I shoot the Nitrofire. I searched long and hard and to me the pros outweighed the cons. The thing I like best is the fact that you do not have to shoot the gun to unload it. The fire sticks are a little pricey but if you look hard at another site, you will find them a little more reasonably priced than what you can find at the big brick and mortar stores.
I have shot maybe 10 different bullets in an attempt to find out which shoots best. The Hornady Bore Driver (290 g) and the Hornady Bore Driver ELD-X (340 g) was by far the best performers. Here is a post that I put up last week on this forum. I did not disclose below what gun I was shooting - but now you know. After testing with a chronograph, I see that I had some plastic fouling of the barrel rifling when using sabots which adversely impacted velocity and grouping. The shooting below was with the 100 gram Firesticks.
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I spent some range time yesterday with a chronograph. Here are some of my observations from shooting sabots:
1) My first shot with a clean barrel was always a little high. My ML likes a slightly dirty barrel for best accuracy.
2) I used a bore snake twice after each shot and after 3 shots, the muzzle velocity would drop >260 ft/sec. I have always attributed bad groups to a warm/hot barrel but now I know it is the plastic fouling of the rifling that adversely impacts accuracy and velocity. After an aggressive barrel clean, muzzle velocity went back to normal.
Using a Hornady SST 300g, my velocities were: 1757, 1702, 1697, 1489 - clean barrel - 1846 and then 1474. Maybe a different sabot will help.
I've been trying to tie down the load that works best in my ML. I have found that the Hornady Bore Driver and the Hornady Bore Driver ELD-X was the most accurate with the most consistent muzzle velocities. Neither of these use a full sabot but have a unique plastic base. Here are the chronograph results:
Hornady Bord Driver (290 g) 1777, 1820, 1846, 1830 - this is the bullet with the best grouping at 100 yds. ~ 1.2" group
Hornady Bore Driver ELD-X (340 g). This is a big bullet with a boat-tail design. The bullet coefficient is 0.315. Muzzle velocities were: 1704, 1762, 1770, 1778, and 1805. ~2" group. Without the first shot and one flier, I had 3 bullets within 1"
The Hornady Bore Driver (290 g) was the top performer and would be my choice for shots under 125 yards. The ELD-X (340 g) was just a tad slower (and more recoil) but it actually shoots flatter with more energy. If you have shots greater than 125 yds, this would be my choice.
