My new gun has arrived

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

Cleaned her up and degreased it with gun scrubber, 60 strokes with JB Bore paste down the bore, internals were lightly coated with Barricade, head space was adjusted .013" outward for a slight crush fit on the primer to prevent primer blow by. One hell of a gun so far! An easy 4 shots and shes ready to go. I will be using this Optima with 100gr Blackhorn209, 250gr Aerolite Powerbelt on my New Mexico mule deer hunt this September.

First shot at 20 yards.


Moved out to 50 yards, took 2 shots which touched, decided rather than take a 3rd shot, to just adjust the scope 12 clicks to the left and she was center!





Took a total of 8 shots with it today and this is what it looked like afterward.



#8 primer


I really do love this thumbhole already. It feels very solid when i kneel down and practice off hand aiming.


Tomorrow will be a 100 yard day and then maybe even 150 yards.

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

First 3 shots 'lower' were my first out at 100 yards with 100gr BH209 - 250gr Aerolite Powerbelt. Not bad, not great either but not bad for the guns first trip to 100 yards. Shot clipping the bulls eye was me adjusting the scope.


This is when the trouble began due to the intense heat we were having today. Same load.


Gun cooled down for a good 20 minutes while i was at the house. First 3 shots were very decent with a new charge of 90 grains blackhorn209 just to see if less powder was better in the rifle. Ran back to the house for 2 more 90gr charges and fired them 10 minutes in between shots. STUMPED! They danced over the right.


Making some adjustments to my lead sled, i extended it forward one notch so the pressure on the forearm was directly over the forearm screw. Back to 100 grains Blackhorn209. STILL OVER TO THE RIGHT!


After those 3 shots i really started to question my ability to mounting a scope. I figured maybe i didnt torque it down correctly and now its starting to dance around under recoil. WHO KNOWS!

When i first got the rifle i made a promise, I wont clean that factory QRBP until she hang fires! I even made a list of the # of shots ive taken so i could report how many it took before she went fizzle clump.

I broke that promise as i was really stumped due to the shots moving off to the right for some reason. I went and got my #32 drill bit out of my range box and remove the QRBP and cleaned it.

Total of 23 shots with Blackhorn209 and CCI 209 Magnum primers.


I did allow the barrel 6 to 8 minutes to cool down between shots, THANKFULLY since the temp' dropped into the mid 80's in the evening.

3 shots @ 100 yards, cleaned the QRBP between each shot, allowed the barrel to cool down.



Complete target from today,


15 recovered primers from today that were shot in the fouled up QRBP. The other 3 primers were from when i started cleaning the QRBP between shots.


With proper head space adjustment, this is what she looked like after a FULL day of shooting.



I've had this Optima for a SINGLE DAY and already she's ready for New Mexico Muleys!

[nomosendero]

Very impressive!! Have you detailed the headspace procedure somewhere on GBO?

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

Very impressive!! Have you detailed the headspace procedure somewhere on GBO?

Oh i may have but it most likely just got lost down the row of new topics.

Heres a detailed version though,
http://gandersmuzzleloadingblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/cva-muzzle-loaders-keepem-clean.html

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

So late this evening i decided to try  a couple new loads. Colorado "Someone off of my forum" had great success with his new wolf and 90gr BH209 with the 250gr Aerolites. I figured i'd try it @ 100 yards as well.

Upper 3 shots were my first, lower 2 were scope adjustment.


I was very happy with that, not as tight as with 100gr but still plenty accurate and VERY tame on recoil.

The reason for the scope adjustment? I would be shooting 110gr BH209 next and so with past experience i knew she'd climb up pretty good with that 20gr increase in powder.

Recoil with the 110gr Charge surprisingly felt less than my normal 100gr charge. I dont see how that could be but its a true winner.

Shots 1 and 2 were basically in the same hole. I had taken a better pic but it came out blurry so this will have to make do. Shot 3 is the highest. Must have been that heat you know? hehe

[mspaci]

how do you adjust headspace on a muzzleloader?
 

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

how do you adjust headspace on a muzzleloader?

On a CVA, Like this.
http://gandersmuzzleloadingblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/cva-muzzle-loaders-keepem-clean.html