idahoron
03-11-2012, 11:47 AM
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
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