not off to a good start

[brew]

recently bought an optima v2.  cleaned the barrel as best as I thought...all kinds of grey grease from the factory.  took it out this afternoon and shot it.  after the first shot the face of the breech plug that comes in contact with the powder was coated in grey crap.  unscrewed it and cleaned the face and ran some more patches down the barrel. the shot was about 16" low at 50 yards with factory sights.  adjusted the sights some...the rear sight was set at the lowest setting but I lowered it some more.  after cleaning shot it again and hit the same spot---about 16" low at 50 yards.  looked at the sights and saw the rear sight was blown in half.  unscrewed the breech plug and it was coated with grey crap again that looked like concrete.  never shot M/L before so not sure what to expect.  Cleaned the entire barrel again and used a brass brush to clean the face of the breech plug.  Guess I need to try one of those Williams peep sights but am wondering about the cleanliness of the rifle ?  why am I getting so much crap that is hard to clean on my breech plug ?  I am using 3 pellets of white hot powder and federal premium 209 primers.  Shooting federal premium 270 gr trophy copper bullets.  Moved the remaining sight down and shot it again.  All 3 shots are in the same area but don't know why the breech plug face is so dirty ?  is this normal ?  all kinds of grey crap on the breech plug face...I can only liken it to concrete ?  I think the barrel is clean as I run patches through it and they come out pretty clean but looking down the rifling it looks like its not ?   all help would be appreciated. 

[Mfowl]

You will have residue/fouling on your breech plug after even one shot. ML's are dirty guns. I usually shoot 3 shots than dismantle/clean breech plug, clean and swab the barrel. Repeat. I do not have an Accura though. I would drop down to 2 pellets/load and start from there. I do not shoot pellets but have had my best success with 100-110gr of loose powder. As far as the sight goes, I imagine in blew in half from shooting a max powder load. I wish you luck with your new gun. ML's can be a pain to figure out but once you get your methods down they are very fun to shoot and great to hunt with!

[headshot5]

You raise the rear sight if it is shooting low.    The peep rib from EABCO (MFR'd by Williams, as Ace in the hole) is awesome.

[brew]

well I guess i'm half stupid for lowering the rear sight if I want the shot to go higher but it still doesn't help when the sight is blown in 1/2...thanks for the heads up

[bkaech]

If it is just the fiber optic part of the sight that is broken they can easily put I new one on. I would have store/factory take care of the sight for you. But the concrete stuff is just the powder residue, there is a lot of it if you compare it to smokeless powder. Just keep shooting, usually after 3-5 shots fouling gets bad and a few swabs are necessary. I try to shoot as many times as I can until I get a slight hang fire, then make sure I clean before I get to that point in the future. I hunt with 150 equivalent grains of pellets (3), but when I am just shooting I usually only use 2 pellets / 100 grains. point of impact is only marginally different

[storyteller]

From Chuck Hawks page,

2 IMR White Hots 50 Grain Pellets

    Powerbelt AeroLite 250 grain: Average group size = 1.13" (Mean MV 1,800 fps)
    Harvester 260 grain Scorpion PT Gold: Average group size = 1.18" (Mean MV 1,770 fps)

[JakeLand]

It’s not burning all the powder and white hots suck
Use a 100 grains of powder or pellet and a 295 powerbelt and you will see a huge difference
My accura I use 100 grain triple 7 pellets and a 295 powerbelt and I can shoot 6-7 times before cleaning

[Damnimissed]

Ditch the pellets and use Blackhorn 209. I can easily shoot a dozen or more shots without swabbing and still load a Barnes TEZ. You also don’t need to pull the breech plug all the time, you can swab every few shots with it in. I only pull it at the end of a session. When you put it back in, use blue thread tape. You can look up how to do this by using the search feature in this forum, as it’s been covered several times by Sabotloader. Oh, and  I definitely recommend buying a range rod. They make like much easier at the shooting bench.