Jacketed sabots are worth a try but are outside the area of discussion on this forum. I use pure lead conicals. And try to keep velocity below 1200 fps to prevent lead fouling.
The lenth of bullet for .50 cal i come up with are
2 inch bullet 1-19
1-1/4 inch bullet 1-30
1 inch bullet 1-37.5
1/2 inch ball 1-75
The problem with not enough twist is a falure to stabalize and the bullet starts to wobble (yaw) in flight and in the extreme case tumble showing on the target as if it went though sideways (keyholing), most often the minor wobble just produces poor accuracy or what look ok at 50 yards and terrible at a 100.
To much twist for a given bullet length and the bullet can't hold the rifling and jump the track so it doesn't get consistent spin and shoots poorly and sometimes keyholing.
A tightly patched round ball can shoot well from a fast twist rifle with a very light load.
The great plains 385 gr your shooting is a bit short it is really made for a 1-48 twist. They shoot great in my 1-48 TC New Englander with a heavy load 110gr. I bet it will shoot in your rifle with 50-70 grains 2ff black. I don't use triple 7 any more i think its too hot but try the 777 it with 40-60 grains.
Make sure of the rifle clean it so it has a clean dry bore to start at range. Shoot from a bench rest at 50 yards. I like to shoot 5 shot groups i swab with a damp not wet spit patch between each shot. Since Great Plains bullets are expesive i would try the round ball at like 25-30grns a tight patch ball combo so it ake a good whack on the short started to start the ball. My CVA 50's like .495 round ball and .015-.018 patch i use unlubed spit patches at the range and just rub the same patches on a block of beeswax for field use. I never had a cva the didn't shoot well with the right combo.
Bob
Bob
The lenth of bullet for .50 cal i come up with are
2 inch bullet 1-19
1-1/4 inch bullet 1-30
1 inch bullet 1-37.5
1/2 inch ball 1-75
The problem with not enough twist is a falure to stabalize and the bullet starts to wobble (yaw) in flight and in the extreme case tumble showing on the target as if it went though sideways (keyholing), most often the minor wobble just produces poor accuracy or what look ok at 50 yards and terrible at a 100.
To much twist for a given bullet length and the bullet can't hold the rifling and jump the track so it doesn't get consistent spin and shoots poorly and sometimes keyholing.
A tightly patched round ball can shoot well from a fast twist rifle with a very light load.
The great plains 385 gr your shooting is a bit short it is really made for a 1-48 twist. They shoot great in my 1-48 TC New Englander with a heavy load 110gr. I bet it will shoot in your rifle with 50-70 grains 2ff black. I don't use triple 7 any more i think its too hot but try the 777 it with 40-60 grains.
Make sure of the rifle clean it so it has a clean dry bore to start at range. Shoot from a bench rest at 50 yards. I like to shoot 5 shot groups i swab with a damp not wet spit patch between each shot. Since Great Plains bullets are expesive i would try the round ball at like 25-30grns a tight patch ball combo so it ake a good whack on the short started to start the ball. My CVA 50's like .495 round ball and .015-.018 patch i use unlubed spit patches at the range and just rub the same patches on a block of beeswax for field use. I never had a cva the didn't shoot well with the right combo.
Bob
Bob
