Nula and Parker BE 275's

[jdunham]

New (used) Nula that is giving me fits. Started with Parker BE 275's and 42gr 4759 and 1st group went into 3/4" after 3 shots to get on target. Thought I was home free. Things have gone downhill since and I am having trouble getting anything close to consistent results. I have been unable to repeat the group. Anyway I guess that is a different thread after more range time.

I have read that loads should require some pressure when loading. These load like butter with the supplied sabot. Very little effort required. Is this usual with these? I plan on more testing but wondered if that is usual with anyone else's NULA. Do tighter combo's generally shoot better for you? Thanks for any input.

 

[scienceguy]

Interesting........My NULA shot the BE 275 with the supplied sabot, same powder charge as you stated, very well. Groups were right at 5/8". The combination required some pressure to load, not loose nor overly tight, just a snug fit. Another outstanding load was the 250 Bonded Shockwave with the black MMP sabot, same 42 grain charge. This load shoots into 1/2 inch. Did you check your scope mount for loose screws? Were you using the MMP sabot? Both of the loads described have a snug fit in my bore. You might want to try some type of lead sled rest or Bulls Bag to soak up the recoil and minimize shooter error. When one of my known shooters suddenly doesn't group well, it usually comes to down to me rushing the shot or doing something sloppy. We've all experienced your situation some time in the past. Good luck with your next bench session!

 

[jdunham]

I tried your 250 bonded shockwave load as well. That was horrendous. As has been everyrthing beside the Parkers. I used some Harvester RCR sabots with the shockwaves as it was all I had beside the supplied sabots. Awaiting my mmp sabots. I have several different Harvesters on hand now to try. I used the supplied Parker sabots with the Parker load. They seem awfully easy to load though compared to what I read elsewhere. I have been through all the usual checks, loose screws, rings etc. Swapped scopes, minimum of 15-20 min between shots, everything that is usually listed.

I have quite a bit of bench experience and I am putting 1/2" groups with all my other rifles I am shooting in between shots with the NULA. Doesn't mean there isn't a flinch while shooting the NULA but I don't believe that is the issue.

Open to suggestions, maybe I am missing something. I have only ever had this much trouble with 1 other gun and that was a knight muzzleloader. Turned out to be a bad scope, which is why I tried that early on. I have a brand new Leupold 3x9 VXII on the gun. Seems like something is very wrong but then the gun acts like it wants to shoot the Parkers but won't quite do it. I will keep you posted on my progress.

 

[jdunham]

Had time to shoot two groups after work this evening. 275gr Parker BE's with the same 42gr 4759 and a harvester red crush rib sabot. 1 3/4" groups on both right around the bullseye. Not great but at least consistent. These sabots had a nice even feel when loading them, just kind of snug. I will try going up and down a few grains with this combo to see if it will tighten up.

I took a Knight elite that I picked up last year to play with while I waited between shots on the Nula. Tried a load with 300gr Barnes MZ's that my last knight liked. This one doesn't like it. Had enough powder left for three more shots and tried 100gr 777 and 250gr Bonded Shockwaves and the leftover Parker MMP sabots. Three shots into one ragged hole :shock: ! I will be looking into this some more.

I am hoping to find something with a good deer bullet that will go into 1" or less with the Nula. I kind of expected it to be pretty consistent with a number of loads after all the reading I have done on other peoples experiences with them. It is still early and I will be happy if I can find 1 good load with a bullet I like. Hopefully these Parkers will do it.

 

[slipshod]

I am far from an expert but in my Nula I found that I could not get any accuracy witth the loads that everyone else was shooting.Primers would stick in the breechplug with these charges.I had to drop down to 39 grains of VVN110 with s 250gr.bullet in a short MMP.and around 40 grains of 4759 with the same weight bullet.The Nula is a nice gun but it is like any other gun,you may have to adjust your powder charge accordingly.Slipshod

 

[jdunham]

Thanks slipshod, I was kind of looking for other experiences from people who had to work at it a little with their Nula. Some of you guys seem to have had it way to easy . I assume yours shoots those loads well slipshod? I am sure this will shoot once I get it figured out, I may work down first and see how that works. The hardest part about this gun is the time it takes to shoot a couple groups. When things aren't working it seems like it is taking forever to work through them. I have been spending all my spare time at the range the last week or so it seems. I guess I could have worse problems. It has had me shooting a ton with some neglected guns in the down time.

 

[slipshod]

Go over to the Green Board and read up on cooling rods.This will speed up the process quite a bit.Slipshod

 

[CORVAIR]

If you feel you have definately ruled out the scope and rings as the source, I would look at a bad primer lot(even though they go bang) or a bad powder lot. I know the Parkers w/supplied MMP's shoot well.

On my NULA they do slide down the barrel smoothly, w/minimal effort but I attribute that to the butter-smooth bore of the Douglas Ultra Premium barrel. My NULA shot the Parker 275 BE w/supplied sabot and 42 gr 4759 into 3/4" groups at 100 yards consistantly.

Just look at all possbile variables and never think the primers and powder cannot go bad.I had a bad lot of N120 once with my Savage and it did exactly what your NULA is doing. Tried a new fresh container of N120 and right back to consistant groups.
Another thing is I found the NULA a little harder to control on the bench due to it's extremely light weight coupled w/recoil.When I shoot my NULA off of bags on the bench, I pull down on the forearm down with my off hand rather than my normal target style pinching the butt bag, while pulling trigger.

 

[jdunham]

Never thought about the bad powder or primers. Tried N110 as well and it didn't help, butI haven't run many loads with that yet. I have used the same bench technique you are using with the Nula after reading old posts about it. I think my bench technique has been pretty decent with it. I went up a grain last evening and the two groups both opened up to 2" each. Going the wrong way but at least it has been consistent the last two trips to the range. That is what was driving me bonkers to begin with, it was all over the place. I will try going the other way and see what that does next.

 

[jdunham]

Well I am still chipping away at it, for those of you who are interested. I tried 43gr and groups opened up to 2". I went down to 41 and 40gr of 4759 and groups went down to 1 1/2". Tried the MMP sabots at 40 and 41gr and groups stayed the same. I am not sure why the MMP sabots seem to shoot decent now, seems to rule that out. With the 40gr two shots would be through one hole basically and the third would be 1 1/2" away. Always in the same order with the first shot being the "flier" and the last two through the same hole.

I should have stock in Parker bullets. Getting a tad bit expensive with all this load development. I will try to go down to 39 gr before moving on to different variables. It obviously is good enough to punch deer with consistently but I would like to have something that really shoots in it. It has been very consistent at this point but won't quite do that 1" or under. I have been impressed that every time I change something I shoot at least two groups and they always measure exactly the same. The inconsistency was killing me in the beginning. The total fliers have seemed to stop. Still looking for that sweet spot.

 

[Doohan]

My advice would be to check the plug or send it back to Melvin and have him make a new one for good measure... I would also do my best to remove all plastic and fouling from the bore with a quality cleaner like US Bore Paste.

 

[Harry1]

I am thinking like Doohan that it might be the plug. I don't have a nula but it is conceivable that the flash hole could wear larger.