Encoreguy,
Did not notice any difference in feel while loading however the high shot was my last shot. I was testing other rifles that day so not really watching the clock between shots with this rifle? It was chilly, about 38 degrees but I have found that the barrel still can be warm enough to deform sabot if I'm not patient when working up loads (try to wait about 10 minutes between shots). I really believe that the most important thing shooting this "smokeless" powder in muzzleloaders, as others have said after barrel cooling is seating pressure, especially when it comes to vertical stringing of groups. I am working on a gadget to use to help me be more consistent while loading.
In my 30-35 years of shooting/handloading/load testing, I can't tell you the number of nice groups that I have messed up, i.e. 3 or 4 in almost the same hole then the what most people like to call flyers happen. This is life and you can't always exclude these shots. I have come to accept this happens and you have to factor in this in load development. Seldom do I just use one tight group but have to evaluate several when determining a "best" load in any firearm that I'm working with. Also it is relative in what caliber you are shooting in reference to what is an accurate load and what is not. As for me, when I can get 1.5" or less three shot groups at 100 yards on a regular basis out of this barrel I'm very happy with that load! All I can say in closing, SMI makes accurate barrels in my opinion.
Bill
