So...How Well Does The Scorpion PT Gold Perform On Game?

     There are still many skeptics among modern muzzleloading hunters when it comes to accepting just how well Harvester Muzzleloading's polymer-tipped Scorpion PT Gold bullets will perform on deer and other big game.  That's due to the "different" manner in which this bullet gets its outer copper surface.  Instead of a formed lead core that's encapsulated in a separate copper jacket that's formed around the core, the Scorpion PT Gold, and its hollow-pointed predecessor the Scorpion bullet, features an electroplated copper surface.

     One advantage of that electroplated surface is that, upon impact, bullets produced in this manner are far less likely to experience separation of that copper skin from the lead core.  Another advantage is the elimination of possible air pockets between the copper jacket and lead core of a so-called "conventionally constructed" jacketed bullet.

     Still, many of those who have shot these bullets, and fully acknowledge that they are some of the most accurate saboted muzzleloader hunting bullets they've ever loaded and shot, have some reservation when it comes to perceived performance on larger game.  So, let's dispel those apprehensions.

     Above is the 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold, shown here with the standard black Crush Rib Sabot for loading and shooting the bullet in a .50 caliber rifle with a nominal .500" to .501" bore - and also shown with the slightly over-sized red Crush Rib Sabot for rifles with a looser .502" to .504" land-to-land rifling measurement.  This bullet has easily become my favorite muzzle-loaded big game bullet - due to BOTH the great accuracy and exceptional game-taking performance I have enjoyed.

     Since first hunting with the earliest prototypes of the Scorpion PT Gold back in 2005, as of the end of the 2013 hunting seasons, I've now taken 48 deer with the various weight (240-, 260-, 300-grain) electroplated polymer spire-point bullets.  Only one of those deer was shot twice.

     Easily 3/4ths of those deer were taken with the 300-grain version of this bullet - including the buck shown at right.  This also happened to be the first whitetail buck taken in the U.S. by a new prototype powder in the Fall of 2007.  That powder later became known as Blackhorn 209 - introduced onto the market in April 2008.

     Prior to this hunt, I had burnt close to two pounds of the powder, and the bullet the .50 caliber Knight Long Range Hunter that I hunted with that year tended to prefer was the then just introduced 300-grain version of the Scorpion PT Gold.  The majority of 100-yard groups punched with a 110-grain charge and heavyweight electroplated bullet were consistently right at an inch across center-to-center...or tighter.  The buck shown here was shot at 186 yards - and is the ONLY deer I've shot twice with the saboted Scorpion PT Gold bullets.

     Shooting from a set of home-made hickory cross-sticks, out of a brush blind upon a slight ridge overlooking a wooded sand draw, I had placed the 200-yard reticle of the Hi-Lux TB-ML multi-reticle muzzleloader scope just a couple of inches below center of the chest cavity - and squeezed off the shot.  The bullet impacted with a resounding "Wallop", and the deer just humped up and stood there.  One of the things I was testing the Blackhorn 209 prototype powder for was to see how easily and quickly the muzzleloading hunter could reload, without wiping the bore, and maintain accuracy.  I immediately pulled a speed loader from my jacket pocket, flipped it open and poured in a 110-grain charge of the powder.  A saboted 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold was inserted into the muzzle...and rammed home with the rifle's aluminum rod even easier than loading a perfectly clean barrel.

     The spent CCI 209M primer was shaken from the ignition system, and a fresh one chambered as quickly as possible.  The loading had taken, maybe, 25 seconds.  The buck was still standing in exactly the same spot.  Using the cross-sticks, I settled the cross-bar 200-yard reticle on the same spot and eased back on the trigger.  The rifle fired and the deer dropped on the spot.  When I walked down to the buck, I found that both holes were within an inch of each other - both on entry and exit sides. Each bullet had passed squarely through the lungs...the deer did not have to be shot again.

     Close to half of the deer I've taken with the Scorpion PT Gold bullets have gone down within 10 yards of where they were standing when shot.  The farthest any of the deer have gone after being hit has been 35 yards.

     The buck at left was taken in December 2009, at about 160 yards as the deer quartered away.  The 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold hit exactly where I wanted it to go, nearly catching the last rib on the side facing me.  The bullet then plowed through more than 25 inches of the 250-pound whitetail, coming to rest under the skin of the off shoulder.

