I poured the charge and seated the bullet and sabot. Then I'd shoot, weigh a new charge, shoot, and weigh the final charge. This forced me to go slow and gave time for the barrel to cool between shots.

The last 3 shots were measured into charge tubes, so time between those shots was only about 2 minutes, but I think otherwise it was at least 8-10 min between shots in a group, then longer when I cleaned between groups.

sabotloader said:
That is a really good target for your first trip out there... gotta warn you though shooting ML's is really infectious!

I'm finding that out! That's partly why I'm staying on the mild load side for now so I can get in lots of shooting without beating myself up with magnum load recoil. There's plenty of venison in the freezer, so this gun won't hunt until next year. As the 2019 season gets closer I may work up hotter loads, but for now I just want to get very familiar with the new gun. There's still a lot for me to learn, but so far the pieces are fitting together nicely.
 
Welcome to the Forum.

If the "Tubes" you're measuring powder in are those Blackhorn tubes, they are not near as accurate as a good Volumetric Powder measure. The Tubes have been seen to vary a good bit between them.
 
Re: RE: Re: Thanks for the info!

ShawnT said:
Welcome to the Forum.

If the "Tubes" you're measuring powder in are those Blackhorn tubes, they are not near as accurate as a good Volumetric Powder measure. The Tubes have been seen to vary a good bit between them.

Thanks, glad to be here. The tubes I have are the basic green ones; just using them to store charges pre-measured by weight on a scale.
 
Re: RE: Re: Thanks for the info!

treepotato said:
ShawnT said:
Welcome to the Forum.

If the "Tubes" you're measuring powder in are those Blackhorn tubes, they are not near as accurate as a good Volumetric Powder measure. The Tubes have been seen to vary a good bit between them.

Thanks, glad to be here. The tubes I have are the basic green ones; just using them to store charges pre-measured by weight on a scale.
:yeah: Gotcha.

By the way. Did you happen to try the .452 300gn in the black crush ribs too. We tried the 250 and 300's in my Nephews CVA Wolf and it loved that 45cal 300 grain in the crush rib.
 
Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: Thanks for the info!

ShawnT said:
treepotato said:
ShawnT said:
Welcome to the Forum.

If the "Tubes" you're measuring powder in are those Blackhorn tubes, they are not near as accurate as a good Volumetric Powder measure. The Tubes have been seen to vary a good bit between them.

Thanks, glad to be here. The tubes I have are the basic green ones; just using them to store charges pre-measured by weight on a scale.
:yeah: Gotcha.

By the way. Did you happen to try the .452 300gn in the black crush ribs too. We tried the 250 and 300's in my Nephews CVA Wolf and it loved that 45cal 300 grain in the crush rib.

Haven't tried the .452 300gn XTPs yet, but I'll probably get some to try out too. The .430 300's with green crush ribs seem to shoot well.

I've tried .452 240s with the black crush ribs and they shoot almost as well. But they load easily, possibly too loose, so I might try a slightly tighter sabot and see how they do.
 
If crush rib is too loose might give the Harvester Short black a try, or even the MMP-HPH24. The 452 #00 will also have a bit more bearing surface tohat might help some with the looseness.
 
Re: RE: Re: Thanks for the info!

ShawnT said:
If crush rib is too loose might give the Harvester Short black a try, or even the MMP-HPH24. The 452 #00 will also have a bit more bearing surface tohat might help some with the looseness.
Thanks... added to the shopping list.

So with now accumulating stack of various bullets and sabots, what's the best way to store and keep track of what is what?
 
I leave the Sabots in their bags and the bullets in their box. They all go into a duffel or tool box to carry to the range when I need to try different combos. You will see that most here buy everything in bulk and not the Pre-Packed combos. Makes it easier to find the right fit for the rifle. A lot of time just swapping a sabot for a different one with the same bullet results in a big change in accuracy.
 

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