LYON
PMA Member
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
Great performance & a dead deer, no doubt very quickly. But, if you recover the bullet there probably isn't an "out hole" so blood trail can be a little sparse without snow. That's why, even though I like the Barnes just fine, I keep searching for something better. There may not be anything better, but the search is fun too. 
Still Huntin
Member
Any opinions on the tc shockwave bullets? I hammered a doe tonight, the last night of season, and it fell in her tracks. Was walking down toward it and suddenly jumped up back into the woods carrying its front leg. What I would assume would be a shoulder shot, not much blood. What are thoughts on the tc shockwaves? Thoughts?
hoosierhunter
Active Member
We have used them for several years. Massive internal damage but very poor entrance and exit holes. I never expect boiler room shot deer with a pass through to be hard to blood trail but I've had a few like that. They seem to expand better on shoulder shots, but behind the shoulder deer lose very little external blood IMO.
scottonbuck
Well-Known Member
TC shockwaves are made by hornady and are the same bullet as the SST. Very poor expansion and blood trails.
kjohn15
Member
We have always shot 250 grain Hornady SST-ML with 150 grains of powder. Been very effective and the wife's deer was shot double lung at 135 yards early muzzy. It poured blood immediately and died within 45 yards. At the end of the day I've found that I'm confident in the performance of that combo out of my TC triumph bone collector with a Nikon OmEga BDC 300 scope out to 225 yards. (Nikon SpotOn reticle print out on the stock helps)Very effective and have found every deer hit with this sabot. It has contributed to 8 kills over the last four years between my wife and I. To each their own I guess.
Never replied to this , sorry. Yes, same scope as you listed Lyon- Nikon Omega. Never hunted LM last year but will this season. Shot today and continue to have this same issue. Scope mounts are tight. 2-pellets of Triple 7 with 150g SST. Prefer to stick with pellets, my stock is over a year old but always in a sealed ammunition box in a basement, any ideas fellas? Different pellets, bullets, possibly scope issues? 1st shot today was very far right edge of target, 2nd shot held left of center and was closer so I adjusted the scope held center and again closer. Swabbed barrel, adjusted scope and closer yet. 3rd or 4th shot hit center. Following shots continued to move around and obviously never hit center again while swabbing every other shot. Fairly sturdy rest, prone on a deck at 100yds, 17” target.
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LYON
PMA Member
That target looks so much like what our targets used to look like it makes me frustrated just looking at at lol. That was back in the pyrodex days. I completely understand the thought of wanting to use pellets, they're easy, I get it. But do yourself a huge favor and switched to blackhorn 209. The time you save on cleaning wont even compare to the extra few seconds it takes to measure loose powder. Heck, last year I shot my gun at the beginning of late muzzy season, didn't clean it for a few weeks and had zero corrosion and it cleans ridiculously easy in comparison to pyrodex or triple 7. That would be by far my number one suggestion for your issue.Never replied to this , sorry. Yes, same scope as you listed Lyon- Nikon Omega. Never hunted LM last year but will this season. Shot today and continue to have this same issue. Scope mounts are tight. 2-pellets of Triple 7 with 150g SST. Prefer to stick with pellets, my stock is over a year old but always in a sealed ammunition box in a basement, any ideas fellas? Different pellets, bullets, possibly scope issues? 1st shot today was very far right edge of target, 2nd shot held left of center and was closer so I adjusted the scope held center and again closer. Swabbed barrel, adjusted scope and closer yet. 3rd or 4th shot hit center. Following shots continued to move around and obviously never hit center again while swabbing every other shot. Fairly sturdy rest, prone on a deck at 100yds, 17” target.
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150 Class
Well-Known Member
1. Make sure you are waiting several minutes between shots. Sabots in warmed up barrels are prone to less than stellar groups.
2. Throw a different scope on there or move and test this scope to a different gun to confirm it's not a bad scope. The best scopes can fail and it is frustrating when they do (been there and done that).
HorseDoctor
PMA Member
Good info above. Lots of potential reasons for a pattern instead of a group. A "Fairly sturdy rest, prone on deck..." may well be a part of your problem also. Get some sandbags front & back (under stock,not barrel). Put a small one between gun & your shoulder. Concentrate on trigger squeeze... Not to be critical, but if all else fails, have someone else shoot the gun and see if results are still erratic? A gun that starts out fair and gets worse might be getting hot or maybe you're getting flinchy. Good luck!
