Got everything set up and the sun was beating down but I figured what the heck you are only going to shoot a few sabots anyway then move to sabotless. So the shoot was on...
Started the morning shooting some .452-250 grain Gold Dots, just to check the POI of this new to me rifle. The first three shots on paper were better than I expected with the rifle. The bore has light pitting from top to bottom, which I think will not really bother accuracy, it probably bothers me more than it effects the rifle.
After shooting the rifle today I really think it shows some promise. My first two shots on paper were great at 50 yards and then I felt so good about the shoot I had to go and screw #3 up, and I am sure it is all my fault. The hammer spring is weak in this rifle and it will not set the primer off on the first pull ( got new hammer springs coming). That really bugs me when you do not know if it is going to go bang or not. Even swapped out the nipple and put a new one in - no help....
Anyway after insuring that I could get on paper at 50 and get some kind of group, I switched over to the Barnes .50-275 grain XPB's, with the same powder load and with out a wad or shot card - just the bare bullet sitting on top of the powder. While the elevation of the groups remained the same but the XPB's moved to the left and seemed to stay there through the rest of the paper shooting.
I also made a sight adjustment between group 2 and 3 to gain elevation
I am not real fond of the sight setup on this rifle, I would much prefer the Williams FP on the rear.
And on the front I would really like the this setup.
If the rifle continues to perform, I will probably switch over to them.
This is my paper target for today.
I was really happy with the sabotless shooting and see a lot of promise in that particular bullet.
My next outing - I plan on setting up the chrono and get some velocities of the sabotless with and without wads and comparing velocities with a sabotted bullet of the same weight.
I should also add that I did also shoot some 50 cal. x 275 grain Barnes Expanders that GM54-120 had sent me. The loaded equally well and busted the birds just fine... Either of these two bullets will work very well out of this bore. They might be just a little loose in a GM bore, but I believe knurling between two files will solve that problem.
This is another photo of todays activities...
