And down the rabbit hole I go….

[BillLarson]

View attachment 469561Lots of play so not even gonna try it before bedding. And it appears there was no shortage of paint supply when this stock was put together . This part still stresses me out even though I over do it on release agent. Giving marine Tex a go for the first time. Always used acra in the past

On an aluminum bedded stock I use Prussian bluing and a bearing scraper...

 

[Allen Lone wolf]

Awesome elk KJW! I love that crown he's wearing on that right side

 

[Rick Richard]

I went down the "rabbit hole" a month ago and purchased a CVA Scout 45-70 conversion to a smokeless .45 muzzleloader. I have not had a real opportunity to see what it can do at extended ranges, but was good enough at 130 yards to take down a NC 8 point.…amd, yes smokeless is legal in our state.

 

[jensenj71]

I think once you get fully bedded you should have good results. I bedded mine before I even started testing. Lots of slop without it. Did you get the smaller diameter bullets from fury for the cva's? Sizing them? Or are standard diameter fitting for you? I bought a sizing die and it helped out a lot. Both loading and consistency in grouping

I have both Fury 0.503 sizing down with Hawkins and a few Fury CVA universals. I am thinking that sizing for a fouled barrel on a followup shot without a patch may not work with a clean barrel even fouled with a primer. My first attempt showed good grouping and stable velocity, but there was no way the sized bullet was going down the fouled barrel without dry patching. I adjusted the sizing down slightly smaller because it was taking 30-40lbs to push the bullet down the fouled dry patched barrel.

I am also concerned about fumbling around with a wad to reload quickly in the field with a muzzle brake. I grabbed a few universals just to see if they load into a fouled barrel and how they shoot on a follow-up shot compared to a sized Fury. I don't have any problem shooting 108wgr without the brake, but there are others in the family that would be offended by the recoil.

If it comes down to it, I will size and hunt with a fouled/patched barrel and monitor the barrel with a borescope between hunting trips. I am not dead set on finding a clean cold bore that lines up perfectly with a follow-up shot, however that would be nice piece of mind. I am mostly concerned about having 100% confidence how the first bullet flys.

My goal is to put the first shot consistently inside a 6" circle at 300yds in hunting conditions. I feel like the gun needs to be able to shoot a 3" group at 300yds under controlled conditions at the range to make that possible. If not, then it is a solid 200yd gun in hunting conditions.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Well, things got super busy with hunts for myself and helping others and didn't have much time to post. I did get dialed in with a peep set up and things cam together. View attachment 512724Was able to get some groups at 100 that went 3/4 minute to ragged hole. I used a new peep from Williams that let me make a yardage tape. Got marks made out to 250 yds and was ready for my elk hunt.
Fast forward to day 4 of the hunt and snuck into 125 yds of this bull. Laid out prone waiting for him to re bed. After a couple hours he tried to sneak out his back door and right into a shooting lane. One shot with the fury bullet was all it took. He made it 50 yds and piled up. First muzzy elk and by far my biggest bull.
View attachment 512732View attachment 512733

Wow, what a bull! Can you give us any measurements?

 

[KJW]

Wow, what a bull! Can you give us any measurements?

Main beams went 52 and 53. Rt side G2 is just shy of 19". 55 inches of mass and a 44+ inch inside spread. Grossed him right at 350.

 

[Straight Shooter]

Thanks

 

[KJW]

Thought maybe some of you might be interested in this part. I recovered the bullet pretty much between the offside shoulder muscle and hide while caping him out. Entrance was 6ish inches above the point of his elbow right in the pocket. Shot was 120 yds slight uphill and just starting to quarter away. Both lungs were pretty well pulverized into a foamy jello mess. Look forward to using these on more animals going forward. So far I have nothing to complain about

 

[Checkmate101]

Nice bill! Did you happen to weigh the recovered bullet?

 

[KJW]

Nice bill! Did you happen to weigh the recovered bullet?

Not yet but it's on my list of things to do.

 

[KJW]

Nice bill! Did you happen to weigh the recovered bullet?

Finally got the bullet cleaned up and weighed. 283 gr is what was recovered. I e definitely got the itch to do more testing with load development and terminal performance with this bullet. My brother in law is on his late season moose hunt with this bullet in Alaska right now. Sure hoping he gets one down so I can get more feedback

 

[Checkmate101]

Not bad, 88% weight retention and a full energy dump. No wonder he didn't make it past 50.

Do you know what velocities you are getting from your load?

 

[KJW]

Not bad, 88% weight retention and a full energy dump. No wonder he didn't make it past 50.

Do you know what velocities you are getting from your load?

I don't, I ran out of time for the chronograph before my hunt. I'm gonna do more tinkering this winter and see how it shoots with more 209. I'll make sure to check some speeds now that I'll have the time

 

[Checkmate101]

awesome, I'd be really interested to know. I have been shooting Harvester White Lightning 300gr bullets out of my smoke pole. Using BH209. I only chrono'd one shot, it was going 1875. That was with 100gr by volume of 209. I don't have a chrono. Guy at the range just let me use it once. I need to get one and do some more testing.