I think I have a winner for my Impact!

S

stagpanther

New member
Today I got up early for a change to beat the blustery weather forecasted. By the time I got set up winds were already starting to blow with occasional drizzle but I decided to go for it anyway.

Today I switched to 100 gr BV of 777 driving 250 gr SST's. All shots were at 100 yds and I swabbed the bore between shots. The first two shots were touching right next to the bull's--a pleasant contrast to how my range sessions usually start LOL. However, winds started picking up and gusted to 25 from various directions--so I rushed the next shots with no cool down between shots--that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. As the barrel warmed--and/or I got sloppier while rushing the shots--the POIs migrated right and up slightly.

Nonetheless I consider this a great grouping because the over-all group hung together well despite changing weather and barrel conditions--in my mind a good indicator of reliable consistency even if not the tightest grouping possible under match conditions.

 
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That is the exact same load I use - with a 777 primer. I've never seen the need to find anything better (although I haven't tried Blackhorn 209 yet because I've still got LOTS of 777).
 
That's the load for my Impact as well, however, I now use two 777 pellets for the same 100gr load. Didn't change my POI in the least.
 
I think I like loose powder better cause when the going gets tight inside the barrel--I think it behaves better when being compressed--whereas pellets tend to get funny if crushed. But I'm still a newbie to this BP world.
 
They're a lot harder to crush than you'd think. I thought the same thing until a friend talked me into trying the pellets. I found no difference, however, there is an obvious stop for the sabot on the pellet. For me, compression is more consistent with the pellets. The loose was more of a mystery. I got no change in accuracy with loose or pellets.
 
whatever works--works! that's all that matters. In my very limited experience I noticed with even a slight accumulation of residue things got trickier to load with pellets--and since they are significantly less wide than the bore it could make a difference in bullet seating depth. With the loose stuff I simply give it a good stuff and the seating depth stays constant. My gut feeling is if pellets were truly as effective as loose we'd see them in cartridges as well--but that's pretty darn rare from what I can tell.
 
I swab between each shot. BP solvent at the bench, and a spit patch in the tree stand. Always a clean bore.
 
I do agree with the clean bore part. Even my breech plug fills with residue pretty fast and the flash-hole channel starts constricting--I'm seriously thinking about swapping them out between every few shots.

Don't know if I'm imagining this--but after many barrel cleans it seems that by feel I can tell the barrel's ID tapers ever so slightly at the breech and muzzle ends.
 
I swab between shots not because I have too but because I want to see how the rifle will shoot with a clean bore. Because when it comes time to drop the hammer on a deer that will he the condition the bore is in, CLEAN.
 
Even my breech plug fills with residue pretty fast and the flash-hole channel starts constricting
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You may be doing it wrong. When you run a solvent or spit patch down the bore, from the muzzle end, make sure you open the breech and push the patch down with some authority (you open the breech so you don't blow crud through the breech plug onto the breech face/firing pin). Then make sure you look through the barrel and see the little pinhole of light. Don't matter if a little crud is in the hole. If you can see light, you will get good ignition and the bore will be clean. Run a second patch if the first one looks particularly nasty.
 
Interesting suggestion and a definite possibility--But I don't see how I can get an effective cleaning with the breech open unless I pull the plug altogether--too much resistance on the cleaning jag demands a sturdy planting.
 
I always pull the plug and swab between every shot at the range. That is the ONLY way you can be sure of your field shot being consistent with your sight-in shot. In the field, I'm only going to be shooting once or twice in a given day so I don't worry about that.
 
I do monitor this and do pull the plug depending on how much fouling is happening--which can be a function of the charge size and primer as well-no? Anyway--the first two shots in the target above are off a cold and clean gun--so I'm pretty content with that.

BTW--the day I shot this target was very mild (by Maine winter standards) about 40 degrees--but it's just a s likely to be zero when I go hunt--how temperature sensitive is 777--what could I expect?
 
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But I don't see how I can get an effective cleaning with the breech open unless I pull the plug altogether--too much resistance on the cleaning jag demands a sturdy planting.
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For effective cleaning, I pull the breech plug, but that's only when I'm putting the rifle away. The way I do it, I know what a second shot will be like from the tree stand and I don't have to fumble with taking out the breech plug or even have the wrench with me. As long as the bore is clean and the flash hole in the breech plug is clear, I get very consistent accuracy. I'm just not having the problems you are having (or expect to have). I never have a problem with the cleaning jag and wet patch being so tight that I couldn't push it down the barrel with plenty of force to blast out the breech plug. Last time I took the Impact out (October I think), I shot about 20 rounds, and never had a problem. I do the same method with my inline pistol, and use the same load in it as well.

BTW, I follow the wet patch with a dry patch. Then I re-use the dry patch as the next wet patch.
 
Glad to see things are going much better for you! You should expect no difference in temperature from triple seven pellets. Grouping looks nice, dead deer! :-)

Go get em,

Birch
 
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