It's BP but it's Modern

Discussions of powders, bullets and loading information.

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omgb
Posts: 169
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:21 am
Location: SoCal, Santa Clarita

It's BP but it's Modern

Post by omgb »

I have several BP rifles and enjoy the heck out of shooting them. I won a CVA inline a few years back and only used it at youth shooting camp for first time shooters. I loaded with with 30 grains of 2F and a patched round ball. Kids loved it. Light recoil, just enough smoke, and a low boom!. I never really thought too much about seriously using it however,...until a week ago. I found a big bag of sabots in a box of shooting stuff I had handed to me. These were designed for 44 mag bullets in the .50 caliber bore. Well, I just happen to have several coffee cans of 250 grain flat nose lead bullets I acquired in an estate buy out. So, with those slugs and the sabots, I headed to the range. The powder was 100 grains of Schutzen 3F and the primer was a Federal 209.

I didn't expect too much but boy was I wrong. Using an Alpen Variable 3-9 scope, I could put 3 shots into a quarter at 50 yards. Out at 100 yards, the group opened to 2-3 inches. The Chronograph showed 2049 fps average with an STS variation of just 10 fps! As you might expect, recoil was nasty. I'm 66 and was sore the rest of the day...kinda like I had the flu. The bench was too low for really heavy recoiling rifles.

Well, I was pleased to say the least. I fired over 50 rounds with it. I had to swab the bore with a damp patcher every 3 rounds to keep loading easy. I use a 50/50 mix of distilled water and green Prestone engine coolant. Works great and have used it for decades. I know inlines are not in keeping with the 19th century traditions, but boy howdy this thing shoots. I am in whole-hearted agreement with Townshend Whelen, "Only accurate rifles are interesting"
Reece Talley
James Madison Fellow
Cal Hunter Ed Instructor/NRA Rifle/Shotgun Inst.
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