first time out with savage/mcgowen
Sept 16, 2014 14:28:09 GMT -5
Post by acmetim on Sept 16, 2014 14:28:09 GMT -5
i owned one of the first savage ml's blued. sold it for a stainless. regretted it as the stainless one would not group as tightly, so swapped a mcgowen barrel from luke onto the action. 6 hours at the range yesterday and finally have something to contribute here- however mundane it might be:
i am shooting sabotless. .45 cal mcgowen 1 in 22 twist.
i tried hornady xtp's in 250 and 300 gr
and parker b.e.'s in 275 and 300 gr
powder charges ranged from 66gr to 69 gr h4198
i got to use, for the first time the spin jag bullet seater and rod/starter, which was great, but i quickly learned that i could not push a patch with it. too tight(great for seating)
so i shot without cleaning. the xtps were resized with swing-lock's resize die. i sized them so they were a good fit with a clean barrel...later they got very hard to load because i couldn't clean the bore at all.
the parkers shot well, but out of every 5 or so there was one that was undersized for the mcgowen bore. while the others were seating with some pressure these would slip into the bore with one finger all the way till the tip was under the crown. these were always flyers. i called parker this morning and he said there must have been some custom sized ones that slipped in there and recommended knurling(which i will try) he also said he would replace any that were undersized..i guess ill pull out a caliper and test em all...
group sizes with the parkers were mostly in the 2" range
the xtp's shined. they were sized to .452(parkers are .451) the 300 grains doing the best. best group was one hole.
the biggest problem i had was the bullets getting harder to seat. towards the end they were a beast and the gun was kicking like a mule. had the primers start to deform on the hotter loads with heavier bullets.
how often do you guys spit patch the bore as you shoot? or should i just size the bullets slightly smaller?
its good enough to hunt- 1.5" group of 3 at 150 yds with 300 gr xtp over 66 gr h4198- but i have more work to do to get all the accuracy out of this girl
also notable was the gas exiting thru the ports in the receiver once the primers started to deform. very noticeable. lil scary, but i guess thats what its supposed to do under pressure.
so after this i am finally back to the accuracy i was getting from my first savage i stupidly sold. can't wait to take it further
i am shooting sabotless. .45 cal mcgowen 1 in 22 twist.
i tried hornady xtp's in 250 and 300 gr
and parker b.e.'s in 275 and 300 gr
powder charges ranged from 66gr to 69 gr h4198
i got to use, for the first time the spin jag bullet seater and rod/starter, which was great, but i quickly learned that i could not push a patch with it. too tight(great for seating)
so i shot without cleaning. the xtps were resized with swing-lock's resize die. i sized them so they were a good fit with a clean barrel...later they got very hard to load because i couldn't clean the bore at all.
the parkers shot well, but out of every 5 or so there was one that was undersized for the mcgowen bore. while the others were seating with some pressure these would slip into the bore with one finger all the way till the tip was under the crown. these were always flyers. i called parker this morning and he said there must have been some custom sized ones that slipped in there and recommended knurling(which i will try) he also said he would replace any that were undersized..i guess ill pull out a caliper and test em all...
group sizes with the parkers were mostly in the 2" range
the xtp's shined. they were sized to .452(parkers are .451) the 300 grains doing the best. best group was one hole.
the biggest problem i had was the bullets getting harder to seat. towards the end they were a beast and the gun was kicking like a mule. had the primers start to deform on the hotter loads with heavier bullets.
how often do you guys spit patch the bore as you shoot? or should i just size the bullets slightly smaller?
its good enough to hunt- 1.5" group of 3 at 150 yds with 300 gr xtp over 66 gr h4198- but i have more work to do to get all the accuracy out of this girl
also notable was the gas exiting thru the ports in the receiver once the primers started to deform. very noticeable. lil scary, but i guess thats what its supposed to do under pressure.
so after this i am finally back to the accuracy i was getting from my first savage i stupidly sold. can't wait to take it further