Range Report-50 cal Thumbhole
May 15, 2010 21:07:23 GMT -5
Post by boarhog on May 15, 2010 21:07:23 GMT -5
The weather man called for rain and scattered thunder storms, so George H and I decided to try to shoot some before it started. I wanted to try some new Harvester Orange Cr Rib sabots Deadon kindly sent, and I also planned to chronograph his good load of 44 gr IMR-4759 under a 250 gr bullet. I am out of 250 gr Hornady XTPs, so I used 250 gr Hornady FTX. The Orange CR sabot was very tight in the loose Thumbhole barrel, so I was optimistic that it would provide good accuracy.
My first shot with Deadon's load printed on the right edge of the purple target, and read 2185 fps on my Oehler 35-P. I said, "Allright!! It's on paper, so I can just worry about shooting a good group!" Unfortunately, the next two shots shredded the sabots, and didn't cut anything! I then tried the same load with a 225 gr Hornady FTX. Another shredded sabot! There has been some speculation, on this board, that a blown sabot leaves melted plastic fouling behind, so I scrubbed the barrel with a bronze brush, then cleaned with Remington 10-X solvent. The only reduced load I had with me were some vials of 40 gr A-5744, that I had planned to try with some hard cast lead bullets. No luck! Two more shredded sabots! So much for the Harvester Orange Crush Ribs! Out of six attempts, five sabots failed, and I don’t understand why. I plan to call Harvester this week, to ask them if these Orange sabots are a new plastic formulation?
Target #2- The load was 225 gr Hornady FTX lightly knurled, 42 gr N-110, MMP-SB Sabot, and CCI-209M primer. MV-2281, and 3 went into about 1.25”
Target #3- 250 gr Hornady FTX lightly knurled, 44 gr IMR-4759, MMP-SB sabot, and CCI-209M primer. MV-2150, and 3 went into about 1.50”
By this time, it really started raining hard, so we called it a day. I was pleased with the 3 shot groups I am getting with the Thumbhole now, especially after the not so good before. Now that I know what sabot to use, I can play with a few loads. Hopefully, the speed can be boosted a bit and still get good accuracy, but I can hunt with the loads I shot today. I also need to work with a few .458 bullets. This sho is fun!
My first shot with Deadon's load printed on the right edge of the purple target, and read 2185 fps on my Oehler 35-P. I said, "Allright!! It's on paper, so I can just worry about shooting a good group!" Unfortunately, the next two shots shredded the sabots, and didn't cut anything! I then tried the same load with a 225 gr Hornady FTX. Another shredded sabot! There has been some speculation, on this board, that a blown sabot leaves melted plastic fouling behind, so I scrubbed the barrel with a bronze brush, then cleaned with Remington 10-X solvent. The only reduced load I had with me were some vials of 40 gr A-5744, that I had planned to try with some hard cast lead bullets. No luck! Two more shredded sabots! So much for the Harvester Orange Crush Ribs! Out of six attempts, five sabots failed, and I don’t understand why. I plan to call Harvester this week, to ask them if these Orange sabots are a new plastic formulation?
Target #2- The load was 225 gr Hornady FTX lightly knurled, 42 gr N-110, MMP-SB Sabot, and CCI-209M primer. MV-2281, and 3 went into about 1.25”
Target #3- 250 gr Hornady FTX lightly knurled, 44 gr IMR-4759, MMP-SB sabot, and CCI-209M primer. MV-2150, and 3 went into about 1.50”
By this time, it really started raining hard, so we called it a day. I was pleased with the 3 shot groups I am getting with the Thumbhole now, especially after the not so good before. Now that I know what sabot to use, I can play with a few loads. Hopefully, the speed can be boosted a bit and still get good accuracy, but I can hunt with the loads I shot today. I also need to work with a few .458 bullets. This sho is fun!
PS, nice Pics
Those other .50 cal groups are looking pretty good!