After following along on Chet's, 1874Sharpshooter, post about what rifle he might use on an upcoming hunt - I thought I would step back a little bit and take the older White G Series .451 Whitetail out for a shoot at the Rock Pit.
The Pit remains the safest place for me to shoot in our current weather conditions, although I really do not like to shoot there as much as I use because of the mess that shooters have left there.
This trip was just suppose to be a recreational shoot for enjoyment but while getting ready for the shoot I found a box of Sierra .4515x300 gr. JSP's and just out of curiosity I tried one full in the crown of the rifle. I really did not expect it to start in the bore, it will not start in any of my Knight 45's. It really interested me so I dropped the box into the shooting bag.
Got to the Pit early in the morning trying to beat some of the heat. Got everything set up and walked the first six pigeons down the pit to the rock wall.
Decided to shoot my normal standby the Lehigh/Knight Bloodline 40x200 in a MMP Light Tan sabot for the first 3 shots and then shift to a Nosler 40x200 grain JHP to finish up the last 3 birds. It was warming up quickly and with MMP sabots I really wanted the barrel to cool before taking each shot, so it took me longer to shoot than normal. After completing the first 6 - I walked 3 more birds down to the wall. These three birds I wanted to try shooting the Sierra .4515x300 gr. JSP's.
The Whitetail shot the first 6 shots just as planned and as I knew the rifle would. The last three proved to be a little more challenging. I loaded up the powder as normal, pushed the treated 45 cal. wad down into the crown. Then I set the bullet on the wad and pushed the bullet through the crown with my thumb. Set the range rod on top and started pushing it down the bore. It went approximately 1/2 way down the bore as I thought it might but the second half of the bore was a different story. It got tight - really tight - so tight the a regular rifle rod may not have been able to seat it. As it was I need to really drive it down with the ram rod. Finally got it seated but was still a bit hesitant to cap it an shoot it!
Set the rifle on the bench still a little concerned about the tight fit but dismissed it and took the shot. I shot great and the bird showed the results. Decided to finish the shoot and it went as planned but still the bullets were to tight to use for hunting without re-sizing. Re-sized they could make a really good full bore bullet for that little Whitetail.
Here are some pics of the outing...
