HELP! optima .50

[ousoonerfan22]

We are trying to sight in my son's gun an optima .50 with a nikon pro staff 4x scope.We tried (2)50 gr 777 pellets with 250 gr shockwave belted bullets and it wouldn't shoot a decent group.Then we tried (2)50 gr 777 and a qt 300 gr plastic tipped lead bullet with no luck.We tried (3)50 gr 777 and back to the 250 gr shockwave bullets and it still won't shoot consistant.
I have my son mad because I was accusing him of flinching so I shot it with no luck.
Should we try 80 or 90 gr of loose powder?

[ousoonerfan22]

Anybody shooting an optima?

[Randyman]

My Optima likes the 295 gr. Powerbelt Aerotip bullets with 2 50gr. Pyrodex pellets. Try as many different combinations of propellant/projectile as you can afford and hopefully you will find something your Son's gun will like. Good Luck!

[hoyt19]

I shot 150 gr 777 with a 240 grain XTP and shot 1.5 in groups at 100 yards.

[ousoonerfan22]

Today my son tried 80 gr of Jim Shockey powder and 245 gr powerbelts and 245 gr shockwave bullets.The gun will be close then send a bullet 4-5" out(any direction) so I don't know if the barrel needs a patch run through it after every shot or if it's my son flinching,he was running a patch through it after every two shots then after one.Except for the powerbelts it's almost always tough to push a bullet down this barrel with the ramrod.
Any ideas?

[gt2003]

Being a cowboy fan I don't normally give friendly advice to sooners. But, since its about hunting I'll make an exception. After each shot, run a spit patch through on one side, turn it over and run it through again, then run a dry patch through following the same procedure. Don't take the chance of letting "fouling" even come into play. I can shoot out of a totally clean barrel and be in pretty much the same spot on the paper following the above procedure. If you are shooting fairly light powder charges, I'd suggest sticking with an all lead bullet (I shoot 80 grains 77 and a 220 grain precision rifle dead center bullet). I never got good killing performance with a jacketed bullet with a light powder charge. They shot AWESOME groups but I lost quite a few deer due to expansion problems. Just my 2 cents worth. If you need a couple of bullets to work with, let me know. We're not too awfully far apart. I could mail you some here in the next day or so to see what you think. Good luck, Greg

[ousoonerfan22]

We clean the barrel between shots exactly like you described.I've thought about ordering some deadcenter bullets to try,I have the 300 gr qt bullets do they fly like the deadcenters?
I'm going to try 90 gr of powder and maybe bump it up higher.

Thanks!

[gt2003]

I've only used the dead centers. But, I've got a good friend that uses the QT's and loves them. If you can get them to shoot well out of your gun I'm sure you'll be happy. Before switching to the dead centers I shot the Hornady XTP 300 grain bullets and 90 grains of Pyrodex RS. The accuracy was incredible but with that light of a powder charge they just didn't perform well. They also kicked like a mule. I was extremely skeptical about using what I considered to be a "Light" bullet at only 220 grains but the performance has been incredible and the recoil is so much less. Go to prbullet.com and check out their website. They are also very helpful on the phone. They should be able to give you a pretty good idea of what might shoot well in your gun. It'll be interesting to see how your groupings act with the powder adjustment. I've also only shot loose powder, never pellets. You've got a lot of options of things to change (bullet, powder, ignition system). Hang in there, you'll come up with something that works. Let us know what it is one you find it. Thanks, Greg

[ousoonerfan22]

Well today I cleaned the bore with Hoppes bore gel and both my gun and my son's optima cleaned up nice.
I tried the 295 gr powerbelts and (2)50 gr 777 pellets and had the gun sighted in after five shots.
I sighted our guns in behind my parents house and only shot 62 yards because this was the best clearing with a good back stop so we wouldn't hit any houses.
I have my son's gun a 1/2" high at 62 yards so I wonder how much the 295 pb will drop at a 100 yards?