     The recovered slug had nearly doubled in diameter.  Passing through the buck, the bullet had taken out the liver...both lungs...and much of the plumbing for the heart - and went just 20 yards before hitting the ground.

     The exit hole shown at right is the hit on the deer at the very top of this post.  The buck was taken in Nebraska on the very last day of the 2013 December muzzleloading season.  The distance of the shot, using one of the new .50 Traditions VORTEK StrikerFire rifles, was about 125 yards. The deer was at a fast walk, offering a perfect broadside shot. To allow for a slight lead, I put the cross-hair squarely in the center of the facing shoulder - and the 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold hit the deer maybe 4 inches behind the shoulder, centering both lungs and punching out the other side.

     This exit hole is easily three times the diameter of the entrance hole.  When skinning the deer, I was amazed at the amount of under the skin trauma caused by the impact of the 300-grain poly-tipped bullet.  At most, the buck went 25 yards after being hit.

     This is the kind of performance I have enjoyed with the Scorpion PT Gold bullets - which also just happen to be the most accurate muzzleloading bullets I've shot out of a wide range of modern .50 caliber in-line ignition muzzleloading rifles.  If you're not happy with the performance of the bullet you may be shooting now, then you might want to give the Scorpion PT Gold bullets a try in your rifle.  If you've shot these bullets, and really liked how well they group, give 'em a chance on game.  I feel that how well these bullets put game down will quickly make them a favorite of yours as well. - Toby Bridges

NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING Newsletter...Summer-Fall 2013

The Summer-Fall 2013 NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING Newsletter was published today - and two new rifles are spotlighted.  One is the Traditions .50 VORTEK StrikerFire (shown in the above photo with website host Toby Bridges) - the other is the .50 Redemption from LHR Sporting Arms. Both are test fired with loads built around the Harvester Muzzleloading "Scorpion PT Gold" bullet and Crush Rib Sabot.

Back near the end of October, traffic on the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING website topped 3,000,000 for the past 12 months.  The newsletter shares efforts to make the site more appealing, faster downloading and easier to navigate.  It also shares plans to expand the coverage of traditional muzzleloader hunting...without cutting back on modern muzzleloader hunting coverage.  Another link takes you to an article/report that takes a harsh look at how the muzzleloading industry is failing to insure future muzzleloader hunting opportunities...and what "OUR" industry needs to undertake.

To take a look at the newsletter go to the following link -

              http://namlhunt.blogspot.com/2013/11/north-american-muzzleloader-hunting.html

Legislative Alert! Petition Filed With Nevada Board Of Wildlife Commissioners To Repeal Or Amend Ban On Blackhorn 209

                         The Scorpion PT Gold & Blackhorn 209 - A Great Hunting Combo!

The State of Nevada is the ONLY state to ban the use of this modern top-performing muzzleloader hunting propellant by name. Take a few minutes to send the Nevada Wildlife Commission a message - that muzzleloading hunters need to make those decisions...not a board made up of affluent residents who do not hunt with a muzzleloader...or who, very likely, have never even shot a muzzleloader. For more details and where to send your e-mail, go to the following link...

                   http://www.namlhunt.com/blackhorn209-10.html


                 Get Involved...Send An E-Mail!

Are You Ready For The Fall Seasons?

My muzzleloading education has spanned 50 years, and fortunately, I'm still learning. One of the realities of muzzleloading today is that once your knowledge of muzzleloader hunting performance graduates you to the next level, it becomes increasingly harder to step back down to rifles and loads with far less efficiency, range, knockdown power or accuracy - except for maybe nostalgic reasons. 

Loaded with my overall favorite load for most .50 caliber No. 209 primer ignition in-line rifles, the Traditions .50 VORTEK Ultra Light LDR has proven to be one of the absolute finest performing No. 209 primer ignition in-line rifles I have ever shot or carried on a hunt.  That load consists of 110-grains of Blackhorn 209 behind Harvester Muzzleloading's saboted 300-grain .451" diameter Scorpion PT Gold bullet, using the Federal 209A primer for very spontaneous ignition.  At the muzzle of the rifle's 30-inch barrel, the load is good for 2,009 f.p.s., with 2,690 foot-pounds of energy.  At 200 yards, the load keeps the polymer-tipped spire-point bullet moving along at 1,451 f.p.s., and driving home with more than 1,400 foot-pounds of knockdown power.

