Shooting out to 250 yards

[idahoron]

Last week I took my Hot Rod Hawken out to the range.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/HawkenwithRecoilpad1.jpg



I am shooting the RCBS 11mm bullet. They are .446 and I paper patch them and size them to .446.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Muzzleloaders/RCBS11mm405gr446.jpg


I posted about shooting this load out to 100 yards and it did very well.

http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=144826


After the last trip I wanted to shoot it with a little harder lead than last time and I also wanted to get a start on sighting it in out to 300 yards. Well last week the weather was perfect very little wind. The harder lead shot ok but not great. Not as well as the lead mix I used from the week before. I switched back to that lead. I got the rifle sighted in out to 250 yards. I ran out of distance at that improvised range. I am going to have to find a place to shoot out to 300 yards.

I was not shooting for groups just getting the distance down. Wind at that distance was a factor. Horizontal spread was up to 6" at 250 yards but vertical spread was right on, at the most 2". At one point I did get a 4" center to center group at 250 yards but I had to watch the wind and shoot between gusts. I call them gusts but they were less than 5 MPH at most.

After I got the initial sight in done I started to shoot my steel gong. I have shot a lot of different bullets in muzzleloaders. Most are conicals and most of them are paper patched. my paper patched 500 S&W bullets are so accurate it is scary. These 11mm bullets are on par or maybe a bit better than those bullets. So far they are impressing me.

After load development then sight in, I move on to dependability shooting. That is where I shoot the load more in a field situation with improvised rests and varied distances using the range finder to set the sights at distances from 50 yards to 300 yards. I did a little of that last week with my 6"x 12" gong. Like I said this bullet is an amazing bullet.

I sight my hunting ML's out to 300 yards. I never take a first shot beyond 150 yards. I sight them in that far just in case something bad happens and I need to put another on in an animal. I don't want to be held back by lack of preparation.
Also practicing at 250 to 300 yards makes those shots under 100 yards even easier.

Next time I want to confirm the sight in, and finish out to 300 yards. After that I will be shooting gongs and milk jugs. Ron

[Boerrancher]

Sounds like you are on the right track Ron. I have never considered anything other than PRBs in my MLs simply because where I hunt with them, a 100 yard shot is a long one that doesn't come along very often. I have a feeling though that if I were someplace that offered long shots I would be going down the same road as you. Thanks for the update as I find what you are doing interesting, even though I will probably never have the need to do it, it is nice to have some of the preliminary work up available if I ever decide to do so. Keep us posted as to how your next range trip goes.

Best wishes,

Joe

[tomme boy]

Tell me about PP the boolit. Does it come off once shot? And what is the reason behind using them?

[Fly]

OK Doc, what barrel & twist do you have on that guy???

Fly

[idahoron]

Tomme boy, Yes the paper comes off as it exits the barrel. It comes out like confetti. The reason I use paper patched bullets is for accuracy. The bullet is protected from the barrel, and the barrel is protected from the lead. You never have a lead build up to ruin accuracy. Paper Patching was used in the mid 1800's in 1000 yard matches. For my hunting the paper patch improves accuracy to the point that I even carry them during any weapon hunts.

Fly, The Barrel is a Green Mountain Stainless Steel 1-30 twist. Ron

[Mike Brooks]

That's pretty incredible. Keep an eye on that nipple, it will probably erode pretty quickly shooting that heavy bullet. You'll know when it's time to change it as accuracy will go to hell in a hurry. You might consider a platinum lined nipple, they are ideal for what you're doing.

[idahoron]

Mike I appreciate the heads up but I am not new to the game of shooting big conicals. Just new to this bullet. Ron

[Mike Brooks]

OK, no problemo.:drinks: Curious now, how much burn are you getting on a stock nipple....or are you already using platinum? I don't shoot conicals out of MLs myself but know alot of long range competitors that do. Looks like you have a pretty good grip on the game.

[idahoron]

I have shot 50 rounds now out of this nipple and it has yet to cock it's self to the first spot. I watch it for signs like the hammer cocking to the first position, and I monitor the groups and I visually inspect the nipple. I looked into a platinum nipple from one source and he passed away. I saw that they were selling for in the 50 to 60 dollar range and I just change them out. After load development and sight in I don't go through a lot of them keeping on top of the rifle.
After shooting in the summer if I draw a tag I start the season with a new nipple. I keep that nipple through the hunting season. So far that has worked well for me. Ron



http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Antelope%202010/9-25-10Lsmall.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Mybuck55.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Megadeer25.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/Deer%20hunting/2009buck08-A.jpg

[Good Cheer]

Went to the sit down range today with my southpaw .458" bore TC New Englander after installing a TC peep sight. The holes touch at 50 yards with the Lyman #457124 round nosed plain base, but Ron, I don't think my eyes are gonna work as good as yours any more with open sights, not even the peep.

[idahoron]

I don't think I would be able to do as well as I do with out that Lee Shavers inserts in the globe. My target is a 6" diameter circle in the center of a sheet of paper. I can put the front sight on that 6" circle. The original Lyman insert covers the whole sheet and then some. Ron

[Good Cheer]

These? That's interesting!
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=12372/Product/GLOBE-SIGHT-INSERTS

Have two old globe front sights still in the wrappers in the parts box. One has a bead on a post and the other uses inserts. Maybe I should break it out.
One thing I ran into today was reflective scintillations of light inside the peep itself. That threw me. There was no good way to shade the entrance to the peep. It may have only been apparent because of the shade cover over the shooting bench and light coming from the clouds.

[idahoron]

Those are the inserts I use. Ron

[Fly]

Well I have been using Ampco bronze in my Gibb's.I,m told they will out last the SS
nipples by a long shot.At $7 a nipple that's beats $60 for a platinum.

I,m told they won't last near as long as the platinums but you can change
them out after about 100 shots.Now that's what I'm told.I have not shot my Gibb's
enough to really comment.

Mike maybe you can comment on this.I have only shot about 25 shots threw the Gibb's
since I changed out to the Ampco bronze.

Fly

[Mike Brooks]

I'm no expert at these, I just know some guys who shoot this kind of stuff.I'm mostly a flint RB kind of guy. The only percussion/bullet stuff I do is with percussion sharps.

[Fly]

Well I'm no exspert ether buddy.Maybe I need to ask this question on the reserach press
long range board.That's all those guy's talk, but they know there shi#t on this stuff beleave
me on that.

Fly

Flt

[Good Cheer]

Does anyone make an insert that compresses at the bottom of the hole beneath the threaded nipple? Like a hole through a 0.015" or 0.02" perforated shim?
Was just pondering if a relatively inexpensive replaceable washer wouldn't do the same thing as an entire nipple. There are some extremely tough alloys on the market that would be much easier to punch and perforate than to line a nipple with with platinum.
Anybody have a cousin left at NASA?