...didn't turn out as well as I hoped. I don't know if it was the bullets, experimental breech plug, OR ME? I think it was me, the old eyes sure don't work like they used to with open sights. The bullets I wanted to be able to shoot, the 200 grain .358" FTX didn't seem to want to group, but the 190 gr Barnes ExpanderMZ sure derserves to be shot again with a scope.
I was beginning to wonder if there were any more of the 1:20 twist barrels out there, when a gentleman from FL contacted me, asking if I would be interested. This barrel is fluted just like the .50 cal MHC barrel I have. We made a deal and I received it last Thursday (April 30th), and shot 10 groups with BH209 out of it late Friday (May 1st). I had an extra camo Knight Disc Extreme stock to throw the barrel in and I used a Non-Full Plastic Jacket conversion w/Extreme bolt and an experimental breech plug.
I shot 9 groups at 50 yards, only 1 group (sad attempt) at 100 yards, my eyes just were not up to the task. I will post some pics with the loads, nothing really worth mentioning other than the 190 gr Barnes ExpanderMZ which deserves to be studied further. I also want to shoot some 200 gr Lehigh bullets on my next outing as soon as I figure out which scope I want to mount on the new barrel.
The bullets that were out when these fast twist (1:20) came out several years back were too short and were not very accurate. White has used the 1:20 twist in their .451 caliber for nearly 20 years without a problem, but they shoot 460-500 grain conicals out of them mostly, or 350 grain saboted bullets. And will they ever shoot too.
Some .40 caliber bullets and the .358" FTX. Bullets are as follows L-R: 155 gr XTP Mag, 180 gr XTP Mag, 190 gr Barnes ExpanderMZ, 200 gr SST, 200 gr .358" FTX, and the White Power Star 350 gr swadged bullet.
I didn't shoot any of the 350 gr White Power Star's, but will make it a point next time out. They shoot extremely well in my White .451 with Blackhorn 209 and the 209 conversion.
I was making sight adjustments between groups, as it was only eyeball bore sighted before shooting. This is some of the groups with different bullets.
After that set of groups I set out to shoot some 100 yard groups, between bad eyes, bad target for shooting open sights, and unproven loads the first group was pretty sad, so I moved back up to where I could see a little better. The 200 gr .358" FTX just didn't want to cluster up no matter what. Here are the results.
Much work is still needed here, first a scope needs to be added for my sake. The 190 gr Barnes need further testing, and now I have some 200 gr Lehighs to try as well. Those monolithic bullets really seem to shine on the range and hopefully in the field as well. I did shoot some out of my Sidekick this evening, see Sidekick/Lehigh Report up in the Sidekick/Huntsman Forum.
[EDIT] Just realized I forgot the mention the 200 gr SST in the bullet pic above. It's fixed now.