Thank you, I will be trying the 209 along with my Lead Sled next time out. I do have a folding bipod mounted to this rifle hence the prone position yesterday. My boys were shooting their pellet gun at the same time so it was a good 5-10 minutes between shots helping them. If these suggestions fail to help I’ll look at the scope.
Echo most this- few differences based only on preference and what im comfy with - not that it’s better.
I shoot 777 150 grain pellets with cci magnum primers. Use Barnes bullets with crushed rib sabots (or whatever they called).
I used BH209 and i didn’t like it and had a couple failures. I did have proper breech. Switched back to 777. I know BH has a lil more power and easier to clean. Guys who have it dialed in are shooting a better set up than me. But - I’m comfy with mine and 777 is easy for me and I only clean a few times a year and it’s simple. 150 grains is accurate and flat and great velocity. Tight groups to like 175 (as far as I’ve shot it). Not as good as BH209 maybe but 1) I don’t worry bout my freak failures with BH209 in past (so confidence issue) & 2) it’s Simple, shoots great and destroys deer. That’s just me. PREFERENCE.
I shoot 777 150 grain pellets with cci magnum primers. Use Barnes bullets with crushed rib sabots (or whatever they called).
I used BH209 and i didn’t like it and had a couple failures. I did have proper breech. Switched back to 777. I know BH has a lil more power and easier to clean. Guys who have it dialed in are shooting a better set up than me. But - I’m comfy with mine and 777 is easy for me and I only clean a few times a year and it’s simple. 150 grains is accurate and flat and great velocity. Tight groups to like 175 (as far as I’ve shot it). Not as good as BH209 maybe but 1) I don’t worry bout my freak failures with BH209 in past (so confidence issue) & 2) it’s Simple, shoots great and destroys deer. That’s just me. PREFERENCE.
iowavf
Active Member
BH and loose 777 is 20% hotter versus the pellets so a 100 gr by volume of BH is going to be hotter than the 100 gr of 777 pellets. That looks like a scale in the pic, if so take the volume you want to shoot times by .7 and that will give you the weight. 100 x .7 = 70 gr. You might want to try some different sabots if you're using the one that come with the SST's. When I was using 777 pellets, my 1st shot from a clean barrel was always high and to the right, like 8". The next 5 were pretty good, then I'd have to clean the barrel and start over. I had it sighted in with a dirty barrel so I didn't have to swab between shots while hunting. Also 777 will leave a crud ring towards the bottom of the barrel which makes it hard to seat the bullet/sabot the same without more force. I always have a mark on the push rod so i know if the bullet is seated the same each time. If they are hard to seat and not the same each time, you'll get a pattern like you have, also if you're pushing pretty hard to seat them, you might be cracking or breaking one or both of the pellets which will make it shoot all over the place. I'd start with 90 gr by volume of the BH and shoot 3 groups without any adjustments, if the group is pretty close, try another 5 gr to see if the group gets better or worse. I'm not a fan of the lead sleds and prefer bags. I too have a tendency to jerk or grip too hard when i 1st start to shoot, but will focus on having the cross hair not move if I loosen up on the grip, then just a slow squeeze with a light grip and not pressed tight to my shoulder. Shot mine yesterday and yes it kicks a little more with the light grip, but had both holes touching at 100 yards in the bulls eye.
isu22andy
Active Member
Glad Im not the only one. I tried blackhorn 209 , and yes it does load the second and third round easier, yes its easier to clean but for me dropping in two pellets in a clean barrel it seemed like my gun grouped better? I tried the weighing routine, and the volume measure. Was always paranoid more it seemed like.
4DABUCKS
Well-Known Member
Loading easier, cleaning easier and quicker, multiple shots without cleaning! Don't get me wrong here, I think 777 has its place for sure with some. I was introduced to BH last yr. I was hesitant at 1st. I have a 9 yr old that is obsessed with shooting guns/bow it don't much matter, if he can't go hunting he wants to shoot! He was only shooting 31lbs with his bow as of Sept of last yr when he was 8 so my only option for him was to take him youth hunting with a muzzleloader. BH was a small gift from above. He was able to shoot 70gr by volume of BH. It was so much easier working with him on shooting with proper form (instead of cleaning and making sure it was him and not the gun). With that being said....weighing up a couple preloads before hand is just as fast as 2 pellets imo. Convenience in my particular situation was important! Both do shoot great, both are very reliable, both have great accuracy, but for me.....doing a Lil planning ahead of time (pre loading loads) I've got a youngster that can't wait to go shooting! (It's easy to lose a youngsters interest if they gotta wait now days) That' just my .02! Best of luck with which ever you decide to go with and good hunting!