Post by IndianaHunter on Oct 26, 2006 10:58:04 GMT -5
Well I made it out yesterday to do a bit of shooting in preparation for my upcoming season. My goal has been to get my NULA and New SMI shooting for my hunt with Daniel in Crossville, TN opening weekend of their muzzleloader season. While I had my ULA shooting well with the 200 XPB with N-110, I really wanted to try a slower powder with the 1:32 twist barrel. One of the SMI recommended loads for 250-grain .451 bullets is 55 grains of 4198 and black harvester sabots. So, with this in mind I went to work.
My ULA Model 20 gun#33 50 cal. Muzzleloader is known to some on Doug's Board and Modern Muzzleloader as the “Barbie Model” for its soft pink hue. Actually, the finish is beige sand as the previous owner was going to use it out west. I’m sure after the season is over I’ll send it back and go with a new camo finish Anyway, here it is.
I knew the setup was on paper after my shooting earlier with the 200 XPB’s so I setup a target at 75 yards just to see how well it would group with the new load. My first load was 54 grains of H-4198 and it gave me a four shot vertical string. Two over two moving up each shot.
I checked to see if my rings were tight and as I suspected the front ring screws had loosened up a bit so I tightened them back to spec, and checked all the other screws for good measure and went back to work. I was running out of time as the club starts shooting trap at 5:00pm so I went to the 100 yard target to see how “Barbie” was going to fair here.
Well I broke every rule in good bench work by upping the load one grain to 55 grains, playing with the scope, and moving the target 25 yards… Changing three variables at once is just not a recommended practice. 55 grains of H-4198 on Ron’s sheet puts the 250-grain bullet at 2200 fps, slower than I wanted but still an acceptable load with a 250-grain Shockwave.
Shot #1 was gratefully on paper at 3” high and 1” right. Well I got away with breaking all the rules that time so I did it again by moving the scope in windage and elevation at the same time. I over corrected on shot two and put it a bit lower than I wanted. The final five shots settled in nicely at 1 ½” high at a laser verified 107 yards…
My ULA Model 20 gun#33 50 cal. Muzzleloader is known to some on Doug's Board and Modern Muzzleloader as the “Barbie Model” for its soft pink hue. Actually, the finish is beige sand as the previous owner was going to use it out west. I’m sure after the season is over I’ll send it back and go with a new camo finish Anyway, here it is.
I knew the setup was on paper after my shooting earlier with the 200 XPB’s so I setup a target at 75 yards just to see how well it would group with the new load. My first load was 54 grains of H-4198 and it gave me a four shot vertical string. Two over two moving up each shot.
I checked to see if my rings were tight and as I suspected the front ring screws had loosened up a bit so I tightened them back to spec, and checked all the other screws for good measure and went back to work. I was running out of time as the club starts shooting trap at 5:00pm so I went to the 100 yard target to see how “Barbie” was going to fair here.
Well I broke every rule in good bench work by upping the load one grain to 55 grains, playing with the scope, and moving the target 25 yards… Changing three variables at once is just not a recommended practice. 55 grains of H-4198 on Ron’s sheet puts the 250-grain bullet at 2200 fps, slower than I wanted but still an acceptable load with a 250-grain Shockwave.
Shot #1 was gratefully on paper at 3” high and 1” right. Well I got away with breaking all the rules that time so I did it again by moving the scope in windage and elevation at the same time. I over corrected on shot two and put it a bit lower than I wanted. The final five shots settled in nicely at 1 ½” high at a laser verified 107 yards…
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