250 gr SST not worth a damn

[Sea Buck]

I sighted in my Wolf Magnum .50 cal the other day and with 90 &100 gr of T-7and Hornady 250 gr SST. They are making key holes at 50 yds. Some hit absolutely sideways and others at various degrees,none hit dead on.Yes they load easily.They don't shoot worth a damn.Everything is sold out in this area unless I want to go to Cabelas 50 miles away I'm stck with what I have.

[Doyle]

That is the only bullet I shoot. I can almost make 3 holes touch at 100 yds with 100grn of loose 777.

[noelf2]

That is the only bullet I shoot. I can almost make 3 holes touch at 100 yds with 100grn of loose 777.

Same here but with 100 grn loose Goex Pinnacle in a T/C Impact. What sabots you using?

[thallub]

Some hit absolutely sideways and others at various degrees,none hit dead on.Yes they load easily.

Which sabot are you using with the SST? Theres something wrong with your bullet/sabot combination or your gun.

Same here but with 100 grn loose Goex Pinnacle in a T/C Impact.

My Encore makes 1.5" three shot groups at 100 yards using 100 grains of 2F Pinnacle and the 250 grain SST.

[jmortimer]

The bullet may be very bad but more likely, as suggested, it is on the gun/sabot end. From another perspective you could have just as easily said "My gun blows."

[shortwave]

My Encore makes 1.5" three shot groups at 100 yards using [B]100 grains of 2F Pinnacle and the 250 grain SST.

Ditto this with the exception of shooting 90grns of American Pioneer (AP)

I'm thinking like thallub or jmortimer posted. Don't think it's the bullets. Either sabots your using or rifle.

Have you tried any other bullets? Maybe a full size conical like a PowerBelt.

Have you miked your bore? Is your bore a bit oversized? You would then need to get oversized sabots if you wanted to shoot the SST bullet.

Too, FWIW, your actually shooting 115grns. equivalent of the powders others here are using (ooops, didn't see Doyle's load). Anyway, is it possible the sabots you're using are deforming with that amount of T-7? Have you tried backing down to say 80-85grns. of T-7?

Maybe you just haven't found the rifle/bullet/sabot/charge sweet spot.

Also, what's your loading sequence? How much seating pressure? Are you using bore butter?

As you can tell, there are a lot of factors to consider before coming out and making a blanket statement that something isn't worth a damn.

I'll say this, I know a LOT of people using the SST's or the T/C Shockwaves(same difference)and have never heard of any modern inline brand that won't shoot them respectfully. Yours would be the first.

[BirchOrr]

I'm here to tell ya... CVA's like their own bullets (Power belts) the dang gun was designed to shoot them. This is not to say something else won't work. All modern in-lines have a slightly different bore diameter! Ya can't just buy a box of sabots and some powder and expect to shoot a 1 inch group right out of the box.

[noelf2]

I'm here to tell ya... CVA's like their own bullets (Power belts) the dang gun was designed to shoot them. This is not to say something else won't work. All modern in-lines have a slightly different bore diameter! Ya can't just buy a box of sabots and some powder and expect to shoot a 1 inch group right out of the box.

+1 ^^^ See what your CVA owner's manual suggests. Don't know how much time I wasted trying different bullet, sabot, powder combinations just to find out that the manual was spot on. Thought I knew better, but as usual, I didn't.

Too, FWIW, your actually shooting 115grns. equivalent of the powders others here are using (ooops, didn't see Doyle's load). Anyway, is it possible the sabots you're using are deforming with that amount of T-7? Have you tried backing down to say 80-85grns. of T-7?

Most sabots will hold up even with 150grn equivalent of BP in my experience. I have friends that shoot 3 T7 pellets with the 200 and 250 sst *in proper sabot* with extreme accuracy.

[Sea Buck]

I am using the sabots that came with the bullets. There are a lot of variables to consider.I have been firmly seating my loads. Today I seated the load with a little extra pressure and bounced the ram rod like I had a patched round ball.Then went on a hunt. Afterwards fired at a target.Nice neat hole. I found the sabot. It was clover leafed and I can see that the rifling had graved the plastic. They are really soft compared to the T/C shockwave sabot.

[shortwave]

Most sabots will hold up even with 150grn equivalent of BP in my experience. I have friends that shoot 3 T7 pellets with the 200 and 250 sst *in proper sabot* with extreme accuracy.

^^^Very true, but most bp rifles have a 'sweet spot' as far as getting their best accuracy. Since the OP is having key-holing as well as accuracy issue's, I was merely suggesting experimenting with different powder charges to better find his.

Too, if you go with the PowerBelts, my experience with them out of two of my own rifles as well as shooting with friends using PowerBelts, if you use a powder charge much North of 110grns. you will loose accuracy consistency quite rapidly.

I'm here to tell ya... CVA's like their own bullets (Power belts) the dang gun was designed to shoot them. This is not to say something else won't work. All modern in-lines have a slightly different bore diameter! Ya can't just buy a box of sabots and some powder and expect to shoot a 1 inch group right out of the box.

Very true statement...My Optima shoots PowerBelts very well and with the ease of loading is what I mostly shoot out of it. It will shoot SST's also but I still opt for the PowerBelts.

[Sea Buck]

Thanks for all the comments. The key is seating the charge. I find that 90 gr of T-7 and a 250 gr SST is an accurate load in my short snouted Wolf Magnum .50 cal. Recoil is like a 20 ga maybe a little stiffer! Any idea what I am getting for velocity/impact at muzz/50/100 yds?

[shortwave]

...and, for future reference, you may buy another rifle identical to the one you have now and it may like a different load. Each bp rifle likes their own load. Finding that 'sweet spot' load is half the fun.

[redrick]

They shoot fine in my Accura with 2 White Hots.