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Post by whitworth on Oct 18, 2019 13:14:20 GMT -5
Dick, I got the best accuracy from Power Pistol with CEB bullets. If you can get your mitts on some, it would be worth trying.
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Post by sixshot on Oct 18, 2019 22:39:52 GMT -5
OK, here we go! First off, thanks Max, I do have some Power Pistol & I'll give it a test drive, I know it's a bit similar to Longshot. Here's what happened today in a dandy snow storm. First I didn't set up the chronograph, the weather was just too bad but I did want to continue the test, I needed to know & share my findings with Longshot since there is very little if any data out there that I've found in the 44 magnum. I've already shown my results with 10,11,12 & 13 grs of Longshot & today I was going to shoot 14 grs & 15 grs plus my control load of the CEB 200 gr bullet ahead of 25 grs of H110 with a CCI magnum primer in Winchester brass. It had shot very well earlier. So, first up I load 5 rounds of 14 grs of Longshot in the BFR & snuggle the big gun down into my sand filled shooting bags with a big piece of leather on top, then I place the butt of the gun "gently" on a rear bag then grip the gun with both hands & gently squeeze the rear bag up or down with my pinky to center the crosshairs. I can clearly see each shot & we're doing great, the first 2 shots are almost in the same hole, no fliers, yippee! I run the other 3 & we have a tidy little group just a tick over an inch with 4 just over 3/4", I'm happy. It's turned out that powder density had some play in what was going on & the scope seems to be just fine. I moved the scope a bit right but not enough, not sure it tracks spot on but many scopes have that problem. Next up I fired the load with 15 grs of Longshot with the same 243 gr HP & get 2 bullets touching, shot #3 is the one in the bull, could have been my very cold fingers! The next two are also touching. Again I have 4 shots that are very good. Not sure of the velocity but from the recoil I can say it's well past what I get when I shoot the same bullet with 10 grs of Unique. Not sure how much velocity this plain base bullet can stand after being annealed from the powder coating. Not looking for a maximum velocity load with this bullet, looking for an accurate load with the HP, something that will work well on deer, antelope, etc & I think I've found it in spades. I'll tweak some more but I'm happy, I didn't even shoot my CEB control load, didn't need to after these 2 loads settled in & shot so well, especially the 14 gr load.   Dick |
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Post by bradshaw on Oct 19, 2019 4:13:28 GMT -5
Dick.... until I shot repeat groups with respective 14 and 15 grain loads, I take the cast 243 HP powder coat hunting. The flier with 15 grains may be you, or the charge, or a puff of breeze. The value of a chronograph at this point comes with comparing group to Extreme Spread, and still requires follow-up groups to verify or discount the flier. All of which you know.
Which is why, in addition tenth 5x5 shot group, I like to measure the best 4x4. Bill Ruger, Jr., measured groups from inside edge to outside edge of farthest shots, which is faster and just as accurate as center-to-center. We did this on the .357 Maximum and it saved time as we burned burned group after group. I measure to nearest tenth-inch, as subsequent groups jostle enough to nullify any meaning in measuring to one -hundreth inch, let alone one-thousandth inch.
Two huge advantages of a scope on the sixgun: 1) to sugar off load development and sort accuracy issues, and 2) to make shots afield which become much less certain with irons. Not that any yet-to-be-made shot is certain. No such thing as an easy shot, leastwise until it is made.
Good hunting,
David Bradshaw
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Post by sixshot on Oct 19, 2019 9:34:09 GMT -5
David, today, if the wind isn't whistling Dixie I hope to run some loads through the chronograph to get an idea of how fast we're running. Plus I'll get the load centered up on target, I plan on whacking something in the next week or so with this combo if my feet don't freeze to the ground.
I need to know that this load is consistent before my give myself a passing grade.
Dick
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Post by whiterabbit on Oct 19, 2019 22:51:33 GMT -5
I was going to post to say watch out for that scope. I had that one on my 460 S&W. it took a few shots, but it did give up the ghost on the gun. More specifically, the screw that held the zoom knob to the internals stripped completely and went flying under recoil.
so.... it's not the finest scope money can buy....
I'm not saying it's your issue, just saying that mine died on my BFR.
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Post by bradshaw on Oct 20, 2019 10:42:56 GMT -5
Dick.... my Bausch & Lomb 3200 2-6x32mm EER has held up very very well on a Freedom Arms M83 .44 Mag and elsewhere. The B&L logo was licensed by Bushnell, which made the scope within the Bushnell 3200 Elite series. I twice shot IHMSA quarter-size silhouettes with the B&L 3200 2-6x (@ 6x) on the M83 .44 Mag, once without a spotter, once with. Slipping a shot, each time, for a maddening 39x40. “Brother,” says spotter Neal McDonald, “you missed by a coat of paint.” The point is, any silhouette shooting requires precise sight adjustments. Tiny targets have no forgiveness. In silhouette you count clicks up & down, and they must repeat. The B&L 3200 serviced this necessity.
Carroll Pilant of Sierra Bullets (competitor in IHMSA silhouette from way back and other marksmanship disciplines) said the Bushnell 3200 2-6x held up well in his shooting. Pilant put target knobs on a Bushnell 2-6x, said the adjustment eventually loosened. My Leupolds with target turrets are in-house Leupold, and have held their own. For powerhouse rounds in the .454 Casull/.500 Linebaugh category, I would focus a) reputation, b) lightweight, and c) simplicity. Added weight on a cannon-kicker lives the life of a bull rider.
