Triumph debut with BH209

[davewolf]

It was cold and rainy when Tony and I met, so we could shoot, and he could pick-up his Traditions Pursuit Pro--paid for sight unseen.

The target above is mine and I hope you can read what I scribbled on a wet target. The 5-shot group with one minor adjustment of the scope, was the first shots out of the new gun using Shockwaves and the longer Sabots and BH209.
The string is my adjustments to the scope and a bench that was right of the target. The pasted-hole was a hang-fire--had a tough time seating those longer black sabots!

The traditions tacked out 1-inch groups at 25 and a 2-inch group at 100-in Tony's hands, without a sandbag! He claims it was the best shooting rifle he ever owned! Of course if you recall I, with your help 'tweaked' it over the past month.

Tony left, happy and hooked on inlines! I refilled the vials,--talk about static cling!--and moved to 100-yards. The dang thing didn't touch the paper!!!!

If any of you recall, this was the same thing that happened to me with the Pursuit Pro!

Fortunately another shooter told me to shoot at a small stone just beyond 100-yards where a pea gravel backdrop was located. " I'll watch and tell you where you hit!" He said.

I think I'm convinced that I would shoot a rifle in a 100-yards first, because my first shot was 4-5-feet high! I cranked down the scope 48-clicks and he watched as the stone that measured 2-inches at most, flew far to the right on my second shot. Ran out of pre-measured powder and nearly out of bullets. So I headed home. This is two rifles with two different loads that did nearly the same exact thing! Any ideas?

A bunch of feet high at 100 and then just a little high at 25, after it is sighted in at 100.
Sorry for the long post.
Have a great day!
Dave

P.S. Target was hung sideways, because I know that my gunsmith's bore-sighting always put me high and to the left.

[davewolf]

I need to add the Omega scope preformed great, clarity on par with the Pro-Hunter. Since I just cleaned my new gun, clean-up time was on par with Pyrodex or any other powder subs.
The breech plug always takes me the longest, but I'm fussy when I clean.

The plus was there was no crud ring! And yes, I did clean between each shot. But do love the breech plug! Never had to reach for a breech plug remover.
Have a great day!
Dave

[younghunter86]

A little high at 25 can be be quite high at 100, but I'm not sure how it could be 4 ft high. If it's good to go now, I wouldn't really worry about it. Considering you hit that rock I would just keep right on shooting where it's at from 100 yards and see where it hits next time at the range.

One of the advantages of BH209 is that you don't have to swab. In fact I think you will probably get better accuracy if you don't swab at all.

I wonder where the hangfire came from? Was the load firmly seated? By firm I mean VERY firm. I usually give the rod a couple hard raps from my hand. What sabot was supplied with the shockwaves, I would guess HPH24? Did they seem to load fairly tight?

From the sounds of it, once the kinks are worked out you will have a great setup.

[Deleted]

Dave....
Your going to love your new Triumph and Blackhorn. I saw a picture of it in another post and it looks great. In fact it looks just like mine ;D You mentioned bringing it down 48 clicks which relates to 12" at 100yds. That's not bad for scope adjustment. There's a lot of proven combinations with Blackhorn. Lots of guys like a 250 gn bullet, and some like a 300gn. Mine shoots most everything I've put in it; plenty good enought to hunt with. I've settled on the 300gn .458 Remington HP/ Orange MMP sabot or a 300gn XTP/ Harvester Black Crushed sabot with 110gns Blackhorn for my hunting loads. The most critical accuracy issue with a Triumph is to keep the breechplug drilled out every 25-30 shots. Mine shoots better when I don't swab between shots.

Have fun and good luck....Zen

[davewolf]

I suspect the sabots were HPH 24, and I did swab the barrel between each shot. The hang fire came because I didn't have the bullet seated properly....I knew it after it took primers to ignite the charge. Did they fit tight? I felt like I had to jump up and down on the ramrod to get them seated properly!

Okay "keep the breechplug drilled out" how the heck do I do that without harming the plug?? As for not swabbing I don't think I could have seated the bullet with those Sabots--honest. I now think she's on at 100--after my last shot, so I'm not upset about that. Just need to find time to get some more shooting in.
Thanks again guys,
Have a great day!
Dave

[younghunter86]

The short black harvesters should be at your door by the end of the week. From the sounds of it, they might be just the ticket. With my Omega I use a 1/8" drill bit to clean out the flash channel from any carbon buildup. I don't know what size bit your plug will take, but I'm guess it's 1/8" as well. I just grip it with a pliars and turn it in by hand.

[davewolf]

Thanks again YH--I'm looking forward to trying them, and appreciate the offer. If I do like them, how do I know what size shockwave I have--just says 50-cal on the plastic box. I really like the bullet...but get a tad confused when purchasing bullets separate from Sabots. You might recall I used PB's in the past.

I really like this, but man there's a lot to learn when you make changes. I think it was Art that sent me to a website where they advertised 45 cal Sabots, kind of confused me, thought I would be looking at something saying .50 cal ?

On another note, I had to laugh at Tony today, he said when leaving--"you know you didn't do me any favors selling me this gun--I'm hooked and this is going to cost me a lot of money!"

He's had foot surgery and he and his wife had planned to travel this year and bought a camper--and then had to sell it before they got to use it. I really hated to part with the Pursuit Pro, but felt good that he has something to do this summer, as he heads in for his second foot surgery tomorrow.
Have a great day!
Dave

[mshm99]

Dave, You said you swabbed between shots. A dry patch has worked the best for us.

mshm

[davewolf]

I tried both a wet and a dry. The wet swab was followed by a dry swab. But the biggest problem we both found on two different rifles was seating those tight fitting Sabots!
Have a great day!
Dave

[mshm99]

Tight is good. I believe the consensus is 30# ramrod pressure to force it down. Use a bath scale, set the butt stock on the scale. The right sabot is one leg of a three legged stool.

mshm

[davewolf]

Thanks MSHM:
If a tight fit is better....I don't own a scale....then these are tight!
Never shot anything tighter.

Now, I know, I keep asking questions, but;
how do I know what size shockwave I have--just says 50-cal on the plastic box. I really like the bullet...but get a tad confused when purchasing bullets separate from Sabots. You might recall I used PB's in the past.

I really like this, but man there's a lot to learn when you make changes. I think it was Art that sent me to a website where they advertised 45 cal Sabots, kind of confused me, thought I would be looking at something saying .50 cal ?
Help once again, please.
Have a great day!
Dave

[younghunter86]

You can buy three different shockwaves/SST's:

250 and 300 grains which are .452. They are used with a sabot for .452 bullets in a 50 cal.

200 grain grain which are .40. They are used in both 45 cal and 50 cal guns. The sabots for the .45 cal will be green or light tan, the one for the 50 cal will be blue.

[davewolf]

Thanks;
That helps a lot. Plan to take the Triumph out again this Sunday afternoon and working through this maze has been tough at times.
Thanks for your help,
Appreciated as always.
Have a great day!
Dave