Good 200 yard groups?

[theycallmemud]

Went to the range today to sight in my red dot on my cva optima. Haven't shot this rifle in 5 years and pretty green when it comes to muzzle loading. First time shooting with a red dot too. Picked up a box of Barnes TEZ 250 grains and some white hots. First time with this load too. Did I just get lucky and find a good combo or should I try something else? Great? Good enough? Or could be better?

 

[Bendejo]

Nice group. How high are you holding?

 

[theycallmemud]

I was holding top edge of the target. It was hard to see for sure kind of surprised I even hit it lol

 

[ElDiablito]

Trying to decipher that target. Eight shots for a roughly 6” group? If so, could be a lot better.

 

[theycallmemud]

Ya roughly. I was using a red dot. Might try a 1x to see if that helps. Hated taking my 3x9 off for the utah hunt.

 

[Wrench]

With low/no power sights, I like to practice being a thing hitter more than a group shooter.

Chuck up a clay or similar target and give yourself one chance. I find that I may shoot 2-3 moa at a target....but when I am in thing hitter mode, my numbers tend to go up because every shot is pass or fail.

 

[AC300win]

Looks like a great start. Since aiming with a 1x reddot at distance introduces uncertainty on ability to aim with precision, suggest you test your loads at closer range. Also pick the best time of day for lighting where you can use the lowest dot size.

You didn’t mention if you were swabbing your barrel after each shot. All guns are different but my gun starts to open up groups after 3 shots without swabbing. Good luck

 

[MarkOrtiz]

Trying to decipher that target. Eight shots for a roughly 6” group? If so, could be a lot better.

Same here. Were you adjusting the sight each time or was this just an 8 shot string with no adjustments?

 

[theycallmemud]

I move it two clicks to the left. And swabbed the barrel between each shot with one wet and two dry patches.

 

[MarkOrtiz]

7/8 look good. If that's where you can shoot, i'd just zero at 200 and keep practicing there.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Could be better, were all 8 shots fired consecutively or did you clean your smokepole every 3/4 shots ?

 

[MallardSX2]

Looks great to me for a red dot sight.

 

[theycallmemud]

Could be better, were all 8 shots fired consecutively or did you clean your smokepole every 3/4 shots ?

I cleaned it after every shot. I was grouping great at a hundred. Going to try loose powder and a couple different sabots.

 

[Fmuguira]

I ve found loose powder to typically shoot better than pellets. Also if you have a black powder scale weighing your charges can be an improvement over volume measures.

Do some experimenting and see what works best for you.

 

[SloppyJ]

Definitely recommend blackhorn if you can find it without getting bent over. My MRX prints centerfire groups with it compared to any palletized stuff I've tried.

Do you have to hunt with a red dot or can you put a scope on? If so, I'd try that for sure. If you can't, try the clay target recommendation and see what that yields. Personally, I wouldn't feel too good about those at 200yds and would make sure that it's grouping well at 75 to 100 before I moved out. Without more info it's impossible to say that it's you or the rifle.

 

[Fishey05]

Looks good to me!