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Post by epanzella on Aug 1, 2015 9:43:22 GMT -5
My McSavage has been grouping 3 inches @ 200 yds with 61.9 grs RL7 behind a Harv Blue sabot & 200 gr XTP (.40 cal). Temps had been high 70's/low 80's. Vel=2500+. Last time out the temp was 94. First 2 shots @ 200 were right on & 1 inch apart. 3rd shot MIA and 4th shot 18 inches off. I was wiping barrel exterior with alcohol between shots and it seemed to keep the barrel from getting too hot but I still had problems. Could it be the high ambient temp was softening the sabots on the bench? On the way to the range I had the AC on in my truck and the sabots inside. Maybe if I brought a cooler?
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Post by dannoboone on Aug 1, 2015 10:11:30 GMT -5
Anything and everything that warms that sabot up causes problems. The area of the barrel where the bullet rests after being seated would be pretty difficult to completely cool by exterior methods: under the scope, and the forearm is in the way on the bottom side. So the sabot sits there and warms/softens up more.
You need a cooling rod, or some other type of interior cooling method.
Ya also need to clean the plastic residue out of the bore from your last two shots, or it will continue shooting "wild".
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Post by ratsnakeboogy on Aug 1, 2015 14:25:57 GMT -5
If it's over 80* I don't even try sabots anymore unless I'm in a real jam to sight one in. I do not have a cooling by rod though.
Too much down time makes me think I'm spinning my wheels. Many here have mastered it, I don't get to shoot enough to justify all the extra equipment etc.
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Post by mike243 on Aug 4, 2015 5:23:58 GMT -5
shot some Saturday, a few touching at 50 but off at 100y. tried some 200g xtp's that I ran a file over and was mostly cking to see if they would blow the sabot.It didn't appear to but will shoot a few with the chrono to verify .
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Post by 10ga on Aug 4, 2015 8:12:24 GMT -5
epanzella, Way back I got cooling rods and use a cooler with blue ice packs for sabots and alcohol exterior too. rossman40 has great deals on cool rods if you don't do them yourself. Now mostly use the equipment when teaching a newby about shooting SML, usually they have been having immense problems with SML and don't know the heat factor is so important. The heat and sabot thing was my hurdle when new to SML too. Fixed the heat problem = all good. 10
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Post by 12ptdroptine on Aug 4, 2015 9:09:56 GMT -5
When I shot sabots in the summer heat I had to back the load off some . And still use the cooling rod. I have a rod cooler I mad out of PVC 4" that I put ice and water in to remove the heat from the rod after each use. Wipe it completely dry! But shooting sabots in warmer temps truly can be a challenge. Drop
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Post by kennacl55 on Aug 4, 2015 12:12:39 GMT -5
Not to hijack this thread but what works best to remove sabot material from barrel?
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Post by epanzella on Aug 4, 2015 12:21:10 GMT -5
I'll have to check out a cool rod. Ken55 you're not hijacking the thread as cleaning sabot material and blowing out sabots in the heat kinda go hand in hand. I don't know yet if I have plastic fouling as I tore the gun down after the last session. I never blued the barrel when I built the gun because I didn't know if I would have to do anything over again. I'm in the middle of rust blueing it right now. Should be done by tomorrow and then I'll clean the bore. I never had plastic fouling in my BP guns but this SML stuff in a different animal.
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Post by rangeball on Aug 4, 2015 13:08:01 GMT -5
Not to hijack this thread but what works best to remove sabot material from barrel? Hoppes and a wire brush should be fine.
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Post by 10ga on Aug 5, 2015 7:18:22 GMT -5
Not to hijack this thread but what works best to remove sabot material from barrel? There are materials/solutions dedicated to removing plastic from barrels. Look for what the competitive skeet/trap/hunter clays guys are using. That and a wire brush is what I use. Buddy is competitive clay target shooter and gives me stuff in a plain brown glass bottle, don't know what the name is but will find out. check back. 10 ga UPDATE: He said it is "CRC Marine carb and choke cleaner" that one of the shooters gets in volume for commercial garage use. they get gallon and divide up, usually put in old Hoppes bottles. He also said that there is some dedicated shotgun choke cleaners from the likes of: Carlsons - Shooters Choice - Zip2000 - Otis
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Post by driven2tri24 on Aug 5, 2015 8:11:35 GMT -5
I use MC-7.It specifically states that it removes shotgun wad plastic fouling and IME of shooting shotgun sabots in rifled barrels for years(they are the worst fouling thing on planet I think), this product works the best of all I've tried. I run wet patch down bore and let sit an hour. I then follow up with copper brush and many times have gotten long strands of plastic come out on that first stroke. I can say that there are many other solvents out there, but IMHO, this one works the best for this purpose.
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Post by Jon on Aug 5, 2015 8:46:30 GMT -5
I'm thinking about taking out a couple of 50cals. while waiting for my stock for my new build so I'm very interested in this thread!
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Post by hawgdaddy on Aug 5, 2015 21:52:32 GMT -5
What is MC-7 cleaner?
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Post by driven2tri24 on Aug 6, 2015 6:30:08 GMT -5
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Post by ET on Aug 6, 2015 7:01:50 GMT -5
Driven2tri24 is correct about plastic solvent remover. These chemicals are solvents to aid in the removal of plastic and are not dissolvent’s. Ed
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Post by bluedog on Aug 6, 2015 9:02:21 GMT -5
I use an engine degreaser called 'Engine Brite' to clean my skeet tubes. Comes in a spray can from the auto parts store, inexpensive. It works great on removing built up and caked in shotgun wad plastic, with minimal effort...spray in the breech end, let sit with muzzle down, use a tight patch and the plastic comes out in slivers.
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Post by hawgdaddy on Aug 6, 2015 9:52:44 GMT -5
I see they make the Engine Brite in a GEL and a Spray Foam (based on autozone site).....
Convenient for different applications. I can see using the gel for shot gun choke tubes where it can be spread across the entire interior choke tube surface. I would think the foam (like most products we shoot down the bore) would be better for barrels as I don't know how I could get the gel completely down the bore..... .
However, one may be able to use the gel with the breech plug out get good coverage in the load area ? As I would think this is where the majority of build up would reside....
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