Explain this...

[BlountArrow]

I went and sighted in my muzzleloader yesterday. I'm shooting 80grains of BH209 and a 385gr Hornady Great Plains Bullet. I have a 3 shot group at 50 yds that is a ragged hole in the bulls eye - no joke. Then, at 100 yds I'm about 3 inches high and 2 inches to the right on one shot and then the next shot is 3 inches high and 2 inches to the left and another shot was low right. Do you think the bullet is just not stabilizing and getting erratic somewhere past 50 yds. I never slugged my bore to determine the true bore diameter because I never found a kit to do so and ran out of time - so I took a chance and got the Hornady Great Plains Bullets. When I sighted my T/C Impact in at 50yds (first time I ever shot the gun) I thought I was in like "flint". Not the case apparently.

 

[FrontierGander]

fiddle with your powder charge, it sounds like its grouping, just not the right charge for the best group so far.

 

[lung-buster]

Are you swabbing the bore after each shot?

 

[FrontierGander]

i hope not, swabbing between shots with BH209 kills your accuracy.

 

[lung-buster]

i hope not, swabbing between shots with BH209 kills your accuracy.

So you have to have a dirty or fouled barrel to get accuracy? And when you break down your gun to clean it it looses its accuracy and have to foul it? I haven't shot the bh209 obviously, but was thinking about trying it later.

 

[Jcalder]

I'm not an expert. And I don't know why your gun is doing that. But one 3 shot group does not say much about the gun. 2 or three groups is more beneficial. I have a group from my 308 that a dime covers and cannot get anything under 2" with that load. Could be a fluke. May be something your doing. I'd back up and try again where you started

 

[UTGrad]

I would try bumping up in 5 grain increments till you find a sweet spot on the powder charge.

Are you sold on that bullet? Try some plain ole 250 grain Hornady SST EZ load sabots with 100 grains of powder and work around that.

 

[BlountArrow]

Not swabbing between shots and I don't believe it necessary in this case. I'm kind of stubborn about using an all lead bullet too. I shot more at 50yds than mentioned so I don't think the grouping is a fluke.

 

[SES]

I would try bumping up in 5 grain increments till you find a sweet spot on the powder charge.

Are you sold on that bullet? Try some plain ole 250 grain Hornady SST EZ load sabots with 100 grains of powder and work around that.

I was going o suggest the same thing. I personally have never shot with less than 90 grains. I use 120 in my CVA.

 

[BlountArrow]

So that's the consensus...a powder charge issue? It just puzzles me that it shoots as good as I could ever ask for at 50 yds and then at 100yds its going hay wire. I hardly had to move my scope at all (new Minox) either which was equally gratifying .

 

[tasaman]

It sounds to me like a bullet fitment issue. I would try a bullet/sabot combo. Your rifle most likely has the most common twist of 1 in 28". That twist was chosen because it stabilizes 250gr to 300gr projectiles in a sabot really well in the speed range that muzzle loaders are designed to shoot at 1600-2000 fps. The full bore 385gr slug is possibly just too heavy to be used in the fast twist barrel. The 385gr conicals usually shoot well in 1 in 48" twist barrels. I looked up what 80gr with a 350gr FPB was and your looking at only 1500 fps. If your hell bend on shooting the 385 I would definitely up the charge to 100 and even 110 to see what it does at 100 yards.

Personally I would go buy some Hornady SST or TC Shockwaves(same bullet) in 250 or 300 gr and use your BH209 but up that charge to around 100gr. You can go up 5 gr at a time to see if accuracy improves. Do not exceed 120gr. That will push your bullet to about 1800-1900 fps and you most likely will never look back. If you want more speed then 120 gr can get you up to 2100 fps but accuracy may not be there.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[tasaman]

For your reference

http://www.blackhorn209.com/wp-content/ ... erdata.pdf

 

[BlountArrow]

Thanks for the info and input. Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely I'll get to shoot the smoke pole again before the season starts so I'll just keep all my shots around the 50yd range or less. Which, for the most part, where I hunt that shouldn't be a problem. If there are deer around me past that I'm likely to hear them but not see them.

 

[muddyboots]

Too much powder.

 

[BlountArrow]

Too much powder.

Are you trying to confuse me?

 

[muddyboots]

Too much powder.

Are you trying to confuse me?

No just giving u my opinion. I guarantee u drop the powder back and your groups will tighten up at 100 yards. I seen it time and time again.

 

[tasaman]

Muddy may or may not be right. Shooting guns causes harmonics in the barrel. The part of that that matters to you is that more than one powder weight or measure will give great accuracy. The only thing I see wrong with his suggestion is Western Powders does not recommend less than 80gr. Not that it won't work but it's not a suggested measure and I don't know what Blackhorn will do at less than 80 gr as it is the lowest charge I've ever used.

 

[mike243]

most of those big bullets rely on the charge to swell the bullet base to engage the rifling, you might try up too 100g but if the barrel is short I have a gun that wouldn't shoot over 70g with a patched ball & be accurate. Id go up before I would down

 

[Grill-n-man]

I have had and seen the same problem before. This is what we ( and this is our opinion) have come up with. The great plains bullet, as well as others like it, were designed for a slower twist barrel such as in hawkins type muzzelloaders and most of the inlines have a 1 in 28 twist which is much faster than what the bullet is designed for which will cause it to over rotate and become unstable. I personally have no experience with BH209 but from what I can gather it is a hot powder. If you want to keep using that powder drop the charge and see what happens. You may have to end up getting a saboted bullet or going to Pyrodex RS to use the great plains. If you change the bullet there are several good post on here with bullet/powder loads to refer to.

 

[Wobblyshot1]

I'm thinking along the same line as Grill-n-man.