The B&L 2-6x hopped aboard my SBH Bisley Hunter .44, preliminary groups @ 100 yards. I expect it to behave. For a revolver of mean recoil non-electric optic I’d opt for a Leupold or Weaver, No doubt the BFR in .44 Mag shoots smooth. Via your last groups it appears your revolver tracks, the bullet tracks, and the scope tracks, with Dick still breathing and doing his job.
David Bradshaw
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Post by sixshot on Oct 20, 2019 20:55:10 GMT -5
David, this Bushnell 2X6 Trohpy seems to be holding up well, I just can't get any decent weather to chronograph. Wanted to set up today but lots of wind & rain, fingers freezing so I just left. I've got a 2X7 Burris also & a 2X8 Leupold but I'm convinced for now at least that the scope is fine. Forgot, I also have a spare 4X Leupold. Our weather has gotten real western, I'm wanting to have this checked out before my elk hunt starts in a few weeks, might need backup for my 480 with iron sights although I'll switch bullets in the 44.
Dick
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Post by bradshaw on Oct 21, 2019 6:56:01 GMT -5
Dick.... you’re last groups point to human factor, not scope. Some generally accurate bullets throw a flier, now and then. Cast more apt to exhibit this type of flaw. When a jacketed bullet shoots sloppy, the disease affects the lot of ‘em. Before drawing my next breath I can name three specific jacketed bullets----from separate major makers----which refused to fly straight. Two .45 bullets and one .44. Guns involved in isolating the dud projectiles included champion S&W and Ruger .44 Mags, a Freedom Arms .454, and a Les Baer 1911. The jacketed bullets would not group.
ZERO of a variable must remain consistent as magnification is adjusted. If POI shifts with X change, set on lowest X and leave it there.
IHMSA old timer Philip Braud and I talked scopes several years ago. Think I’ve pictured one or two of his pistols which wear a Leupold 2-8x32mm EER. Philp swears by the Leupold target adjustments, highly desirable, while not necessary on most handgun hunting scopes. For all you know, a puff of breeze which never reached your neck bent a bullet as it approached the target. Western shooting is a great way to learn how wind bends a bullet, especially sixgun bullets with the ballistic coefficient of a barn door.
It is best to zero in still air. Were I forced to zero in a wind, I’d zero windage @ 25 yards. Then, if possible, check wind drift at longer range. If 9 o’clock breeze drifts a .44 bullet 6-inches @ 100 yards, I want to know it’s the wind, not my zero.
David Bradshaw
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Post by sixshot on Oct 21, 2019 12:55:21 GMT -5
David, very true about the wind out here in the windy west! And our range is either bad or real bad. We always have some wind out of the south west & our range faces south, the worst direction to shoot at.
I noticed some of the HP cavities on one or two of my bullets weren't perfect but shot them anyway to use them up as I'm pretty sure this BFR is a fine shooter, better than the old bugger pulling the trigger! I'm still itching to run it over the chronograph & see what this load is clocking, I think from the recoil it's doing just fine compared to 10 grs of Unique, a load I've taken many deer with.
Only 4 days of deer season left & our weather has been terrible, might have to use this load on a Montana whitetail later, or maybe my elk with a solid cast bullet. Need electric heaters for my fingers!
Dick
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Post by sixshot on Oct 21, 2019 20:51:35 GMT -5
Today I was determined to run my loads over the clock one way or the other. I set it up & put some lead ingots inside to hold it down so the wind wouldn't send it flying & got things lined up so I could shoot at 25 yds, cold fingers or not. As usual for the last few days I've been shooting 14 grs of Longshot, a new to me powder in the 44 magnum with a plain jane (plain base) powder coated 243 gr penta HP. Primers were CCI LP & cases were the same R-P I've been using. My scope was set on 2X & I shot as smoothly as possible. I didn't expect this kind of accuracy from a plain base bullet, I think it's only possible from the powder coating.  Dick |
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Post by sixshot on Oct 21, 2019 20:52:53 GMT -5
I noticed I dated it wrong!
Dick
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Post by zeus on Oct 21, 2019 21:42:32 GMT -5
Nice!!!!!
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Post by 45MAN on Oct 22, 2019 6:35:05 GMT -5
DICK: WILL THOSE BULLETS DO OK @ 1,460fps?
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KRal
.375 Atomic
Posts: 1,029
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Post by KRal on Oct 22, 2019 8:34:54 GMT -5
Dick, I think you got it nailed down - good shooting! Now that you’ve got several rounds down the tube of the BFR, I’d like to hear your honest assessment of the BFR banana grip compared to Ruger Bisley, Plowhandle and FA83. Most shooters seem to like it’s shootability - it just hurts my eyes.
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Post by whitworth on Oct 22, 2019 8:49:04 GMT -5
Dick, I think you got it nailed down - good shooting! Now that you’ve got several rounds down the tube of the BFR, I’d like to hear your honest assessment of the BFR banana grip compared to Ruger Bisley, Plowhandle and FA83. Most shooters seem to like it’s shootability - it just hurts my eyes. It comes into its own under really heavy recoil. |
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