While I do intend to do some hunting with several other rifles during the coming fall hunting seasons...the performance of the Ultra Light LDR has already insured that it will be my primary hunting rifle in 2013. Topped with one of the Hi-Lux 3-9x TB-ML multi-reticle scopes, using the proper long-range cross-bar for the range, the rifle and load shared earlier easily keeps ALL HITS in the kill zone at 200...225...250 yards - and with the knockdown power to insure the game will be laying very close to where it was standing when the shot was taken.  Typical accuracy with the rifle keeps most groups right at an inch at 100 yards...and around 2 1/2 inches at 200 yards.

It's easy to see why I have so much confidence in the rifle and load.  The combo for me, right now, is the culmination of five decades of shooting and hunting with a muzzle-loaded rifle...always striving for the best performing rig I could put together.

What are you hunting with this fall? 

As something of a Fall 2013 Muzzleloader Hunting Seasons Primer, here are a few articles or reports you might want to check out...if you haven't already.  -  Toby Bridges, HARVESTER MUZZLELOADING HUNTER

50 Shots Through The Same 1.2-Inch Hole At 100 Yards
Go To - http://www.namlhunt.com/mltesting.html


Blackhorn 209 Country - A Charge Weight Is Just A Number
Go To - http://www.namlhunt.com/blackhorn209-6.html


Do You Know The 200-Yard Drop Of The Polymer Tip Saboted Spire-Point You Hunt With?
Go To -  http://www.namlhunt.com/mltrajectory.html


Don't Let No. 209 Primer Fouling Build Up Hamper The Performance Of Your Rifle!
Go To - http://www.namlhunt.com/blackhorn209-7.html


Hot Weather Shooting - How It Affects AccuracyGo To -  http://www.namlhunt.com/mltesting2.html 

New LHR Sporting Arms .50 Caliber Redemption Rifle And 300-Grain Scorpion PT Gold Prove To Be One Hot Combination

The most reliable load I've ever shot out of a modern No. 209 primer ignition rifle has easily been 110-grains of Blackhorn 209 behind the 300-grain Scorpion PT Gold bullet and Crush Rib Sabot.  This is my "go to" load when I hear from anyone having accuracy problems with their rifle.  It always seems to do the trick.  Those I do hear back from are generally tickled with the accuracy...and when they get the opportunity for a shot on a deer, pronghorn or elk, they're usually pretty ecstatic about the knockdown power as well.

So, it shouldn't come as any surprise that any time I receive a new .50 caliber No. 209 primer rifle model for testing, this is the load I "go to" as well.

That was exactly the case when one of the new break open Redemption rifles arrived from LHR Sporting Arms, of Rochester, NH.  I quickly mounted one of the great 1-6x42mm Hi-Lux Optics 30mm tube Professional model scopes on the rifle, using the base that comes already mounted on the frontloader.  With just four shots, I had this rifle pretty much sighted in at 100 yards.  The first 3-shot 100-yard group punched with the rifle...load...and scope measured right at an inch across center-to-center.

Here's a look at this new rifle from a new company - a rifle that is likely to be with us for quite some time.

http://www.namlhunt.com/mlrifle8.html

Toby Bridges
Harvester Muzzleloading
Hunter

  

Tony Knight - The Father Of Modern In-Line Muzzleloading - Passes Away

                                     December 21, 1945 - March 18, 2013

William "Tony" Knight passed away on March 18, 2013. The world of muzzleloading has lost one of its greatest contributors, and he will be sadly missed by all who truly knew him. He was one of the greatest people I've known in my lifetime, and at one time my dearest and closest friend. My hope is that in spirit he's up there still running the hills and hollers of northern Missouri, chasing those big whitetails and long bearded gobblers...with his favorite dog Ginger at his side. Let us never forget him. - Toby Bridges, NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING


NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING has published a tribute to Tony Knight...

