Shooting withdrawals had set in really bad, the temp has dropped to the low 50's and it has finally rained (dropping the fire hazard), and it was drizzle-ling this morning here in Moscow - I decide to hope for the best and head to the rock pit...
The mission started out to be some sabot testing with a quality rifle instead of the Project Rifle. I wanted to get velocities + test the ability of the MMP - Sub Bridge to replace either the wad or the shot card...
I talked to Del Ramsey about this project in a conversation on the phone. I suggested to him that I was shooting flat based 50 cal bullets sabotless in my 50 cal rifle and instead of using a shot card or a wad - why not sub in a "
Sub Base". The sub base is made with the HPH Polymer formula and should easily with stand shooting these bullets. Del could not think of a reason that it might be a safety issue although he was not willing to say "it will work". At the end of the conversation we were both wondering???
Today, I think I found out... I got 15 shots in before I was forced to abandoned the Rock Pit because of rain. I was shooting:
Knight Mountaineer Ultra Lite - 50 cal.
Redfield 3x9x42 Accu Ranger Hunter
Barnes - 50x275 XPB or Expanders
Barnes - 50x325 XPB's
120 gr T7-2f - by volume
MMP Sub Base
Because of the rush of the trip - I really wanted to get some shots down range so I did not set any paper or even the chrono. What I did was setup my tailgate work bench, my portable shooting bench - then walked 5 clay pigeons 100 yards down range to the rock wall. I placed them on various ledges and came back to commence shooting.
Both the 275's and the 375'w need to be knurled to increase their diameter enough to fir some what snugly down the barrel.
Bullets out of the box...
50-275's after Knurling
50-325's after knurling
First up for testing were the 325's - I loaded up and started working the pigeons. Pick off all five with out a problem... Then the problems started Del wanted to see what the sub-bases looked like after shooting and really so did I. I walked very slowly down range to look for the five bases - then after spend 5-10 minutes looking - I began looking for just one - any one! did not find any found all kinds of old sabots that that have been shot but no sub bases!!!
OK- what the heck I will shoot another five and increase the odds of finding at least one.... What another 5 birds down to the wall, again watching for bases along the way. NONE!
I should have mentioned that this rifle is sighted in right at 2-3/4" high at 100 and shooting the 325's I was holding the cross hair right at the bottom of the bird and just as planned every bird broke. With the 275's I used the same hold... and to may amazement I missed the first shot... not thinking a lot about it - I loaded up the second and touched it off - after the smoke cleared the bird was still there - which really bothered me... Del had suggested that the sub-base might effect the flight of the bullet - so I was beginning to believe it. After thinking about it for a bit I wondered if I was just shooting a little bit higher with the lighter 275's.
I loaded up the next shot and instead of holding the Xhair at the bottom of the bird I place the first line above the cross hair right in the middle of the bird... You can see the reticule in this pic.
BINGO!!! Problem solved - POI was high... this change brought the bullet to dead center on the bird... five shots later - birds gone. Began the hunt for "sub bases" - again no luck...
I could see the rain clouds coming but decided to push my luck one more time... ran five more birds out and started loading the 275's again and again the same results... broken birds..
I believe the sub bases worked great and I believe I can shoot a minute of a bird all day at 100 with sabotless bullets...
Couple of pictures of the trip...
Very Good Outing!
