Well, it finally happened...I managed to get out an shoot some .45/90 loads, for the first time this spring.
The charge was 80 grains of GOEX Certridge under 560 grain PJ Creedmoor bullets.
This load has shown promise in the past, but something (like a Chrony glitch) always happened that made me think it needed more testing before deciding to trust it as a 'good load'.
The object, this time, was to compare wiping between shots with the blow tube, and see what the target and the Chrony had to say about the two fouling control measures.
The Chrony basically said, "No difference". Extreme Spread was 15 with the wiping, and 20 with the tube...and the SD's were 7.8 and 8.4, respectively.
The targets were strange, in a way.
Five rounds 'wiped' left a vertical group .5" wide by 2.25" high. Five rounds BT'd made an identical group, but it was turned 90 degrees to the left...making it a horizontal group. The two are so similar, the holes almost match up when the targets are laid one over the other.
So, with everything being so 'similar', I began to wonder what made one horizontal and the other vertical. I decided it must have been what I was wearing.
For the tall group, I had on a jacket and nothing else. (Well, not NOTHING else, but you know what I mean.) I decided to shoot 'naked' to see if my mercury recoil suppressor was efficient enough to make that possible.
Since my jacket was slick nylon and the buttplate is smooth steel, I think slippage caused the vertical stringing...since there was no velocity variation to cause it.
For the wide group, I had donned my PAST pad. It absolutely prevents discomfort, but it's a hard substance that doesn't 'cradle' the butt like meat does.
I also noticed, (as in the past) that the barrel migrates to the right (on the sandbag) as successive shots are fired. I think this is an indication that the gun is not recoiling straight back, and makes me think the butt is slipping sideways on the hard shoulder pad. That would explain horizontal groups, which I have seen fairly regularly in earlier sessions.
Now, I'm not actually looking for recommendations for other pads - although you can feel free to voice your preferences.
Instead, what I'd like to know is if anybody has found a good way to 'soften up' the material in the PAST devices...'cuz mine could certainly stand it.
CM