                 Go To http://www.namlhunt.com/mltribute.html

Harvester Muzzleloading's "Crush Rib Sabot" Opens The Door To Loading & Shooting A Great Variety Of Bullets

The three bullets shown above easily cover 90-percent of my "hunting bullet" needs.  They are, left to right, the 260-grain .451" diameter Scorpion PT Gold...the 300-grain .451" diameter Scorpion PT Gold...and the 400-grain .451" diameter Hard Cast.  All come from Harvester Muzzleloading matched with the company's black .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabot.  Out of most one turn in 28 inches rifling twist .50 caliber in-line rifle barrels, matched with an optimum powder charge, any of these saboted bullets are fully capable of keeping 100-yard groups inside of the 1 1/2 inch spread more and more of today's muzzleloading hunters are now demanding.

(When a .50 caliber bore is .002" to .003" over sized, more often than not accuracy problems can be cured by simply switching to the tighter fitting red .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabot.)

Twenty or more years ago, a majority of those who hunted with an in-line muzzle-loaded rifle tended to be satisfied with 2- to 2 1/2-inch hundred yard groups.  Well, not any more! Today's muzzleloading hunters are now more accuracy and ballistics conscious than any muzzleloading shooters and hunters of the past.  They demand a lot from the rifles and loads they shoot - and which they rely on for the quick, clean harvest of the game being hunted.  When readily available pre-packaged sabot and bullet combinations just don't deliver the degree of accuracy, or the massive knockdown power needed for some game, these shooters are very ready and willing to begin experimenting with sabot and bullet combinations that simply do not come already matched.

Harvester Muzzleloading's .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabot (shown at right with the 260 grain Scorpion PT Gold) definitely opens the door to putting together a tremendous range of combinations.

A couple of years ago, I felt the need to shoot something just a bit heavier than 300-grains for elk, and experimented with loading Hornady's 325-grain .458" diameter soft polymer-tipped FTX bullet (designed for use in .45-70 lever action cartridge rifles).  I found the flexible, nearly microscopic narrow ribs running the length of the black Crush Rib Sabot to allow me to load the .458" diameter bullet with relative ease in most of the .50 caliber in-line rifle models I use for testing.  And with 110- and 120-grain charges of Blackhorn 209, accuracy was great.  Shooting the loads out of several Traditions VORTEK models and a couple of Knight in-line models, 1- to 1 1/2-inch hundred yard groups were the norm, with a substantial number of groups clustering sub 1-inch.

The one rifle that gave me a bit of trouble was the .50 caliber Thompson/Center Triumph I have.  The bore of this rifle has always loaded tight, which seems to be typical of T/C barrels.  Using a solid stainless steel loading rod at the range, I was able to wrestle the saboted .458" FTX down the bore, and two of the first five groups shot with the rifle, 110-grain charge of Blackhorn 209, and Crush Rib Sabot were one wallowed out hole on the target.  However, the combo just loaded way too tight for loading in the field with the rifle's ramrod.  The same .458" bullet and sabot loaded just fine into the VORTEK and Knight bores.  (Hornady .458" 325-grain FTX bullet shown at below left with black .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabot.)

Success with Hornady's 325-grain .458" FTX encouraged me to do some shooting with the Barnes 300-grain polymer-tipped all-copper .458" SOCOM spire point (using a new yellow Crush Rib Sabot for boat-tailed .45 bullets).  It too shot great, producing a high percentage of sub 1-inch 100 yard groups.  Now, I have the desire to play around even more with other promising .458" bullets.

During the early 2000's, I hunted some with a custom built .50 caliber primer ignition in-line rifle, built on a SAKO bolt-action, utilizing a heavy duty steel primer carrier.  One of the best shooting bullets at that time proved to be the .458" diameter 300-grain Barnes "Original".  This is something of a semi-spitzer lead tipped copper jacketed bullet, which has a .291 b.c. - which is much higher than the .181 b.c. of the "other" saboted bullet I was shooting at that time...the 300-grain Hornady .452" XTP jacketed hollow point.  That difference could be readily seen in the trajectories of the two bullets.  Pushed out of the 24-inch .502" 1-in-28 inches bore at close to 2,100 f.p.s., the blunt fronted hollow point dropped a full 18 inches from 100 to 200 yards, while the more aerodynamic semi-spitzer 300-grain bullet dropped only about 9 inches.

Thanks to newer powders like Blackhorn 209, top end muzzleloader velocities are now more easily achieved - with a lower peak pressure.  This is especially true when shooting heavier 325- to 400-grain bullets. 

