the Accura, some time and 209

[MrTom]

Everything came together this morning.

The gun was rough sighted for 100 yards using T7 pellets a while ago so the target got hung on the 100 yard frame today. The gun has the 209 plug too.

A few days ago I weighed out a number of 209 charges in 63 grain, 70 grain and 77 grain just to keep things organized at the range. I used one of the 63 grain charges to foul the barrel and that shot hit about an inch low of the center of the black circle, so I just went ahead and dug into the 77 grain loads. The Accura loaded the 300 grain .44 cal XTP's just fine. Snug but not a chore to seat and the sabot went down the pipe smoothly the whole way. I really didn't have to mess with much with the 77 grain loads and will leave it as is except the next trip I need to bring the poi over maybe a half inch to be dead center on the bull. The 5 shot groups were consistently 1.5". I can hunt with that since my shots are very seldom even 100 yards. Just for the sake of knowing I did three shot groups using the 63 grain and 70 grain loads using the same bullet/sabot and the only difference was the vertical string

What amazed me was recoil. This 77 grain weighed charge is equal to 110 grains by volume but recoil was very agreeable, if there is such a thing. Its not bad at all considering I was in only a t-shirt and not hunting clothes.

Next up will be the Impact and 209. This gun is a 100 yard gun too and shoots pretty tight with t7 pellets and the 300 grain .44 Xtps. I want to see where things sit with it and 209. I also want to re-plug my Optima pistol for 209 just to see what that gun can do. I know that the 250 grain .452 XTP flies nice with a couple Pyrodex pellets but I want to toy with the 240 grain XTP in .44 cal, maybe tighten things up group-wise with a new load. All I need is some time and a cooperative weatherman. Today's play time was great.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Sounds like a great time at the range. I sure do like my son's Accura. Is yours a thumbhole or gooseneck stock?

 

[MrTom]

Gooseneck. I'm not a fan of anything with holes in it for hunting. The fewer places I have for brush and twigs to hang up on the better.

 

[flint head]

I"m a big gooseneck fan on the Accura's... they feel so good aiming!

 

[MrTom]

I hit the gun club again this morning and took the Impact and the Optima pistol. Again I took pre-weighed charges for both, 63 grains of 209 for the pistol to push 240 grain XTP's and 77 grains of 209 to push the 300 grain, .44 cal XTPs.

With the Impact I set my first target at 50 yards and shot the fouling shot, then another and made one tiny adjustment which put me dead on. I made another adjustment and ran a target to 100 yards and the 3rd thru 9th shots pretty much sealed the deal for that gun. About a half inch high at 100 with 5 of those 7 shots touching.

The Optima was pretty much dialed last fall so I went back to the 50 yard paper and patched the two holes from the rifle. The first shot was a tad bit high so I did a couple clicks and the following 4 shots all were inside a 1 1/4" circle slightly high on the bull. Good enough.

The Impact seems to like the 209 and even with the factory, non-209, plug in the Optima it shot very, very nice. The 110 grain equivalent of weighed 209 in that lighter Impact is an attention getter with the 300 grain XTP but then I wasn't bulked up with hunting clothes either. I had been running the full 100 grains of Pyrodex behind a .45 cal, 250 grain XT for hunting last fall, but settled on a weighed charge of 63 grains or a 90 grain equivalent to power .44 cal, 240 grain XTPs today and will likely start shooting this load for deer this fall. This new load is accurate and comfortable to shoot. My pistol hunting shots are done inside 25 yards for the most part so I don't need a mega load and the 240's were grouped much better than 250 grainers did last fall.

Its a while before either gun will settle on a deer so I may tinker with charges but will leave the sabot choices alone. I need to get the Accura back out to finish fine tuning it as well but I think I will be burning the 209 in all three from now on. Cleaning was a snap using solvent and I had zero ignition issues. I'll probably get another 209 plug for the Optima pistol and then double check things after shooting a few rounds, but thus far any adjustments have been very small. .