209 Accuracy VS #11 Accuracy

[frontier gander]

I have always wondered about this. I took my Traditions Evolution out today with a scope, sighted in at 50 yards and took it out to 100 yards after a good cleaning.

80gr Pyrodex RS, 348gr Powerbelt Aerotip, Winchester W209 Primers. My first shot was low, next 2 were great. Maybe it just prefers a fouled bore while shooting 209s? Yes, i will adjust the scope later on. Just wanted to shoot for groups not not worry about hitting exactly where i needed it.

Fouling under the scope from 209s,

Next i changed out the 209 Breech plug insert and screwed in the #11 percussion cap insert.

Bolt Closed while capped,

Grayed out holes are the previous holes shot with the 209s,

Now on shot #3 i noticed a great deal of fouling the first 1" of barrel that gave me a hard time pushing the Powerbelt through. I did not get this with the 209's. So while my first 2 shots did shrink down in size with the #11 It seems the fouling is a good deal worse at the end of the muzzle with #11's.

Fired #11 Cap:

Fouling on scope after 3 shots with #11 caps. Very little difference between the #11 and the 209's.

Tomorrow i want to try the 247gr Colorado Thors out with 90-100gr Pyrodex RS and see how that groups with a scope.

What i learned:

I'll use whichever is the most reliable/Accurate in this rifle. That being the 209 primer.

 

[frontier gander]

Made this little plastic cover last night. It worked great for the first 2 shots, scope was clean as could be but my face on the other hand feels as if tiny needles are sticking into it. The rear flare thats open directed all the blow by into my face.

Shot #3 was again, stiff to load at the muzzle and the clear cover blew off, hit me in the hand, along with a ton of primer blow by. That sucker hurt when it came off :shock:

Recovered it 4 feet to my right,

It did better than i expected it to do with the 247gr Colorado Thors & 90gr RS. Its windy here with 20-30 mph wind gusts that were going east to west and at other times, south - north. Swirling all kinds. Next time i get more bullets im going to try my 105gr Load and see how that will do. This is a bad group for this rifle but with the wind, i was pretty happy.

First shot it the far left, shot #2 is the middle and shot #3 is the far right. The way it kept walking over after each shots tells me the wind was a big factor today.

 

[Confederate rifleman]

FG, I've found a very consistent pattern over the past few years regarding ignition types and accuracy.With the following inlines ,I've found that the less powerful the ignition the better accuracy was( assuming the charge ignited properly), Traditions Tracker 209, Knight American,T/C Omega Z5 and T/C Black Diamond XR, all are 50 calibers and charges range from 40 grains ( T7) to 90 grains ( Swiss black). The difference was most pronounced in the Tracker , with a 50% reduction in group size.I converted it to use musket caps. The Omega gave its best with small pistol primers in Variflames,and the Knight was originally set up to shoot FPJ's but sandblasted my forehead with each shot.Accuracy improved about 25% with the switch to muskets.The Black Diamond shoots about equally with muskets or #11's , but as muskets are far easier to uncap in the field , and I have ALOT of them( reenactor) I prefer them. I am convinced that with the powder being right up against the base of the nipple in these inlines, a powerful igniter like a 209 may be comforting but not entirely necessary( excepting BH 209 )I do believe that a 209 can get a load column moving up bore before complete ignition occurs and as such may indeed effect accuracy.I can think of no other reasonable explaination for the accuracy improvement.
Of all my rifles, the Tracker fouls the breech and scope the least.The design has a very deep striker face that actually winds up inside the reciever ring when in the fired postion.There is a port on the right side of the striker and it very effectively handles the gasses.Great little inexpensive rifle.Such shrouding would be impractical on a bolt gun, but I wish all striker fired models were so set.