At lower velocities (i.e. 1,700 to 1,800 f.p.s.), the 1-in-28 inches bores are now being taxed by some of the heavier bullets, that are in turn longer in length.  For most 1-in-28 bores, 300-grain bullets that exceed 1.1 inches in length may not begin to shoot with any degree of accuracy until velocity tops 1,900 f.p.s.  Simply put, when one of the longer and heavier bullets travels 200 or so more feet in a single second, it means the bullet has spun more r.p.m.'s in the added distance it travelled during that second.  While the rifling twist is the key factor in stabilizing longer bullets, velocity does indeed play a role as well.

The big 400-grain Hard Cast .451" lead bullet shown at the top of this post measures .995" in length, and has been remarkably accurate with 110- and 120-grain charges of Blackhorn 209.   With the heftier charge, I can get the big bullet on its way out of the 28-inch barreled standard model VORTEK rifle at 1,923 f.p.s. - which translates into 3,280 f.p.e.  Move over Knight .52!  Here is one serious elk load.  At 100 yards, groups with the bullet stay very close to 1-inch. (Typical group shown at right)  Now, if this bullet has one down side, it would be its ballistic coefficient, which I feel is around .220.  At 200 yards, my feeling is the load would print, maybe, around 10 to 11 inches down.  (This spring I'll do some 200 yards shooting to establish the drop, and to more closely assess the b.c. of this bullet.)

I enjoyed shooting and hunting with the .941" long 300-grain Barnes .458 "Original" semi-spitzer so much about 10 years ago, I now have a desire to play around with the longer (1.160") 400-grain "Original" of the same design to see if I can tap the downrange retention of velocity and energy with the .389 b.c. that Barnes has given the bullet.  If I can get the bullet out of the bore at around the same velocity as the Harvester Muzzleloading 400-grain Hard Cast, it is possible that the bullet will stabilize.  And if it does, think of the performance it could deliver out at 250 and 300 yards.

At the muzzle, velocity would be in the same ball park as the 400 grain Hard Cast bullet, generting the same level of energy.  Thanks to a .389 b.c., the bullet would still be flying along at around 1,600 f.p.s. at 200 yards, and literally plow home with 2,250 f.p.e.  In fact, at 300 yards, the bullet would still be speeding along at close to 1,450 f.p.s. - and retain in the neighborhood of 1,825 foot-pounds of game taking knockdown power.  This would be significantly better downrange performance than possible with Knight's .52 caliber rifles and loads - again thanks to the extremely high b.c. of the 400-grain Barnes "Original" semi-spitzer .458" diameter bullet.

The buck shown at left was taken at 177 yards with the 300-grain Barnes .458" "Original".

There are quite a few other bullets just waiting to be matched up with a sabot and shot from one of today's advanced in-line rifles - a lot of them of .458" diameter.

Coming up with one's own combination of sabot and bullet is not all about stretching out the maximum effective range of a rifle and load...sometimes it's just to find a more accurately shooting sabot and bullet combination.  How many of you own and still hunt with one of the older in-line rifles with the 1-in-32 twist bores used for a number of years by both Traditions and CVA...or one of the even slower 1-in-38 inches twist T/C bores of the early 1990s?  There aren't a lot of sabot-bullet combinations offered for these rifles...but there are a number of combos that should shoot well.  The shooter just has to put them together themselves. 

One that should shoot extremely well would be the short 250-grain .452" diameter Horandy poly-tipped FTX.  Loaded with the black .50x.45 Crush Rib Sabot, this .210 b.c. bullet would be a huge step up from the short 240- and 250-grain jacketed hollow-point bullets that most of those rifle owners were forced to shoot...since the bores did such a poor job of stabilizing longer and heavier bullets.

There's a real satisfaction in matching your own sabot and bullet in order to achieve better accuracy or greater retained knockdown power at extended range.  Harvester Muzzleloading's excellent Crush Rib Sabot tends to give far more flexibility with bullets ranging from .451" to .458" in diameter than any other sabot on the market. - Toby Bridges



Harvester Muzzleloading Hunter is an affiliate blog of the NORTH AMERICAN MUZZLELOADER HUNTING website at www.namlhunt.com.