Woodsman66

Upgraded this fall to an omega from an old knight mk-85. The knight would get tight after 10-15 shots using pyrodex and hornady sabots. This new omega is tighter on the first shot than the knight was at the fifteenth. Second shot without swabbing was an impossibility. I was using 2-777 pellets and sst's. I tried the hornady sabots and powerbelts, but the sst's grouped the best. ANY HELP?????????

RandyWakeman

Try a 245 gr. Barnes Spitfire.

MLKeith

T/C Omega rifles seem to vary in barrel tightness and amount of fouling with powder especially Triple Seven. Lots of people use Triple Seven with no problem. I cannot shoot the stuff in my .50cal Stainless Omega without a hard fouling ring forming just forward of the powder charge (the infamous "crud ring"). I have tried all the fixes. No lube, clean barrel with alcohol, smooth barrel with 200 passes JB bore paste, .25ACP primer conversion, Use Powerbelts instead of sabot/bullet combinations, loose Tripple Seven, Tripple Seven pellets, all three style breechplugs from T/C, bore butter in the base of the Powerbelt, CCI 209 primers, Winchester 209 primers, Remington 209 primers, and some I probably forgot. The only improvement worth mentioning is the .25ACP conversion using Winchester standard rifle primers. It gets rid of about 80% of the problem in my rifle but I still cannot load a second shot without a couple of swabs between (one wet and one dry with patch switched for both sides on both patches - thats four passes with the ramrod). I finally ordered four pounds of Black Mag'3 and it is a 100% fix. I can load multiple shots without a swab between with either Powerbelts or bullets with Harvester sabots. The powder is presently expensive but actually cheap considering what I spent to not fix the problem. A plus is that the powder is non-corrosive to steel which really helps to set my mind at ease when I am in the field and cannot get to boiling water. A couple of patches and a little oil and my expensive rifle is good to go for several days before I have to really clean it. Hornady 300gr. SST bullets in Harvester sabots group real good in my rifle with 90-100gr. of BM3 at 1920fps(100gr.) with the .25ACP primer or just over 2000fps with the 209 primer. I dropped back to 90gr. for my elk hunt this year and shot completely through the chest cavity with the 300gr. SST.

rabbitbuster

Hi Woodsman66,

I had same experience with my new T/C Omega this last fall -- tight barrel. First thing is to slug your barrel and find the land and groove diameters. My Omega's groove was 0.509", but T/C barrels vary quite a bit so you must measure your barrel for yourself. Next measure the diameter across the sabot with bullet (measure across the bullet sides, not the base or skirt of the sabot). The T/C Shockwaves (same as Hornady SSTs) with the T/C sabot measured 0.509" which is a very tight fit and leaves no room for fouling. The same bullet with an MMP sabot measured about 0.507", and the Harvester measured 0.504". Try MMP or Harvester sabots for easier loading.

Like MLKeith, I had the dreaded crud ring in an old .54 Knight Mark 85, and then in the .50 Omega. Switching to Black Mag 3 solved the problem.

MLKeith

My Omega barrel slug measured .500 on the lands and .509 on the grooves and I found similar measurement of the combinations of bullet/sabots. Harvester sabots and .451 or .450 bullets (if you can find them that small) solves most of the problems and with the Black Mag'3 powder loading is now possible.

Triple Se7en

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Knights have wider bore diameters than 95% of all other ML manufacturers. I take a micrometer & clear scotch tape with me bullet-shopping for my Omega. If I cannot measure a bullet in the store, I purchase it - then measure it in my automobile. If it's .429 (44-cal) or .451 (45-cal), I'm good.... but if it's .430 or .452, I repair the package & take it back in the store for a refund.... those are too tight for my standards.

I always keep a supply of 45-cal Harvester plastic sabots & 44-cal MMP plastic sabots because they're constructed to load easier. Some Barnes bullets load without a grunt - as do almost all Precision, Buffalo, Speer & Noslers. A few Hornadys are either .429 or .451... but not many anymore. My favorites for the Omega are
Nosler handgun bullets (especially Partitions)
Speer handgun bullets (especially Gold Dots)
Hornady XTPs 230 gr .451
Buffalo SSBs (special sabot bullet)
Precision sabot/bullets (most-all)
Barnes Spitfires/Expanders
Harvester Sabertooths
Powerbelts

Any others may require a plastic sabot change.... including the new arrival packaged bullets from T/C. Thompson recently changed plastic sabot companies.... much harder to load now. The Sierra bullets claim to be 429/451, but they measure much closer to 430 & 452.

bigcountry

Thats going to be even tighter???

bigcountry

Think your just going to have to give it time. I also had one of the first years of MK's. I also have a 98 model. The 1998 model is much tighter than the late 80's model. They did tighten up the bores I believe and was told. My three guns proved it too. My new elite has about the same tightness as my late 90's model MK but first 100 rounds was tight and bore rough. I put 200 stokes of JB bore paste thru it. Smoothed it out a bit.

I believe, that the idea of Knight having a oversized bore was from the days gone by. My new elite has diameter (just measured) of inside groove diameter of .509" and lands measurement (tough to get) of .500". Thats about the same as my T/C.

How many rounds do you got thru it? Maybe get some JB Bore paste. Its a semi abrasive cleaner. Put a tight patch on and rub some JB's on. Run it back and forth thru the bore 30 strokes. Clean it out with any gun solvent. Do it again. Do it about 200 strokes. You will feel the differnce loading. May not be easier, but smoother and more consistetn.

Triple Se7en

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The 245 Spitfires (and all Buffalo SSBs) have been measuring under .450. I have around 260 SSBs in 285 grain.... yet to find one that measures over .449.... most are .448. I have recently purchased a thicker Hornady plastic sabot for these. The MMP HPH-12s that came with the Buffalos fit too loose - yet these are the thickest sabots MMP offers. The thinnest sabot MMP has (HPH-24s) still do not load as easy as the Harvesters. MMP uses a different composition to retard high temperatures than Harvester. As a result, they tend to be "bore wall stickier."

Tahquamenon

Hey Woodsman66! Welcome!

The Omega's and Encore's tend to be on the tighter side of the bore diameter.

Also, make sure you really cleaned the barrel. I'd suggest a good bore solvent like butch's bore shine or the like.

You may need to swab more often or between each shot. Especially with SST's.

Also, loading sabots on a warmer or hot barrel will for certain be more difficult.

Before you run out to buy more bullets, try swabbing and waiting a bit longer inbetween shots. I swab inbetween each shot when shooting sabots.

This works well:
Down and Up with a damp(not dripping wet) patch, then with an isopropyl alcohol patch, then a dry patch.

I would avoid using a lapping compound at first as you could end up with breaking in being more equal to premature wear.