MK85 for deer this year

[Ron Huff]

Have decided that my MK85 that I picked up recently will be my Deer Gun this year. Will be using 2F Triple 7 and Hornady XTP saboted Bullets. I have shot this combo a little but have not spent enough time to dial it in yet. Any Recommendations on Bullet weight and powder charge. I will be using the FPJ 209 primer setup.

 

[snapbang]

I am working on a Knight plunger for the season myself. I tried a 420 no excuses with 65 weighed grains of T7 and could only get 4" groups. So I tried 70 weighed grains. Still 4" group. Then I discovered I forgot to tighten the rings. Ill be shooting again Tuesday. My limited experience with Knights Ron is if you measure the powder carfully and are consistant with loading, you will get good groups with just about any measure of powder.

 

[Ron Huff]

I’ll be shooting soon

 

[retrieverman]

You can’t go wrong with a MK85.
I acquired two MK85’s last year and was able to kill a deer with one of them, but I haven’t decided what I’ll hunt with this year.

 

[FredB]

In my Bighorn, 420 grain NE, .502, 80 grains RS by volume, and a wad. I get about 1.25" groups at 100 yds, with a peep. I don't think I could do much better than that at all, without a scope. As the Bighorn is pretty much an MK85 copy with a 26" barrel, that should be a good starting point.

 

[snapbang]

In my Bighorn, 420 grain NE, .502, 80 grains RS by volume, and a wad.

I have a Bighorn also. Use exactly what FredB uses. I use a scope and slightly better than an inch.

 

[Ron Huff]

I got out for a couple of hours this evening and shot the Knight a few times. 90 grains of 2F Triple 7 under a 240 grain XTP bullet in a Green Harvester Crush Rib Sabot. Took about 4 rounds to get the group close to zero then I fired 4 rounds and ended up with three touching 1.5 inches above the red dot I was aiming at and one dead center that I jerked the trigger on. I like to sight 1.5 inches high at 100 and never shoot past 150. This load was easy to push down the barrel and did not develop any crud ring using the 209 Winchester ML Primers. I picked up a few of the sabots and skirts were flared and all 4 petals were equally open and laying about fifteen yards in front of the bench. Overall, a nice evening of shooting with pretty good results. I have more bullets and sabots ordered and plan on shooting quite a bit more before season arrives.

 

[Ron Huff]

Finished sighting in the MK85 today. Settled on Hornady 300 Grain .430 XTP in the Harvester Green Crush Rib Sabot and 90 grains of loose T7 2F. This load has never developed a crud ring and is extremely accurate. I may take it to Kentucky for the 2 Day early season if I can work out my work schedule.

 

[snapbang]

Looking forward to the pics.

 

[Ron Huff]

Had a rare day off yesterday and with beautiful weather decided to shoot all day. A friend had a Z5 Omega with a pitted barrel that I cleaned up as best I could. Got my CVA Accura PR out and Since I enjoy it so much, I had to shoot the MK85 some more.
The MK was first up, and the load was 90 Grains 2F T7, Harvester Green Crush rib sabot, 300 grain Hornady XTP and Winchester T7 ML primers is what I will be hunting with. Fired 10 rounds and kept them all within an inch of dead center at 100 yards. Love this gun and this load but need to work a little over time and put better scope on it. The 3x9x40 Redfield is OK but I need a little more magnification.
Next up was my CVA Accura PR. Have owned this gun for several years and knew that there would not be a lot of adjusting necessary. Load was 75 grains Blackhorn 209 by weight, green Harvester crush rib sabot, Cutting Edge 250 Grain Maximus bullet, and a CCI standard 209 primer. 5 Shots at 100 yards all within an inch of dead center. Only needed 5 rounds to verify that nothing has changed with this one. This gun has an older Nikon 4x12x44 scope on top. This load was what I developed when the gun was bought new, and I have never changed it. This is the gun one of my sons will be shooting this fall as long as harvest goes well. This load goes down tight but have shot it out to 200 yards and know where to hold out to that range.
Next was my buddy's Z5 Omega. He has let this gun sit a few times after season and the barrel is pretty pitted, but I was able to get the barrel looking decent. Best group of the night with this gun was 60 grains Blackhorn 209 weighed (about 90 Volume), green Harvester crush rib sabot, 300 Grain Hornady XTP and a standard CCI 209 Primer. Spent a lot of time shooting and cleaning this one, around 50 shots total. If I upped the charge at all group fell apart and lighter 240-250 grain bullets did not do well. It has a Leupold 3x9x40 scope and again I could have probably shot it better with a little more magnification. Sent him a pic of the group and he was happy that it would still group at all. Final 5 I could cover with a closed fist.
What a great day. Got to shoot to my heart's content and with good results all things considered. Need to order a couple more boxes of the 300 Grain Hornady XTPs and am Getting low on the Cutting-Edge Maximus bullets as well but have plenty for the season. Good luck to everyone this season and hope to see some pics of what everyone harvests. Ishoot according to body size so don't expect any Booner's from me.